Darien Police Chief Ernest Brown has accepted a new position outside the city and will leave his post sometime in the next two to four weeks.
“This is a very bittersweet moment for me,” Brown told the City Council Monday. “I will be leaving my post in Darien to embark on a new chapter in my life. Thank you all very much for the support I have received. It is my prayer that I have served the city with integrity and honor.”
Mayor Kathleen Weaver said she knew beforehand that Brown had been successfully recruited by another employer — whom neither she nor Brown would identify or discuss — but the news of the chief’s impending departure took aldermen by surprise.
“I’m shocked,” said 6th Ward Ald. Sylvia McIvor, who also serves as chairman of the Police Committee. “I didn’t see this coming, but I certainly wish him the best.”
Brown, 62, spent nearly 30 years in the ranks of the Chicago Police Department before coming to Darien. He rose steadily through the command ranks and achieved the post of deputy superintendent in Chicago before he was sworn in as Darien’s top law enforcement officer in November 2011.
McIvor was one of three aldermen who voted against his appointment at that time, but is quick to note that her vote reflected dissatisfaction with the candidate selection process that had been employed rather than any shortcoming on Brown’s part.
Weaver, who personally selected Brown and has been one his strongest supporters during his tenure, said she felt a need for an outsider to assume the role of police chief four years ago.
“I felt that our Police Department was not going in the right direction,” Weaver said. “The most current and most effective police practices were not in place, and that’s why I felt we needed someone from the outside.”
Weaver said Brown has played a key role in modernizing the department and transforming its internal structure in areas ranging from patrol duties and evidence storage to immediately and effectively addressing complaints made against officers.
“The improvements in accountability and transparency are two huge steps forward,” Weaver said. “The numbers bear out the fact that the crime that is happening in our city is being swiftly addressed. For example, the number of residential burglaries is down by 46 percent. (Brown) is leaving the department in much better hands.”
Weaver said she intends to follow the same process she used four years ago to identify and qualify candidates, but added this time an internal candidate would also receive consideration along with those from outside the Darien Police Department.
“We will certainly conduct a thorough search and cannot rule out someone from inside the department,” she said.
Harry Gamble is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
