CHICAGO — David O. Brown, the embattled superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, introduced his resignation on Wednesday, at the heels of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s defeat in a mayoral race that was once ruled by means of voter considerations about public protection.
Superintendent Brown’s resignation will take impact on March 16.
After Ms. Lightfoot misplaced her bid for a 2nd time period in place of job on Tuesday, the swift departure of her handpicked police superintendent was once all however confident. Both of the mayoral applicants who complex to an April 4 runoff, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson, had mentioned that they meant to fireside Mr. Brown, if elected.
In a remark, Mr. Brown mentioned that he had authorized a role as leader running officer of a non-public damage legislation company in Texas.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside the brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” he mentioned. “I will continue to pray that all officers return home to their families safe at the end of their shift. May the good Lord bless the city of Chicago and the men and women who serve and protect this great city.”
Ms. Lightfoot praised the superintendent for his division’s paintings in recuperating unlawful weapons and lowering violent crime and for recruiting 950 new hires to the dep. in 2022. Eric Carter, the primary deputy superintendent, will function intervening time superintendent till a brand new mayor is sworn into place of job in May, Ms. Lightfoot mentioned.
Superintendent Brown, a former leader of the Dallas Police Department, was once employed by means of Ms. Lightfoot to steer Chicago’s power in April 2020. At the time, he was once hailed as a reformer who had greater transparency and variety within the division and instituted de-escalation coaching for officials.
He won nationwide prominence for main the Dallas division all the way through a tragedy that stunned the rustic: In 2016, a Black guy, intent on killing white officials, fatally shot 5 law enforcement officials in downtown Dallas whilst the rustic was once reeling from the deaths of 2 Black males by the hands of the police in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Asked about tips on how to bridge the distance between the 2 brotherhoods — Black and blue — he belongs to, Superintendent Brown mentioned at a news convention on the time, “I’ve been Black a long time, so it’s not much of a bridge for me.”
When Mr. Brown arrived in Chicago, the coronavirus pandemic had simply begun, and a criminal offense wave that may sweep around the country took grasp within the town.
But he quickly confronted scathing complaint for his dealing with of protests, looting and civil unrest in Chicago all the way through the summer season of 2020, within the wake of George Floyd’s homicide in Minneapolis.
Joseph Ferguson, then town’s inspector basic, issued a record in 2021 detailing disasters in Superintendent Brown’s reaction and faulting town officers for “poor coordination, inconsistency and confusion” that left the police “outflanked, underequipped and unprepared to respond to the scale of the protests and unrest with which they were met in the downtown area and across Chicago’s neighborhoods.”
During his tenure, Superintendent Brown persisted court cases from rank-and-file officials, who regularly mentioned they have been exhausted and suffering with understaffing, and the tempo of retirements sped up within the ultimate a number of years.
Homicides in Chicago additionally soared to generational highs all the way through his time. About an hour after Superintendent Brown’s announcement on Wednesday afternoon, a police officer was once killed whilst responding to a choice of a person chasing a lady with a gun, the superintendent mentioned.
At a news convention, Mr. Brown mentioned the officer who died was once younger and had “a bright future ahead of him.” The suspect was once in crucial situation, he mentioned.
The Rev. Ira Acree, a pastor in a local at the West Side of Chicago that has been hit arduous by means of gun violence, mentioned that he noticed Mr. Brown as a reliable police reliable.
“I do, however, think that he was overmatched,” he mentioned, noting that Mr. Brown had begun his process simply because the pandemic and the nationwide crime surge hit. “He did not have the degree of familiarity that is needed to inspire a police department that already had low morale.”
Ms. Lightfoot mentioned all the way through her marketing campaign that she meant to stay Superintendent Brown in position if she have been re-elected, however there have been indicators that he was once leaving, whether or not the mayor was once re-elected or no longer: The Chicago Sun-Times reported ultimate month that Mr. Brown would have reached the dep.’s necessary retirement age of 63 in October.
