Chicago Supt. Larry Snelling’s retirement began Wednesday after a nearly three-year tenure leading the nation’s second largest police department. He leaves behind a city that’s seen significant declines in violent crime but has not completed federally mandated reforms. Mayor Brandon Johnson named First Deputy Supt. Fred Waller as interim top cop while the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) begins its search for Snelling’s permanent successor.
Though Snelling mostly avoided the high-profile controversies that plagued some of his predecessors, his legacy has garnered mixed reviews. Chicago experienced substantial reductions in homicides and shootings over the past two years. Through the first half of 2026, the city remained on pace for one of its lowest homicide totals in decades, continuing a downward trend that began in 2023. At the same time, the department is only in full compliance with 25% of the federal consent decree, and questions remain about officer accountability, immigration enforcement and the role policing should play in violence prevention work. How four Chicagoans who worked with or closely followed Snelling’s administration view his legacy:
“He was always very squared away, always very sharp,” Former First Deputy Supt. John Escalante said. “I think during the time that he was a superintendent, I think he did a very good job. Difficult position to be in, but I think he did the best he could.” “Statistically, it’s the safest period of time in Chicago that we’ve seen in recent memory,” Dion McGill, who represents the 7th Police District Council, said. “But I think under his tenure, the progress on the consent decree, in my opinion, in the opinions of many, was slow.” “In 2024, we had over 150 community conversations where we came up with some collective recommendations,” Artinese Thomas, deputy director of Live Free Illinois, said. “We did see some of them come into fruition while Supt. Snelling has been in his position.” “We would love to see more transparency,” Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, said. “We would love to see a superintendent that could walk the streets, come to the neighborhoods that have high crime.”
