Chicago Police Supt. David Brown Announces Shakeup Of Command Staff Amid Surge In Gun Violence
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Police Supt. David Brown on Wednesday announced a major shakeup of the department's top ranks, including naming his new second-in-command, and a new chief of patrol.
Eric Carter, a 28-year veteran of CPD, will take over as first deputy superintendent, replacing Anthony Riccio, who announced last month that he is retiring effective Aug. 1, after 33 years with CPD. Riccio has served nine police superintendents in Chicago, and previously served as as chief of the Bureau of Organized Crime, deputy chief of the Bureau of Detectives and commander of the Albany Park District.
"The first thing I want to do is just be retired for a little while," Riccio told CBS 2's Dana Kozlov on Tuesday.
Carter has been chief of the Bureau of Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations since that new bureau was formed at the end of January. As first deputy, he will be the second-ranking member of CPD, and will oversee the department's day-to-day operations.
Brown also announced the retirement of Chief of Patrol Fred Waller, who has served on the force for 34 years. Waller will be replaced by Chicago Lawn District Cmdr. Brian McDermott, a 25-year veteran of the force. As chief of patrol, McDermott will oversee all 22 of the department's districts.
The superintendent said he can't thank Riccio and Waller enough for their leadership, describing them as "a pair of dedicated men who have worked their way up the ranks, and earned the respect of everyone around them along the way."
"These two men will be greatly missed, but CPD, as you see, has a deep bench," Brown said. "It is time for the next generation to cement its mark on history. This is a pivotal time for CPD and for law enforcement, no doubt. I am confident that this new group of leaders will bring us into the future."
Other promotions include:
- Area One Deputy Chief Jose Tirado to Chief of Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations
- Austin District Cmdr. Yolanda Talley to Area One Deputy Chief
- Area One Commander/Executive Officer Dion Boyd to Deputy Chief of Criminal Networks
- Rogers Park District Cmdr. Michelle Rubino to Deputy Chief of Internal Affairs
- Area Three Cmdr. Mike Piggott to Deputy Chief of the Critical Incident Response Team, a new unit tasked with protecting the rights of peaceful protesters
- Near West District Cmdr. Steve Chung to Commander/Executive Officer of Area Three Patrol
- Saturation Lt. Senora Ben to Commander of Area One Patrol
- Near West District Lt. Gabriella Shemash to Near West District Commander
- Chicago Lawn District Lt. Fred Melean to Chicago Lawn District Commander
- Austin District Capt. Patrina Wines to Austin District Commander
- Rogers Park District Capt. Joe Brennan to Rogers Park District Commander
- Area One Detectives Commander Tom Mills to Narcotics and Vice Division Commander
- Area One Detectives Lt. Jarrod Smith to Area One Detectives Commander
- Area Four Lt. Angel Novalez to Commander of Community Policing
- Gresham District Lt. Donna Rowling to Labor Relations Commander
- Internal Affairs Lt. Tim Moore to Internal Affairs Commander
Capt. Mike Barz will continue to serve as commander of the Summer Mobile Patrol Unit, which is now becoming a permanent citywide unit.
The shakeup comes as CPD faces a recent surge in gun violence in Chicago, with a 34% increase in murders, and a 45% increase in shootings through the end of June, compared to the same time last year.
In June alone, shootings and murders both increased by at least 75%; with 424 shootings in June 2020 compared to 242 in June 2019, and 89 murders reported in June 2020 compared to 50 in June 2019, according to CPD statistics.
Earlier this month, CPD also announced it was creating a new specialized citywide unit to deploy into high crime areas to prevent violence before it happens.
Brown has said the new unit will not be focused simply on getting guns off the streets, and arresting violent criminals, but will be "a community-oriented policing first unit" that will do community partnership projects every day as part of their job.
The superintendent has said he believes community policing needs to be a bigger emphasis for CPD, so he wants even the department's specialized units to do community service projects at least once a week "so that they don't see through a very narrow lens their job as only enforcers."
Riccio said reset is needed when it comes to relationships with the city's Black and Latinx communities.
"They need to trust us and we need to earn their trust. But they need to trust us, and they need to give us the chance, and they need to give us an opportunity," Riccio said Tuesday. "We need to hit a reset button."
Riccio is retiring at a tumultuous time not just for CPD, but for police departments across the country, with widespread claims of systemic racism and broken relationships with Black and Brown communities.
"We need to be more of guardians than we are occupiers," Riccio said. "I know it's a problem. It's a problem in the country. It's a problem in the world, racism, it's not something that's unique to policing. It's not something… it's all over."
Riccio acknowledged that George Floyd's death in May at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer was a tipping point for many outraged by instances of police brutality and mistreatment, and he acknowledged there is work to be done.
"It's kind of the perfect storm of problems this year, but I think we'll turn it around," Riccio said.
