Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will appoint the police department’s current chief of patrol, Eddie Johnson, as the interim police superintendent, the mayor’s office said Monday.
The move, which Emanuel is to announce Monday afternoon, comes amid tense relations between some in the community and the department following controversial police shootings.
Johnson has been with the Chicago Police Department since 1988, the mayor’s office said.
Alderman Roderick Sawyer told CNN that he’s known Johnson for many years and that they often talk about policing.
“The rank and file is ecstatic about this choice,” Sawyer said. “(Johnson) is a hard-nosed policeman. He doesn’t tolerate misconduct. He’s no nonsense, and when he was a commander, I found him very effective.”
Others active in the community, such as the Rev. Michael Pfleger, said they’ve seen Johnson on the beat delivering fair but firm treatment.
Pfleger has gained nationwide attention for his efforts to help young people in one of the country’s most notoriously violent cities.
“What I liked about him is that he’s not a real flashy person,” said Pfleger, reflecting on his interaction with Johnson. “He’s the quiet storm. He listens. He’s a tremendous listener of the community. He’s one of those cops who gets it. He said, ‘We need ideas, thoughts, contributions from not just mothers and fathers but brothers on the corner and brothers on the street.’ He would take that information back and make it part of his strategy.”
The mayor’s pick surprised many because he was not one of the three people that the Chicago Police Board recommended be given the job. The Police Board did not offer immediate reaction to Emanuel’s pick.
Emanuel spent months talking to officers, residents and local leaders before choosing Johnson, according to a statement from his office.
“With the help of their feedback, the mayor is confident that Eddie Johnson is the right person at the right time to fight crime, lift morale in the police department, and build on the work that’s been done to restore trust and accountability in the police department,” the statement read.
The police board had named three finalists — Cedric Alexander, the DeKalb County, Georgia, public safety director; former Spokane, Washington, police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick; and Chicago police Deputy Superintendent Eugene Williams.
Alexander, a CNN law enforcement analyst, said he met with Emanuel three times and that he was considered the front-runner.
“It was at our third meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday with Mayor Rahm Emanuel that it was suggested that I had the job,” he told CNN. “Then on Saturday night I got a call from Mayor Emanuel and he said to me, ‘We are going to go in another direction.’ “
Regardless, Alexander told CNN that he is happy to move on, and said he won’t be speaking further about the matter on television.
All eyes on Chicago
Johnson will have to face much turmoil in his new position. Recent headlines called Chicago the “murder capital of the U.S.” or “murder city” as it battled a years-long struggle with rising and falling homicide rates, especially in poorer, black neighborhoods such as Austin and Englewood.
Chicago police reported that since the middle of February, gun arrests are up 43%, and that for the whole month, arrests for homicide are up 40% over February 2015.
In addition, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation last year after police released the October 2014 video of Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald on a Chicago street. The officer is white.
The video of McDonald’s death outraged many Chicagoans, who took to the streets to protest what they felt was excessive use of force and dishonesty by police and city officials. Police initially accused McDonald of threatening officers. The demonstrators also questioned why it took more than 400 days to release the video despite the city paying McDonald’s mother a $5 million settlement.
Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder in the teenager’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.