Matt Rodriguez`s first day as police superintendent was a baptism by water.
Nine years and two tries after he first sought the job in 1983, Rodriguez was named police chief Monday morning just as the city was awakening to a municipal disaster, the flooding of the Loop.
Although Rodriguez does not officially become superintendent until confirmation by the City Council, which is expected without major opposition, he will perform the duties of acting superintendent until that time.
Instead of spending the day relishing his victory or responding to charges that racial politics won him the job, Rodriguez was with Mayor Richard Daley and Fire Chief Raymond Orozco, riding herd on the safety and security of the city, updating the media, and coordinating the deployment of extra police and traffic aides.
Political speculation was that the next chief would have to be a black in order to satisfy the African-American community, which had claimed the job with outgoing Supt. LeRoy Martin and his predecessor, Fred Rice. Daley, however, passed over a black finalist and made Rodriguez the first Hispanic police superintendent in the city.
The other finalists chosen by the Police Board were the department`s chief counsel, Gerald Cooper, who is black, and Ray Risley, a white, now on leave from the department to serve as deputy chief of investigations for the Cook County state`s attorney.
Some politicians and critics of the mayor speculated that Daley decided to announce Rodriguez`s selection so that it would be buried in the news of the flood and receive less political heat.
Another view was that the appointment was a calculated move to place Rodriguez on center stage fast, giving him the advantage of quickly seeming to be a man in control of an ongoing emergency.
Black aldermen and police were infuriated by Daley`s choice, saying it represented a clear signal that the mayor intended to court his Hispanic constituents at the expense of the African-American community. However, none said they expect the council to reject the appointment.
”Every time a black candidate comes up for a position, the rules change,” said Ald. John Steele (6th). ”I think Gerald Cooper would have been head and shoulders over the other two candidates. He worked his way up, he went to law school in the evenings, he practiced criminal law, he came back to the Police Department in a top managerial position. I would think he would have all the credentials for the No. 1 slot.”
The third time was the charm for 56-year-old Rodriguez, a soft-spoken and personable man who applied to be superintendent in 1983 and 1987. Since 1980, he has managed the department`s bureau of technical services, which includes the 911 emergency system.
Daley is expected to submit Rodriguez`s name to the City Council on Wednesday, and a public hearing must be held before the vote is taken.
As City Hall employees raced down the building`s stairwells shortly after 9 a.m. after an evacuation was ordered, Daley was preparing for a news conference in his fifth-floor office.
Building elevators had been shut down as a precautionary measure.
Instead, mayoral press aides said that Daley would announce his choice of police superintendent first and then give an update on the flooding.
Daley introduced Rodriguez, then introduced Orozco, the city`s first Hispanic fire commissioner, to give an update on the flooding.
During the news conference, Daley said he expected Rodriguez to carry out the recommendations of a still-unreleased consultant`s report on manpower deployment in the Police Department.
Daley had high words of praise for Martin, who will leave this week to take over a top security job at the Chicago Housing Authority. Martin, who reached the madatory retirement age of 63 in January, earned $107,000 annually as police superintendent.
”He has big shoes to fill,” Daley said of Rodriguez, who will make a salary comparable to Martin`s. ”The department was not perfect when LeRoy took over. Let`s face it, we still have a long way to go and many improvements to make. He (Rodriguez) will not be tied to the traditional way of doing things. . . . He has the skills, knowledge and experience needed to elevate the Chicago Police Department to a new level of efficiency and
effectiveness.”
Daley said that the Police Department has big problems because of
”violent cowboy-style criminals with high-tech weapons.”
Flanked by family members at the news conference, Rodriguez said: ”I`m very grateful to the mayor for his confidence in me. I`m proud to head what I think is the finest police department in the country.”
Rodriguez, who is married and has a grown daughter, joined the department in 1959 and has held positions investigating organized crime, vice, gambling and robbery. However, he has never commanded a district.
Rodriguez also has taught classes on organized crime for 10 years at the University of Illinois and has lectured nationally and internationally on the implementation of technology and other law-enforcement topics.
He said he will look closely at the Booz, Allen management evaluation, which recommends that the department place more police on the streets working with citizens in an attempt to head off problems.
coa concept of returning police to more direct contact with communities rather than relying on the 911 emergency system.
Daley agreed that the 911 system ”runs” the police department at the moment, and said the consultants` recommendations will be studied closely.
But Rodriguez cautioned that the department will not radically alter its deployment of officers immediately.
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”We don`t want to sacrifice public safety for experiments,” he said.
Rodriguez`s critics point mostly to the fact that he is not experienced in direct command of street officers. They also say he has a hard time making decisions and has not been known to be a forceful leader.
”You have to understand what`s going on in the street,” said Ald. William Beavers (7th), a former police officer who is head of the City Council`s Police and Fire Committee. Beavers had favored the selection of Deputy Supt. James Whigham, who was one of the 10 semifinalists.
”Rodriguez will either survive or fall on his face,” Beavers said.
”But maybe with the right support, he will be able to shine.”
Daley said race did not play a role in the selection of his new police superintendent, but rather, he relied on the qualifications of the three finalists.
”Any one of the three finalists would make a fine superintendent,”
Daley said.
But Chicago politics being what it is, almost everyone interpreted the appointment as being based largely on racial considerations. Black aldermen and others were particularly upset.
”An African-American should have been kept in that job,” said Ald. Robert Shaw (9th). ”I think the mayor took advantage of the day; instead of getting heat fom the African-American community, the flood situation will be big news.”
It has been important to have a black superintendent, Shaw said, because the majority of people who use police services are black. A black
superintendent curbs the likelihood of police brutality against African-Americans, he said.
”If Daley continues this trend (of cutting blacks out of important positions), African-Americans will rise up at the polls and he will get some difficult results,” Shaw said.
Patricia Hill, head of the African-American Police League, said Cooper represented a manager who was sensitive, diplomatic and knowlegeable.
”His appointment would have sent a very positive and progressive message to the city,” she said. ”Right now, it does appear to be business as usual. We see the administration reimplementing the machine, brick by brick.”
There are about 3,125 black officers, 25 percent of the 12,500-member force.
City Treasurer Miriam Santos, the city`s highest-ranking Hispanic officer, said: ”Matt Rodriguez is a very good appointment. I think he is one of our best and the brightest, and I think the mayor made a good choice.”
Hilda Frontany, a board member of the Hispanic Institute of Law Enforcement, which headed the lobbying effort for Rodriguez, said his qualifications had been proven when he was selected as a finalist on previous occasions by separate police boards.
”He does have the credentials, the years of experience, and the sensitivity to work with the diverse communities represented in the city,”
she said. ”Of course, it does give us a sense of great ethnic pride that he is Latino, but also remember that he is also Polish-American. He has handled pressure for 35 years. This will only mean that it would be extended over a larger work force.”
Risley, who worked with Rodriguez for nine years as part of Rice`s administrative staff, said: ”Matt is a very qualified, honorable, honest and intelligent man. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him.”
Police Board President Albert Maule said he was impressed during the selection process by Rodriguez`s years of management experience and excellent interpersonal skills.
”His people skills were among the best,” Maule said. ”He`ll do a good job, but he`s got his work cut out for him,” given the program for change laid out in the consultant`s report.
Dick Ward, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois who has worked with Rodriguez for many years, praised his broad knowledge of national and international developments in police administration.
”He is a planner, someone who knows how to put together teams to solve problems and who understands large bureaucracies,” Ward said. ”But you will also see Matt working closely with the community and reaching out to the department. He`s been beaten over the head because he is a nice guy. When Matt wants to get something done, he will not bulldoze it through. He brings people together in a concilliatory manner. Sometimes that takes more time.”