Chicago mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel today will introduce Newark, N.J. , police chief Garry McCarthy as Chicago's new police superintendent, gambling that McCarthy's big city experience will overcome the fact that he is another outsider, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. McCarthy replaces Jody Weis, a career FBI agent who rank and file police officers never accepted because they viewed him as an outsider who didn't have their backs.
McCarthy, who will celebrate his 52nd birthday later this week, demonstrated that he is keenly aware of the morale problems he is inheriting. He told the Sun-Times that he would not put on the Chicago Police Department's uniform without first earning the right to do so by being certified as an Illinois law enforcement officer. Police Board President Demetrius Carney said McCarthy walked a beat and commanded three separate New York City precincts before becoming the chief architect of the Big Apple's crime control strategy. “He is an outsider. But this time, that outsider is not from the FBI. This is an outsider who understands policing and understands the plight of beat patrol,” Carney said.