CHICAGO — Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown is resigning from his current position on March 16, which he has held since 2020 after retiring in 2016 as the police chief of the Dallas Police Department.
"I accepted his resignation and want to commend him for his accomplishments not just for the department but the entire city, including setting a record number of illegal gun recoveries for two consecutive years; leading a double-digit reduction in violent crime in 2022; significant, consistent progress on the consent decree; standing up a full-time recruitment team that yielded over 950 new hires last year; significantly expanding the resources for officer wellness; and promoting more women to the senior exempt ranks than ever before in the history of the department," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. "I personally want to thank him for his service to our city."
Brown will be taking a job as COO of Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins' personal injury law firm, Loncar Lyon Jenkins, he said in a statement.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside the brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” Brown added. “I will continue to pray that all officers return home to their families safe at the end of their shift. May the Good Lord bless the city of Chicago and the men and women who serve and protect this great city.”
ABC7 reported that rumors of Brown's departure began early last month after the department’s Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said he would be retiring from CPD to move to the private sector. He reportedly accepted a job with Google.
ABC7 said Brown had wanted to leave in January but agreed to stay until after the mayoral election. Brown came under fire often, they reported, from all the mayoral candidates during the campaign, aside from Lightfoot, who hired him.
Brown retired from DPD in October 2016, three months after the July 7 mass shooting which saw five police officers killed and 11 others injured.
WFAA reported at the time of Brown’s retirement that police unions had called for his resignation earlier that year after he presented an unprecedented shift in department scheduling to address a rising murder rate.
But as the department’s spokesperson in the wake of the downtown Dallas shooting, Brown gained popularity and national media attention. He made the decision to use the bomb robot which killed the suspect in the shooting and was applauded for giving powerful eulogies and comforting the families of the five officers killed.
"Over the past three decades, Chief Brown has been dedicated to preserving the safety of others," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at the time in 2016. "At no time was his exemplary leadership more evident than in the aftermath of the heinous shooting of law enforcement officers this July in Dallas. Thanks to his unwavering commitment to protecting his community, Dallas has emerged even stronger, and on behalf of the entire State of Texas, Cecilia and I thank him for his service."