Report: White House Drug Czar A Candidate For Chicago Top Cop
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel hopes to have his new police superintendent picked before he's sworn in less than four weeks from now, and it appears the list of prime candidates is getting shorter.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, among those reportedly on that ever-shortening list of candidates is Gil Kerlikowske, President Barack Obama's director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy – known colloquially as the Drug Czar, the Chicago News Cooperative reported.
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Kerlikowske has also headed police departments in Seattle and Buffalo, N.Y.
The Chicago News Cooperative reports Kerlikowske met separately last week with Emanuel and the Chicago Police Board.
Also reportedly on the short list is Newark, N.J., police Director Garry McCarthy, who is also a former deputy commissioner of operations for the New York Police Department, the News Cooperative reported.
Emanuel may also pick someone from within the Police Department. Among the options are Chief of Patrol Gene Williams, Detective Division Deputy Chief Al Wysinger, and Assistant Deputy Supt. Debra Kirby, the News Cooperative reported.
Ramsey, a native of Chicago, decided to stay in Philly for the foreseeable future. Sources said Ramsey was asking for a compensation package of more than $400,000 and Emanuel found that unacceptable.
Supt. Terry Hillard, who also served as superintendent from 1998 to 2004, is now back on an interim basis. But he has said he does not want the job again permanently.
