Crime-ridden Chicago searches for new top cop after police chief retires after ONE month
Chicago’s interim chief of police is retiring after just one month — stepping down after a string of headline-grabbing crimes on the same day the ultra-progressive new mayor takes office, but insists his decision was made months ago.
Eric Carter, the interim superintendent, will retire on May 15 after 30 years on the force.
He took over when David Brown stepped down after the February 28 mayoral election. Brown will turn 63 in September, the mandatory CPD retirement age.
Brown resigned on March 16 to take a private sector job in Texas.
Carter’s last day is the day ultra-progressive Brandon Johnson takes over from Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Eric Carter, the interim superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, announced Friday that he is retiring after 30 years on the force but less than a month as chief. He said he made his decision at the end of 2022, but that it comes as an ultra-progressive takeover as mayor of the crime-ridden city.
But in his letter announcing his retirement, Carter said the decision was many months in the making.
“Believe me when I say this decision was not an easy one,” he said.
“For nearly four decades I have lived a life of service and sacrifice to our country and to this great city; and I wouldn’t trade these years for anything.
“However, it was after much deliberation that I communicated my intentions to former Superintendent Brown in late 2022, and most recently to Mayor Lightfoot and Mayor-elect Johnson.”
Chicago authorities are now searching for Carter’s replacement.
Under new rules, a relatively new civilian body, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, will come up with a short list of superintendent candidates.
Johnson then has to choose from that list.
Chicago police supt. David Brown who resigned on March 16 to take a private sector job in Texas
Whoever becomes the new police chief will have a tough job.
Overall crimes are up 47 percent year over year, with robberies, assault and theft.
Theft has increased by no less than 25 percent.
However, homicides and shootings are both down.
The complicated law and order situation was brought into sharp focus last weekend by wild events when a mob of more than a hundred rowdy teens turned violent in downtown Chicago on Saturday night.
Dozens set cars on fire and vandalized them while blaring music in a “teenage trend” that saw two sustain gunshot wounds.
Shocking footage showed some teens jumping on top of a bus, while others started a mass brawl after descending Millennium Park and trying to breach barricades.
Gunshots rang out and several bullets hit two teenage boys, ages 16 and 17.
The two youths were transported to a nearby hospital in reasonable condition. A total of 15 people, nine adults and six children, were arrested.
Police said most of the charges were for reckless endangerment, but a 16-year-old boy was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and a firearm was recovered. An adult and a youth were also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.
Cars were also vandalized near East Washington Street, including a Tesla.
More than a hundred violent teenagers gathered in Millennium Park on April 15
Two teenage boys, 16 and 17, were shot during a fight. They were taken to hospital in stable condition
The rowdy group set cars on fire and got into a fight before gunfire ended the night
After the shooting, a nearby Tesla was then seen on fire. In the photo: the car on fire
Chicago politicians, many of whom are criticized for being notoriously soft on crime, wrote off the night of criminal misdeeds, saying it was a few bad eggs in a sea of revelers, or even a political rally.
Outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot weighed in on the event, telling a local reporter she thinks it’s inaccurate to call the weekend scene “chaos.”
‘The vast majority of young people who came to the center came to the center because the weather was nice and it was an opportunity to enjoy the city. That’s absolutely totally appropriate,” Lightfoot said in defense of the teens.
She added, “There are a few that came with different intentions. They have and they will be addressed. But I’m not going to use your language, which I think is wrong, to say there’s ‘chaos’.”
Brandon Johnson, 47, said on Sunday that he “does not condone the destructive activity” and that it is “unacceptable and has no place” in Chicago, but that it should not be used as a way to defame the group.
“However, it is not constructive to demonize young people who otherwise do not get opportunities in their own communities,” said Johnson, a progressive Democrat.
Brandon Johnson, 47, said on Sunday that he “does not condone the destructive activity” and that it is “unacceptable and has no place” in Chicago, but that it should not be used as a way to defame the group
State Senator Robert Peters, who counts parts of Chicago in his constituency, brushed off the ugly scenes in a widely criticized social media post.
He said: ‘Because I’m a glutton of punishment and I’m sure I’m going to get the most unhinged, crime-crazy answers, but: I would consider young people’s behavior as a political act and statement.
“It’s a massive protest against poverty and segregation.”
Johnson’s election promised to exacerbate the situation.
The president of the powerful police union Fraternal Order of Police said ahead of the vote that a Johnson victory would lead to violence and chaos.
“If this man comes in, we’re going to see an exodus the likes of which we’ve never seen before,” John Catanzara told the New York Times, predicting that 800 to 1,000 police officers would leave their jobs if Johnson was elected.
He then promised that “blood in the streets” would flow.
Johnson has pledged to train 200 new detectives and fill open police positions, but he has also pledged to curb some police procedures.
He campaigned to end no-knock warrants, cancel the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, erase the police’s “racist” gang database, and erect a memorial to survivors of torture committed by former police chief Jon Burge and his subordinates.