CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel's choice to lead the Chicago police promised Monday to have "cops' backs" and to earn the right to wear the department's uniform, both issues that sparked criticism of his predecessor.
Garry McCarthy, the police director in Newark,
N.J., who rose through the ranks of New York City's police department, was
introduced during a news conference as Emanuel's nominee to be police
superintendent in the country's third largest city.
"He knows how to run a large police force and
with summer right around the corner, a time when incidents of crime increase
significantly, Chicago's police department needs a leader with Garry's depth of
experience and a track record for delivering results," said Emanuel, who
praised McCarthy for reducing murder rates in Newark.
But McCarthy's time in Newark hasn't been without
its challenges or complaints.
James Harris, president NAACP in New Jersey, said
he would give McCarthy a "D" for his work in Newark. He said McCarthy
was more concerned about improving the safety of downtown Newark than of its
neighborhoods, which Harris said McCarthy didn't engage with like he should
have. Harris also said there needed to be more diversity in the police
department.
"I'm glad to see him leave Newark,"
Harris said.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union also
asked the federal government to intervene in the department by assigning it a
monitor, alleging that the police force was plagued with problems from lax
internal oversight to issues of excessive force during arrests. The petition is
pending and Justice Department officials have been in Newark talking to people
but no investigation announcement has been made, said Deborah Jacobs, executive
director of the ACLU's New Jersey chapter.
"The Newark Police Department remains in need
of fundamental changes to ensure accountability," the group said in a
statement.
McCarthy said some of the episodes at issue predate
him, insisting that past problems in the agency had been fixed and would stand
up to scrutiny.
Newark's Mayor Cory Booker praised McCarthy's work,
crediting him with a drop in crime.
"He is clearly among the best police leaders
in our nation," Booker said in a statement.
In Chicago, McCarthy would replace former FBI agent
Jody Weis, who was unpopular with many rank-and-file officers who claimed Weis
didn't stand behind them. They also criticized him for wearing a police uniform
to official functions because he didn't come up through the ranks.
McCarthy said he wouldn't wear a Chicago police
uniform until after he was sworn in to a civilian post in the department and
then certified to be a police officer in Illinois.
"At that point I will wear the uniform but not
before it, because I've got to tell you, having walked in their shoes, having
been a cop, having worked hard ... I have to earn the right to do that,"
he said.
McCarthy also promised to take steps to improve
morale, including creating more transparency and a meritocracy in the
department to ensure rewards are based on an officers' work, not their
affiliations. Officers need to know they will be treated fairly, he said.
"As long as you're working up to your ability,
as long as you're working hard and you're doing the right thing, I will have
the cops' backs," McCarthy said.
A police union official in Newark said McCarthy
knows what officers go through and he commended him for not immediately wanting
to don the Chicago uniform.
"He's extending himself to the men and women
of the Chicago police department. He's not coming in there with an elitist
attitude. He's coming in there saying, 'I'm one of you guys and let's go out
and get this job done together,'" said James Stewart, vice president of
the Newark Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 12.
The head of the Chicago FOP said McCarthy quickly
needs to address manpower issues within the department by beefing up its ranks,
something Emanuel promised during the campaign.
"We are the first line of defense against
violence in this city. Working together, we can reduce the violence in the city
and continue to make the Chicago police the finest department in the
country," said local Fraternal Order of Police president Michael Shields.
In Newark, Stewart said McCarthy was hamstrung by
devastating budget cuts that forced New Jersey's largest city to layoff police
officers.
McCarthy has risen through the ranks in policing.
In New York, he rose from patrolman to an executive position in the police
department and was involved in its rescue and recovery efforts after the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks before taking the job in New Jersey.
At Monday's press conference, McCarthy acknowledged
he needs to hit the ground running in Chicago.
He said he must learn more about gangs in Chicago,
saying the problem is different than in New York, where they don't have the
level of structured hierarchical gangs like there is in Chicago. He also said
he would focus on reducing murder and other violence, and will reach out to
people in the department and in the community to find out what needs to be done
and how to do it.
"We're going to reduce the fear of crime in
this city at the same time," McCarthy said.
Emanuel said McCarthy will be paid less than Weis
but he didn't give a specific salary.
Emanuel picked McCarthy over two other candidates
also put forth by the Chicago Police Board. McCarthy's hiring must still be
approved by the Chicago City Council.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
