In a case of “you can’t fire me, I quit!” Chicago police superintendent David Brown resigned his position less than 24 hours after his boss Lori Lightfoot went down in electoral flames.

Three years ago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pulled Brown from the Dallas police department after she had fired then-CPD superintendent Eddie Johnson for “a series of ethical lapses.” His firing came after police officers found him sleeping in his official vehicle after consuming alcohol. On top of that, he was in the car with a woman who was not his wife. Oops.

So David Brown was going to fix the Chicago Police Department. Except he didn’t.

Crime in the city soared, while rank-and-file cops became disgusted with his leadership. They had to deal with anti-police Chicago aldermen as well as far-left “journalists” who target police. Then there was the federally-monitored “consent decree” which further tied the hands of the police, leaving them unable to chase perpetrators on foot. And then there was Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who undermined police efforts to curtail crime.

On top of that, David Brown cancelled officers’ days off, forcing more than 1000 cops to work 11 days straight between April and May, 2022. Mental health experts criticized that policy, which led to three officers committing suicide in July, 2022. They were unable to process the trauma of working a relentless schedule in high-crime Chicago.

Credit: Noah Coffey/flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Other officers left Chicago altogether. Over 1000 CPD officers left the force last year, with 35% of them taking jobs with other law enforcement agencies rather than retiring. Many joined police from other states and headed south to Florida, and not just for the weather. They’re treated better in Ron DeSantis Land.

So in the wake of these disasters, and after Lightfoot lost her re-election bid, David Brown decided to resign.

He’s going back to Dallas, where a job awaits him.

Lori Lightfoot Was Brown’s Sole Fan in Chicago

Had Lightfoot remained in the running for re-election for mayor, she would’ve kept Brown on. In a statement, she praised his “accomplishments” and “progress.”

The statement reads, in part:

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 … 

Let’s be real here — few Chicagoans buy that. And none of the other candidates believed it either, apparently. As Crain’s Chicago Business tweeted:

Every mayoral candidate except Lori Lightfoot had promised to fire Chicago Police Supt. David Brown for failing to get a handle on street violence, as the outgoing mayor has defended him to the end.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s winners Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson leveled their own criticisms.

Paul Vallas — whom the Fraternal Order of Police had endorsed — said in a statement that read in part:

Superintendent Brown failed to make our city safer and his resignation is a positive step forward …

Public safety is a civil right and as mayor I will work with CPD and all of our communities to make Chicago the safest big city in America.

The Chicago Teachers Union-endorsed Brandon Johnson also released a statement:

As mayor, my preference will be to appoint someone from within the current ranks of the Department, but most important is appointing the right person for the job – someone who is collaborative, competent and compassionate, and who truly cares about protecting and serving the people of our city.

John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said that Brown lost confidence in his officers two months into the job. That’s when Brown had publicly criticized several officers who were seen on video sleeping in the office of former US Rep. Bobby Rush. Catanzara said on Wednesday:

It was just egregious, over-the-top disgusting. It just showed his willingness to be a political pawn for this mayor. He became as political as any superintendent has ever been and did the mayor’s bidding from Day 1.

As for the people of Chicago, if this tweet from CWBChicago is any indication, it looks like Chicagoans were ready to give David Brown the heave-ho:

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown resigned today, effective March 16.

As his employer, would you be OK with waiving his 2-week notice to make his departure effective immediately?

— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) March 1, 2023

David Brown Was On His Way Out, Anyway

Even if Lightfoot had been able to keep her job, David Brown would’ve left his post anyway. That’s because he turns 63 in October, which is mandatory retirement age for Chicago police officers. And he had been already been arranging his exit, as ABC7 reporter Craig Wall pointed out:

Clearly this has been in the works for some time, with Brown having already lined up a new job in Texas, and despite Mayor Lightfoot having tried to shoot down those rumors last month.

But he had seven months left. And now he won’t get a celebratory fare-thee-well from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, with glowing TV coverage and a big cake. Instead he’ll quietly depart for Dallas and his new job, leaving his number 2, First Deputy Supt. Eric Carter, to hold his old post until a new mayor is sworn in.

Bye, bye, Superintendent Brown. Chicago has had enough of you and your boss, Lori Lightfoot.

Featured image: Lee Stranahan/flickr/cropped/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.