Newark’s Garry McCarthy Named Chicago’s New Police Superintendent

(With additional reporting from The Associated Press)

As expected, Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel completed his long-awaited search for a new Chicago Police Superintendent Monday by naming Garry McCarthy to the post.

Since 2006, McCarthy has led the police department in Newark, NJ, and before that he served as Deputy Commissioner of Operations for New York City's police department.

McCarthy replaces Jody Weis, who left the superintendent's job when his contract ended earlier this year. Former Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard was tapped to fill out the remaining weeks of his contract.

Under Weis, the department suffered from morale problems as many rank-and-file officers considered him an outsider. Weis came to the job after working at the FBI.

At a news conference on Monday, Emanuel pointed out that despite his lack of experience in Chicago, McCarthy is a second generation law enforcement official who began as a patrol officer and understands the challenges and needs of urban police departments. "He knows how to run a large police force," Emanuel said.

But he also cited McCarthy's efforts in other cities as a key reason behind his selection. "Garry's experience and reputation will bring new ideas and energy to our police department," Emanuel said.

As Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the NYPD, McCarthy was responsible for orchestrating and determining policing strategies for the entire department. In 2006, Newark Mayor Cory Booker tapped him to take over as that city's police chief.

Emanuel praised McCarthy for his efforts to reduce both Newark's murder rate and its civilian complaints. In 2008, Newark led the nation in murder reduction and in April of last year, Newark experienced it's first murder-free month since 1966.

But budget cuts forced Newark to lay off 167 police last year, and so far in 2011, the city's murder rate is 71 percent above its year-ago levels.

Among the first steps McCarthy plans to take as head of the CPD will be to restore the position of First Deputy Superintendent, a position eliminated under Weis' term. Emanuel promised that he and McCarthy would move quickly to implement such a move.

In addition to McCarthy's appointment, Emanuel also stated that Richard Hoff will stay on as commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department. As he visited more than 40 fire stations across the city, Emanuel said firefighters everywhere asked him whether he'd keep Hoff in the role. "This was an easy choice," Emanuel remarked.

Emanuel will be taking over for retiring Mayor Richard Daley on May 16.