Police superintendent pick Chief Larry Snelling has sometimes been at odds with Johnson administration
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday introduced his pick for the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.
If he is approved by the city council, Chief Larry Snelling, who most recently has been serving as the chief of the Bureau of Counterterrorism, pledges to make Chicago "the safest city in the world."
To accomplish that goal, Snelling says three of his top priorities are taking a shared responsibility of public safety - with the city, Police Department, and community working together – as well as focusing on the wellness of officers and building up trust with the community.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey has been digging into Chief Snelling's record with the department - and what it might mean for the future.
Mayor Johnson on Monday hailed Chief Snelling as a "son of Englewood" with more than three decades on the job with CPD. That résumé includes some instances where the chief has been in conflict with the current administration.
Snelling is a graduate of Englewood High School and DePaul University. He joined the CPD in 1992.
Snelling served as a patrol officer in the Englewood (7th) District and as a sergeant in the Morgan Park (22nd) District, and physical skills and operations sections for recruit training at the Police Academy. He then returned to the 7th District as watch operations lieutenant before he was promoted to commander and then deputy chief of Area 2.
"It just an amazing feeling to stand here, and it probably hasn't sunk in yet," Chief Snelling said at a news conference Monday at Chicago Public Safety Headquarters.
Snelling has been a leader for much of his tenure - speaking on behalf of the CPD on many issues. This includes publicly defending the department's use of the controversial gunshot detection technology, SoundThinking, formerly known as ShotSpotter, back in a 2021 City Council meeting.
"We can say that 85, 90 percent of the time, the shot detection system doesn't render any information," Snelling said at the November 2021 hearing. "What we need to look at is the 10 percent of the time that it does."
The only problem is Mayor Johnson made it a campaign promise to stop using that technology. Hickey asked the mayor what this pick meant for the future of the SoundThinking contract.
"We're committed to collaborating and listening to one another," Johnson said in response. "There's a level of expertise that Chief Snelling brings to the forefront, and his expertise is valued."
When Hickey asked for Chief Snelling's response, he and Mayor Johnson declined to comment further.
Snelling was also probed about his tenure at the Chicago Police Education and Training Academy. In 2017, the Department of Justice found that "severely deficient training" led to a pattern of abuse by Chicago Police.
"One of the things that I don't want to do is force the training to meet compliance," Snelling said. "When we do that, we lose the quality in that training."
According to records obtained by the watchdog Invisible Institute, during his 31 years on the job, Snelling has been the subject of 21 complaints - only two of which were sustained. One of those two was for use of force in 1994, and the other was for conduct unbecoming of an officer in 1995. Both led to short suspensions.
Now that Chief Snelling has been chosen, the selection commission is required to hold a public meeting sometime in the next 21 days where he will answer questions from the commission and the public. The city is working to schedule that meeting.
Afterward, the City Council will have to vote to approve Snelling.
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