McCarthy Cleans Some Police Command House

AP Photo/Paul Beaty

In an attempt to trim budget, streamline operations and improve communication between the high-ranking personnel within the Police Department, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy did some reshuffling of the Department's top brass, including eliminating two assistant superintendent and four deputy superintendent positions.

McCarthy calls the reshuffling trimming the fat.

“We’re leaner and we’re meaner — that’s what it boils down to. We’ll be reacting faster because there’s less clutter in between,” the superintendent said at a news conference at police headquarters.

“We’re breaking down silos within the agency. When those structures exist in pyramids within the agency, it’s a lot easier to get a little more parochial.”

The new command structure now consists of six bureaus — Patrol, Detectives, Organized Crime, Internal Affairs, Administrative Services and Organizational Development — each with a command chief. McCarthy also said that more changes should be expected as this new command structure settles in and the Department becomes acclimated to it.

For a reaction from the rank-and-file, we turn to the "I ain't ever satisfied" Second City Cop. Say what you want about SCC, but he always shines a light on the inner workings and political maneuvering of the high brass.

The only message we're seeing here is that you, too, can aspire to a gold star by going to the correct church and hanging with the right "reverends," regardless of your inability to do your job, neglecting to improve on your performance and failing to prepare for meetings weeks and more in advance. And if you do a decent job at one Area, you can be sent to clean up another Area that has long been a dumping ground for "meri-clout-orious" people who couldn't pass a promotional test if their lives depended on it.

Trim the fat? Not if the "revs" have any say in it. And it sure looks like they haven't lost their voices.