Chicago board names 3 finalists for superintendent

The Chicago Police Board announced Friday that it has selected two members of the police department — including a woman — and a police chief in New Jersey as finalists to become the city's next police superintendent.

The list now goes to Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel for a final decision. Emanuel, who has said he wants to make his selection before he takes office next month, can choose from the list. Or he can ask that the search be re-opened, as outgoing Mayor Richard Daley did when Jody Weis — his ultimate selection — was not on the first list.

A spokesman for Emanuel declined to comment on the finalists.

The finalists, culled from a list of more than 40 people who the board said applied for the job, include Debra Kirby, a deputy superintendent in the department's Bureau of Professional Standards who also has headed the department's internal affairs division.

She would be the first woman superintendent in the department's history.

Eugene Williams, a 30-year department veteran, is the department's chief of patrol.

The lone outsider on the list is Garry McCarthy. A longtime member of the New York City Police Department, McCarthy has headed the department in Newark, N.J, since 2006.

Not on the list is the White House drug czar. Gil Kerlikowske, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said recently he applied for the job and, according to news reports, interviewed with both Emanuel and the police board.

The next police superintendent replaces Terry Hillard, the former superintendent who returned on an interim basis after Weis stepped down when his contract ran out. During the campaign, Emanuel said he would replace Weis, who was brought in by Daley from the FBI, for reasons including low officer morale.

Weis said that he thinks McCarthy would be the best choice.

"As much as I like Gene and Deb, Gene's experience with the NYPD and running Newark has so much more breadth and depth to it," Weis said. "He's innovative, he's creative (and) the city would be well served by him."