CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — During a press conference Monday morning at Chicago City Hall, Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced his pick as the next superintendent of police.
“It is my honor and pleasure to bring to the podium the son of Englewood, Chief Larry Snelling,” said Johnson.
Snelling, a 31-year Chicago Police Department veteran, has been the department's counterterrorism chief since 2022. The 54-year-old thanked Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller for boosting rank-and-file officer morale, which led Snelling to outline his top priority.
“Officer wellness and training,” he said. “Here’s why that’s important: because that’s the commodity that we’re putting out into these communities.”
Some of Snelling’s comments on Monday were directed at those very officers:
“For our officers, who risk their lives every day to protect our residents: I know what you sacrifice on a daily basis,” he said. “I know the sacrifices that your family makes when you go out to the street to keep this city safe. For those members of the Chicago Police Department, as well as our civilian population: I hear you, I see you, and I stand with you.
Snelling said justice and support for survivors of violent crime and their families would be his second priority. Thirdly, he emphasized the collaboration with the community when it comes to policing.
“The police department and our community members are not two separate institutions, because they can’t be,” he said. “We have to work together by listening and learning from each other. I share the mayor’s vision of public safety being supported by the full force of government to address root causes of violence to keep our beautiful city safe.”
Snelling was raised on the South Side and — as Johnson alluded to — graduated from Englewood High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University.
He told reporters that he’s willing to sit down and have a conversation with anybody and everybody within the city to work together, resolve the issues, and make the city as safe as possible.
“We cannot do this alone as a police department,” he said. “Every member of this city has to be a stakeholder.”
Johnson called Snelling a “proven leader” and somebody who can unify the police department.
There will now be a series of public hearings, after which the Chicago City Council will decide whether to move forward with the mayor’s pick for CPD superintendent.
Waller will remain in place until that process has concluded.
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