Meet the New Top Cop

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 3, 2011 1:00PM

As reported everywhere, Mayor-Elect Emanuel named Newark (NJ) Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy as Chicago Police Superintendent yesterday. As far as hires go, Emanuel is hoping that McCarthy's three decades of experience as a policeman in New York City and Newark will mitigate any concerns from Police Department rank and file that someone from outside the Department was hired again to over see it.

One of McCarthy's initial promises was to promote policemen based on merit, not politics. He also vowed to bring down the murder rate in Chicago, one of the metrics former Superintendent Jody Weis used to point to as an example of his effectiveness.

“The murder rate in this city is way too high,” McCarthy said. It’s more than twice what it is in New York City.

Emanuel trumpeted McCarthy's leadership skills as a major factor in his hiring. McCarthy was a block away from work when the second airplane hit Tower 2 of the World Trade Center in 2001 and set up a command center in the wake of the attacks. McCarthy said the experience of that day taught him to lead with "a coolness and a confidence that will translate throughout the police agency. I have a good reputation as far as being a leader in crisis management situations."

One of McCarthy's first hires will be a First Deputy, which he'll look for from outside the Police Department's ranks. His pick could set the tone with current brass as to whether McCarthy is willing to work with them to effect change in the Department or implement procedures that will clash with existing protocol. McCarthy also plans on assessing the Department's counterterrorism plans, saying Chciago should have a robust plan. That made Second City Cop's nipples rise.

Remember, the prevailing attitude around here has been, "It would be impractical to train the entire police department" for anything resembling a 9-11 type attack, including having people familiar with a downtown evacuation or how to shut down highways or raise the bridges or similar doomsday scenarios.

"Just winging it" isn't going to cut it and neither is relying on the feds to get troops here in a timely manner.

Not everyone is happy with McCarthy's hiring. Several African American aldermen are already making noise that Emanuel didn't hire blacks for his major vacancies. 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell noted that Emanuel's election was largely decided by his carrying a majority of the Black vote. 21st Ward Ald. Howard Brookins even criticized the appointment of Jean-Claude Brizard as CPS CEO, saying Brizard, a Haitian immigrant, wasn't from Chicago