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Daley Taps FBI Agent for CPD Superintendent

By Margaret Lyons in News on Nov 29, 2007 6:26PM

2007_11_29.cpd.jpgMayor Daley has finally announced his pick for new police superintendent: J.P. “Jody” Weis, an FBI agent who was most recently the head of the Philadelphia field office. The City Council still has to approve the appointment, but given that Ald. Isaac Carothers, chairman of the City Council's police committee, says "maybe going to the outside might bring a fresh look — a guy who knows no one and owes no one,” is anyone worried? The last time an "outsider" came in to run the CPD was 1960, when O.W. Wilson came in to rescue the similarly scandal-plagued department.

Weis, pronounced "weese," has been with the FBI for 22 years.
A rough outline of his professional biography, from an FBI press release:

1979: Degree in chemistry from the University of Tampa
1984: Discharged from the Army as a Captain, after being comissioned as a Second Lieutanant and serving in the filed office of explosive ordinance disposal
1985: Houston division of the FBI, working on reactive crimes, terrorism, narcotics, violent crime and then the SWAT team
1992: Promoted to the FBI's Bomb Date Center
1994: Transferred to the violent crimes/fugitive unit
1996: Selected for the violent crimes squad in Phoenix, where then supervises domestic terrorism, international terrorism, and civil rights squads
2000: Promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office, covering white collar crime, organized crime, violent crime, and administrative programs
2003: Promoted to Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility.
2005: Moved to Los Angeles field office where he served as the Criminal Special Agent in Charge.
2006: Appointed Philadelphia's Special Agent in Charge

The search for a new superintendent hasn't been an easy one. The Chicago Police Board gave Mayor Daley three names of candidates in July, but Daley wouldn't go for any of them and told the board to try again. Former Superintendent Philip Cline was appointed in 2003 but retired/resigned in April.