The search for retiring Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling’s replacement will take place against the backdrop of a highly contested mayoral race.
Ultimately, it’s in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hands to pick Snelling’s successor, with the City Council’s approval. Johnson has not yet declared his intent whether to seek reelection. But if he does run, a public approval rating in the low 30s has him in serious danger of becoming a one-term mayor.
That kind of political uncertainty is likely to discourage candidates from outside Chicago — and even some insiders — from applying for the $284,016 a year job.
It’s a precarious situation that has some City Council members calling for a slowdown in the selection process by an administration that the police union’s staunchest supporters claim has an anti-police bias.
“He’s a lame duck mayor. We’re in the summer months here. We’re going to have several months of a potential escalation of crime. This is not the time to have people who have no experience trying to conduct a search,” said Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), whose Far Southwest Side ward is home to scores of Chicago police officers. “And who in their right mind, from anywhere across our country, would be interested in applying to work with this group?”
O’Shea said he is confident that interim police Supt. Fred Waller can once again hold down the fort. Waller filled in ably prior to Snelling’s appointment, and served as Snelling’s right hand in a civilian job created just for Waller.
Before submitting his long-rumored letter of resignation, Snelling also appointed Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti to fill a first deputy slot that he had left vacant since his decision to strip Yolanda Talley of virtually all of her powers. She later retired.
CCPSA ‘a terrible mistake’
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), chair of the city council’s public safety committee, said he was among a handful of Council members to oppose the ordinance that created Chicago’s multi-layered system of civilian oversight over the police department. The political dilemma created by the timing of Snelling’s early summer resignation has “only hardened” that opposition, Hopkins said.
“I’ve been vindicated and proven right. This was a terrible mistake, to create this byzantine multi-layered system for appointing a police superintendent, and to have these community councils all over the city that claim to have some authority over the police department,” Hopkins said. “It was a terrible idea then, and in practice it doesn’t work. I believe it’s time to scrap the entire system.”
The clock on the search for a new superintendent begins on July 15, the day Snelling’s resignation takes effect.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has 120 days from that date — until Nov. 12 — to conduct a nationwide search, interview candidates and present the names of three finalists to Johnson.
Johnson then has 30 days to either choose from the three or reject them — and within three days explain in writing the rationale for that rejection. The process would continue until Johnson makes a choice from among the candidates submitted by the commission.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington D.C. based police think tank, has seen many superintendent searches come and go — in Chicago and other major cities — and has been involved in a few of those searches. He said the timing of Chicago’s search will be a “challenge for prospective candidates.”
“You want to know who you’re going to be working for. If the mayor gets re-elected, that’s fine. But there’s a certain element of uncertainty for any candidate,” Wexler said. “Let’s just say that for anyone looking to recruit, it’s an extra dimension that they’ll have to deal with — being hired before the mayoral election — that inevitably creates questions about stability.”
Snelling’s predecessor, former Dallas Police Chief David Brown, was widely disliked by rank-and-file officers and announced his resignation the day after then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot became the first incumbent Chicago mayor in 40 years not to make the runoff.
Brown’s tenure was marked by persistent staffing shortages and officers routinely having time off canceled, a practice that has contributed to low morale. Brown also faced frequent turnover in his command staff and criticism from his own top brass. In January 2022, four police supervisors agreed he wasn’t fit to serve as the city’s top cop.
Snelling’s problem-free DNC
In nearly three years as superintendent, Snelling managed to stop the bleeding. He rebuilt police morale and slowed what was an exodus of veteran officers to surrounding suburbs, out of state police jobs or into retirement.
He buried the political ghosts of 1968 by leading CPD through a relatively problem-free 2024 Democratic National Convention.
During his tenure, the city also saw its murder rate fall to historic lows, and the department continued its slow but steady march toward compliance with the federal consent decree.
Snelling exuded confidence when he stood before a phalanx of television cameras after a police shooting or demonstration. , His central casting persona fueled speculation that he might someday be a candidate for mayor.
“Those are big shoes to fill. He will be a tough act to follow,” Wexler said.
Bob Boik, senior vice president for public safety for the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, said Snelling “embodied the role” of a big city superintendent “better than anyone I’ve ever seen around the country.”
By naming Ursitti as first deputy , Snelling created an opportunity for her and a political dilemma for Johnson. Ursitti would be the first woman ever to serve as Chicago’s top cop. If Johnson bypasses her, he risks alienating female voters, whose support he needs in a crowded field that’s expected to include a dozen candidates.
“She is extraordinarily qualified. She would be an excellent candidate if she decided to put her hat in the ring,” Boik said. “She is the type of individual who puts her head down and works… She is so smart and super capable. She would be terrific if she decides to go that far.”
CPD’s short bench
Beyond Ursitti, CPD has a short bench. That leaves the department in essentially the same position it was in when Snelling was chosen.
Fraternal Order of Police President Catanzara said some of the best internal candidates were “chased out the door by Larry Snelling himself.”
“Duane DeVries, the former chief of counterterrorism, was the reason the DNC was so well organized and so flawlessly executed, but Larry likes to take the spotlight because everybody likes to throw it at him, as if Duane didn’t do anything, which is a farce,” Catanzara said.
Catanzara cited former deputy chief of the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, Sean Joyce, and former chief of detectives, Brendan Deenihan, as other examples of “talented leaders in this department who realized they had reached the end of their career within the department.”
Instead of forcing a search on a tight time frame in the middle of a mayoral campaign, Catanzara has what he views as a better idea.
“They need to just simply pass an ordinance to override the charter of the Community Commission on Public Safety. Fred Waller should be the interim [superintendent] through the rest of this term until a new mayor is decided,” he said.