CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — One day after her own political defeat, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Wednesday that Chicago Police Supt. David Brown will resign from his position, effective March 16.
In her statement, Lightfoot said she accepted Brown’s resignation and commended him for his work, including “setting a record number of illegal gun recoveries” over two consecutive years and “significant, consistent progress on the consent decree.”
Brown released his own statement announcing that he has accepted a job opportunity to be the chief operating officer of Loncar Lyon Jenkins, a personal injury law firm in Texas.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside the brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” he said. “I will continue to pray that all officers return home to their families safe at the end of their shift.”
Brown arrived in Chicago from Dallas in 2020, and within a few years he became a frequent target of Lightfoot’s critics, as well as those who felt like his efforts to protect the city and its police officers fell short.
Prior to Tuesday’s election, all eight of Lightfoot’s mayoral challengers vowed to fire Brown, if elected.
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who will face Paul Vallas in the April 4 runoff election for mayor, said he hopes to appoint someone from within the current CPD ranks to step in as superintendent.
"But most important is appointing the right person for the job — someone who is collaborative, competent and compassionate, and who truly cares about protecting and serving the people of our city,” Johnson said.
David Greising, president of the Better Government Association, said Brown's hiring drew questions from the start.
"I think David Brown, coming from Dallas, there was a question always of whether he could handle a police department of this size in a city this complex, and it's evident that he had difficulty making that transition."
Still, Lightfoot praised Brown for “standing up a full-time recruitment team that yielded over 950 new hires” in 2022, expanding officer wellness resources, and promoting more women to senior exempt ranks “than ever before.”
Lightfoot said First Deputy Eric Carter will be appointed as the interim superintendent until the new mayor is sworn into office. She instructed the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to immediately begin the search to help the new mayor.
Although Greising said CPD has the leadership to keep things going on an interim basis, he added that there should be an "urgent search" to find Brown's replacement — and that it should be done "with all due speed."
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