Will Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey be lured back to Chicago? The Chicago Sun-Times quotes Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel as saying Ramsey has “great strengths” that would be “natural for the job” of Chicago Police superintendent. Said Emanuel: “From Chicago. Two proven departments under his belt of leadership. A proven record on community policing, which is important to us. The trust of the department [to solve] the morale issue, which is essential.”
Ramsey, 63, is the former head of Chicago's community policing program who left the city in a huff after Mayor Richard Daley's surprise choice of Terry Hillard in 1998. He spent nine years as Washington, D.C., police chief before moving on to Philadelphia in 2008. Ramsey has told associates he would love to come home to run the Chicago Police Department, but probably won't apply without assurances he is Emanuel's choice. The mayor-elect wouldn't go that far. He still has to wait for the nine-member Police Board to conduct a nationwide search for a new police superintendent, then give him three finalists from which to choose.