ENGLEWOOD — The community expressed skepticism about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's selection of Eddie Johnson to be the Chicago Police Department's next superintendent.
“How can we trust anybody that’s a friend of Rahm? Anybody that Rahm picks for Chicago?” asked Tamar Manasseh, leader of the Englewood-based Mothers Against Senseless Killings.
There's always been mistrust of the police, but things have gotten much worse since the Laquan McDonald shooting, Resident Association of Greater Englewood President Asiaha Butler said.
“Anytime trust is broken in a relationship, it takes so much to get that back, and right now community and police are not synonymous, it’s a rival,” she said.
The sentiment among veteran community leaders is that Johnson is the right choice, Butler said.
“People in the community know Eddie Johnson, and he has some street credibility in a way,” she said.
It's the way Emanuel handled the selection process that has residents leery, Butler said.
“A process was established, and Rahm just kind of did his own thing,” she said.
Members of the City Council’s Black Caucus aren’t opposed to Emanuel’s hand-picked choice.
Johnson, who was once commander of the Gresham Police District, meets the black caucus' No. 1 requirement — he’s a Chicagoan.
“We wanted someone from Chicago, who knew Chicago,” said Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) who first found out Saturday when the mayor’s office called him.
“He’s a battle-tested veteran of the Police Department. He was a wise choice by the mayor.”
Ald. Toni Foulkes (16th) called Johnson a “tough guy” who is “highly qualified.”
He’s going to need that toughness to handle the top cop role if the Police Board selects him, both Sawyer and Foulkes said. The job comes with challenges like building up trust between the community and police that has disintegrated more and more with each police-involved shooting and the handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting.
The fact that Johnson already has work history with the Police Department should help, Foulkes said. He’s also a strong relationship builder, Ald. David Moore (17th) said.
“I think he’s going to come in and continue to do what he’s been doing anyway," Moore said. "He’s going continue developing relationships, listening to people to make sure we can improve our community.”
Another challenge will be finding ways to reduce the gun violence, which Sawyer said Johnson can’t do alone. Foulkes agreed, saying that it’s really important for the black community and elected officials on both the South and West Side to work closely with Johnson and support him.
Johnson will have to do more than be tough on crime in the streets, Sawyer said.
“He needs to make efforts to eliminate what one would call the blue wall of silence and also be tough on officers who violate the law,” he said.
Originally, the black caucus supported Deputy Police Supt. Eugene Williams, who allegedly is linked to an investigation of cheating on the department's lieutenant's exam. Sawyer said he had no confirmation of that, but right now, the consensus is that Johnson is the man for the job.
“He’s up for the task,” Sawyer said.
The black caucus isn’t the only body showing support for Johnson. The Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina announced his support Monday.
Pfleger said he supports the selection of Johnson because he knows his character after working with him when Johnson was the commander of the Gresham District.
"He is a quiet strength, good man and a great listener to people," Pfleger posted on Facebook.
Johnson has a lot of work ahead of him, Pfleger said, but he's confident that he can bring the much needed change to Chicago.
"He has to come up with a new strategy for violence because obviously the present one isn't working — one killed, 44 wounded this weekend! Deal with the culture in the Police Department and rebuild the destroyed bridge between community and police," Pfleger said.
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