Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was not the problem. The Chicago Police Department had three major long-standing systemic problems that preceded McCarthy’s tenure:
There has been insufficient psychological screening of applicants for possible warning signs of poor impulse control and the inability to understand the culture of the communities they serve. What was the applicant’s prior record of employment? Was applying for a job with the CPD a kind of last resort?
There has been inadequate training as to the appropriate use of a firearm in a highly contingent situation.
There has been poor management of possible police misconduct. McCarthy had to contend with a police union that reflexively takes a circle-the-wagons approach in defending any action of a police officer. What’s more, the Internal Affairs Division of the CPD should be renamed the ‘Department of Cover-up.” As they see it, a cop can do no wrong.
McCarthy took the fall for these systemic problems and for the mayor’s attempt to cover his own tracks.
— Ronald Kallen, Highland Park
