July 14 deadline to present Mayor Johnson with final three candidates
This week is the deadline for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) to present candidates seeking to replace former Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
On July 14, the civilian oversight body must present three finalists to Mayor Brandon Johnson, who will appoint one to the top job 30 days later, on August 14. The City Council will have 60 days, or until October 12, to confirm Johnson’s nomination.
About 53 people applied to become Chicago’s next police superintendent, the most applicants in decades.
During the past two months, the CCPSA held public meetings across Chicago to hear residents’ concerns and input before they narrowed the list from 53 candidates to six. CCPSA officials say they are on target to provide Johnson a final list of three candidates by the July 14 deadline.
The Commission would not confirm or deny specifics related to the search, but sources say the list has been whittled down to six names.
Finalists among the six include Larry Snelling, a longtime CPD officer, former commander of the Englewood District and current counterterrorism chief. Ernest Cato III, also a longtime CPD officer who retired last year, is on the short list. Cato preceded Snelling as head of the counterterrorism bureau.
Migdalia Bulnes is the department’s street operations deputy. Angel Novalez is with CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform. Donna Rowling is CPD’s labor relations division commander. Shon Barnes is the Madison, Wisconsin, police chief and the only outsider of the six candidates.
“I think we really took into consideration all that we have heard from various stakeholders, whether it was listening to officers, community groups and subject matter experts,” Remel Terry, a Commissioner with CCPSA said.
Terry told ABC7 Chicago recently that the city’s public helped them narrow the list to six candidates. She said achieving equity is the number one issue officers and community members want to see in the next superintendent.
“We were very intentional on reviewing and making sure to look at all the materials that were provided,” said Terry.
“Ensuring that public safety looks the same no matter where you are in the city, and also internally, when decisions are being made, officers are being considered in those decisions,” Terry said.
This will be the first test of the CCPSA, which was passed as part of an ordinance by the City Council to create a new model for police oversight, accountability and public safety.
The ordinance created two bodies: a citywide CCPSA that has the power to advance systemic reform, and 22 District Councils, which last February elected representatives in each of Chicago’s police districts to help improve policing and public safety in the District.
Activists hope the CCPSA and District Councils will build community trust in Chicago’s police officers, strengthen police accountability, give residents a voice in a new role in police oversight and explore and advance alternative effective approaches to public safety.
In June, the CCPSA came under scrutiny when 19 aldermen signed a letter expressing concern that 28-year veteran officer and Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott was not being considered as a qualified candidate.
“We need the most qualified candidates to assume the role of the police superintendent, and I’m concerned that Chief McDermott was not given an interview,” 23rd Ward Alderman Silvana Tabares said. “His credentials would at least warrant that.”
Alderman Ray Lopez (15th) said, “We know a number of people are starting to come forward after they had been dismissed by this body, leading us to wonder what exactly they’re using as qualifications.”
Anthony Driver, Jr., head of the search committee, told ABC7 Chicago, “There’s a lot of political pressure now because of this letter, but I will say that our Commission will remain independent.”
Of the search for the best candidates, Driver said, “I’m very proud of our process. I’m 100 percent confident that every T has been crossed, every I’s been dotted, and we’ve treated every single person fairly.”
