Emanuel To Appoint Lightfoot To New Term As Head Of Police Discipline Board
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ending weeks of speculation, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday he would reappoint an occasional critic, Lori Lightfoot, as head of the Chicago Police Board.
Despite being appointed by the mayor, the outspoken Lightfoot often has criticized Emanuel. The Task Force on Police Accountability she led for the mayor issued a blistering assessment of Chicago Police Department practices last year, and she recently said Emanuel's approach to overhauling the department is "set up for failure."
Despite her criticisms, the mayor said he will reappoint Lightfoot to a new two-year term as president of the Chicago Police Board, which oversees police discipline. Her term expired Monday.
However, the mayor also said he wants Lightfoot to follow through on Justice Department recommendations for changes on the board.
"Based on that, we're going to make our reappointments, but I want to actually also make sure we have a strategy for this coming year to make the changes necessary in the Police Board, consistent with what the Justice Department noted in some of the weaknesses in the Police Board," he said.
Emanuel likely would have faced political repercussions if he had not appointed Lightfoot to another term.
