Chicago’s top cop: Larry Snelling confirmed as next police superintendent

The Chicago City Council unanimously approved Larry Snelling as the city’s next police superintendent on Wednesday, marking the end of a monthslong search during a spike in violent crime.

Snelling, who served as chief of the Chicago Police Department’s Counterterrorism division, was sworn in as superintendent at a City Hall ceremony after aldermen voted 48-0 to approve his position as leader of the CPD.

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson selected Snelling from a pool of three finalists on Aug. 13. Snelling has worked for CPD for over three decades, and he has experience in constitutional policing. He also designed the city’s use-of-force training model.

Snelling’s appointment will advance Johnson’s public safety vision to rejuvenate officer morale and repair relations within the community. The mayor, who took office in May, campaigned on a comprehensive approach to public safety favored by other mayors and law enforcement in Democratic cities and jurisdictions.

“As we’ve all said repeatedly, if you think that the only way we can get to a better, stronger, safer Chicago is with policing alone, you are attempting to take us in the wrong direction,” Johnson said following Snelling’s confirmation. “This city will not tolerate it. We won’t accept it. … No matter who you are and where you are in this city, you deserve to not just feel safe, but to be safe.”

Chicago Police Department

Earlier in September, Snelling fielded questions from the public about the city’s safety challenges, and he said the focus should be on youth and their paths toward violence.

“We’ve forgotten about our victims and we’ve forgotten about our children,” Snelling said. “Our children have become victims, and not just victims of crime, [but] victims of being ignored. And until we step up and we start looking out for our children in these communities, they grow up to become the next statistic.”

Snelling urged the city not to “ignore” children.

“Because when you have a 14-, 15-, 16-year-old shooter, you can’t blame the 14-, 15-, 16-year-old,” Snelling said. “We have to start looking back to see where this child was failed. This goes beyond us.”

Snelling is inheriting a city that has seen a spike in violent crime in recent months. The city has recorded 471 homicides, down 15% from the same period in 2022, since Sept. 24, according to city data. But while shootings are decreasing, Chicago is in the midst of a large spike in both robberies and car thefts — a trend that has increased in 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chicago Police Department

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A day before Snelling’s confirmation, the city recorded four fatal shootings in less than eight hours, according to CPD data. The CPD is in “full compliance” with less than 5% of its 552 consent decree requirements and its Bureau of Internal Affairs has launched over 11,000 investigations into allegations of misconduct.

Snelling will take over from former Superintendent David Brown, who resigned after Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid and failed to qualify for the mayoral runoff election. Fred Waller led the department as interim superintendent while the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability searched for the next top police officer.