November 29, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters
Determined to shake up the scandal-scarred Chicago Police Department, Mayor Daley today appointed the second outsider ever to serve as superintendent and agreed to pay the veteran FBI official $300,000 a year — $83,790 more than the mayor’s salary.
The higher salary for J.P. “Jody” Weis, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia field office, was made possible by eliminating the vacant job of chief emergency officer. Instead of having someone else call the shots at disaster scenes, Weis will do that, too.
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The police superintendent’s current salary is $185,652. Weis was making more than that in Philadelphia. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton reportedly has a compensation package worth more than $300,000.
Weis was in the national spotlight three years ago in congressional hearings about whether the FBI retaliated against Chicago FBI agent Robert G. Wright Jr.
Wright had held news conferences in 2003 criticizing the FBI’s counterterrorism program, calling its work “pathetic.”
In 2004, U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced they received FBI documents indicating the FBI retaliated against Wright for being a whistleblower.
Weis and an unnamed FBI supervisor had discussed Wright and vowed to “take him out,” according to the documents the senators obtained.
On Thursday, Weis said an internal Justice Department cleared him of any wrongdoing in the case, adding that he did not recall saying he would “take him out.”
“I don’t remember uttering those words at all,” he said. “But, I mean, the investigation at the time showed that that did not take place.”
Assuming City Council approval, Weis is expected to take office on Jan. 16.
He replaces interim Supt. Dana Starks, who took the department’s helm earlier this year after Supt. Phil retired.
Cline’s retirement was hastened by the department’s handling of barroom brawls involving off-duty officers, allegations of excessive force and a continuing scandal in the Special Operations Section, which is now disbanded.
At a City Hall news conference called to announce his appointment, Weis, 49, promised to open a continuing dialogue with community leaders to re-establish severely shaken trust in the Chicago Police Department, beginning in places where there is the “widest gulf.”
He talked about the need for a new police training academy and his “strong belief in a decentralized command with a high degree of personal accountability.”
And he could not avoid what he called the “absolutely horrific behavior” featured in a videotape played around the world. It showed off-duty officer Anthony Abbate brutally beating a diminutive female bartender.
“I don’t know how it got to that point. I don’t know if we need to look at general orders. I don’t know if we need to look at training….But, I can tell you that type of behavior just can’t be tolerated,” he said.
“You stop it with stern leadership. I’ve got to set the tone right from the beginning that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated…. I’ve got to pick a command staff that will not allow that type of behavior to take place. It all starts at the top. It all starts with leadership. That’s what I intend to bring to this department — a style of leadership that will not tolerate that type of behavior.”
Having said that, Weis also had a message for the troops: Don’t shy away from “assertive” policing, even though it “oftentimes will lead to complaints.”
“I want them to always maintain compassion for the public. I want them to be fair. I want them to be accountable. I want them to protect those they serve with dignity. But, if they’re doing their job and they’re working within the framework of the law and the policies of this department, I will have their back 100 percent,” he said.
The Chicago Police Department has had only one outsider as its superintendent: University of California at Berkeley criminologist O.W. Wilson, who was appointed by Daley’s father, former Mayor Richard J. Daley, after the cops-as-robbers scandal in the former Summerdale District in 1960.
Weis was appointed after a second nationwide search that turned normal protocol on its ear.
Instead of waiting for the Police Board to recommend three finalists to him, Daley did his own independent search.
After consulting a pair of law enforcement experts — former U.S. Attorney Tom Sullivan and former federal judge Abner Mikva — Daley interviewed Weis, then recommended Weis’ name to the Police Board.
“When I learned of his sterling reputation, I knew he was a person that I was interested in talking to. And, after I did, I was confident he was the right person for the job,” the mayor said.
“What impressed me the most about Jody is his wide-ranging experience — from dealing with police departments across the country in their fight against gangs, guns and drugs to addressing the challenges of terrorism, to assuring that there are high standards of conduct in crime-fighting agencies… Jody brings a new perspective on law enforcement — one that will ultimately lead to new and creative approaches to dealing with, not only gangs, guns and drugs, but also with accountability and reform.”
Weis is a 22-year veteran “G-man” who has served in FBI offices across the country. He served as a bomb technician on the Houston SWAT team, in the FBI’s Bomb Data Center, and on a Violent Crimes Squad in Phoenix supervising domestic and international terrorism and civil rights squads.
Although Weis is an outsider, he is not a stranger to Chicago. He served as assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago field office from 2000 to 2003, overseeing white-collar, organized and violent crime.
“I expect district commanders to think of themselves as the police chiefs of their districts and I will empower them to do that. However, I expect them to know their people, their crime problems, what’s causing those problems and what they are doing to correct them,” he said.
“I need leaders to be engaged and responsible for their personnel and, if that means working a second or third shift on a Friday or Saturday night, so be it. In that regard, I will lead by example.”
Starks, who has served as interim superintendent since Cline’s departure in July, was rewarded with a new $120,000 job that will allow him to collect his police pension.
After retiring from the Police Department, he will serve as a full-time chairman of the city’s Commission on Human Relations. He replaces Clarence Wood, who has served in that position for the nearly 18 years since Daley took office. Wood was paid $67,656 a year for a part-time job.
Well what do you know!
When a wise leader [such as His Honor (the Mayor)] needs real professional help, where does a wise leader go?
Brilliant. ABSOLUTELY Brilliant.
Hey, none of that now!
There is not enough cash-on-hand on this planet.
I will just keep my meter running.
Weis makes more than than His Honor, but if it's business as usual, he has to contribute to the election campaign.
Selected versus from "America"
I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!
...
Automobile in America,
Chromium steel in America,
Wire-spoke wheel in America,
Very big deal in America!
...
I like the shores of America!
Comfort is yours in America!
Knobs on the doors in America,
Wall-to-wall floors in America
...
[Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
© 1956, 1957 Amberson Holdings LLC and Stephen Sondheim. Copyright renewed.
Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company LLC, Publisher.]
When you have problems in an organization it's not uncommon to bring in outside help. It makes sense.
If the problems in an organization appear to be systemic, why recruit from a body of candidates who are in the system?
That's a big reason the NYPD recruited Lee Brown as their police chief several years ago. He had been very successful in Houston as their chief and was able to basically replicate that success in New York.
Maybe the CPD will experience some positive changes by bringing in someone from the outside who has a strong knowledge of police work but doesn't carry the baggage of being hampered by internal politics.
George Lutfallah
Chicago Dispatcher
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no...."
The Discount Weis(s)
(Hey, I'm cheap, but not free!)
Very funny Mr. "S"teel "S"tringer!
Ha ha ha ha. Ho ho ho ho. He he he he.
I know who you are. I'm telling your sister!
Let's remember the key element in this discussion is "scandal-scarred Chicago Police Department."
The big "scandal" is how the HIs Honor the Mayor never seems to know when his and people are creating a scandal.
If you look way back, early on in his 1st term as Mayor, he came out with a report and stated that according to his investigation, there is no co organized crime to be found in the CPD.
OK, it's disorganized crime. The organized crime can be found in the "Trucks for Hire" scandal, the CIty Hall Employee Hiring Scandal, scandalin the Water Department, scandal in the Sewer Department (Surprise?).
And let's not even go near the "Traffic Management" illegal/fraudulant parking ticket scandal practiced and perpetrated on cab drivers even as you read this post!
Now that's real fraud George, not imaginary as some of us have been accused of.
