Police commander leaving Chicago to become Oakland chief

CHICAGO (AP) - A commander hired six months ago to help oversee reforms at the Chicago Police Department is leaving to become Oakland, California's police chief.

Anne Kirkpatrick is a former Spokane, Washington, police chief. She was a finalist for Chicago's superintendent job last year, but was passed over in favor of Eddie Johnson.

Kirkpatrick's hiring in Chicago followed the firing of Superintendent Garry McCarthy after the release of a video showing an officer fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Kirkpatrick said at a news conference Wednesday that it was a tough decision to leave Chicago so soon after arriving. She said the city's reforms are still in the "incubation period."

She is taking over a police force under federal court oversight since 2003 and without a chief for seven months.