Newly installed interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller is collecting an annual city taxpayer-funded pension of $141,608 while he has been earning more than $210,648 per year as a deputy director, bringing his total annual compensation to $352,256, according to records obtained by WTTW News. Waller, 64, has now twice served as CPD’s interim leader, first leading the department from May 2023 to September 2023 before Mayor Brandon Johnson picked Larry Snelling as the city’s top cop. After Snelling took office, Waller stayed on to advise Snelling, serving as deputy director in the superintendent’s office. Waller has received pension payments of more than $11,500 per month since he retired on Aug. 15, 2020, and they will continue for the rest of his life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. Annually, Waller’s pension increases by 3% to cover any increase in the cost of living, records show. He received a pension payment in June, according to documents obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request. It is not yet clear whether Waller will get a pay bump to serve as interim superintendent. Waller and CPD representatives did not respond to a detailed list of questions from WTTW News, including whether it is appropriate for Waller to earn both a taxpayer-funded pension and a government salary at a time when the city is facing a projected budget shortfall of $1.16 billion in 2027. By comparison, Mayor Brandon Johnson earns $221,052. The city’s highest paid employee is Michael McMurray, the commissioner of the Department of Aviation, who earns $350,000 a year.
CPD spent $162.5 million more than its City Council-approved budget in 2025. Some backstory:
Since 2023, Waller’s salary as CPD deputy director has risen approximately 16%. Waller is expected to serve as CPD’s interim superintendent through the end of the year, as the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability searches for a permanent leader. The oversight board has until Nov. 15 to recommend three finalists to Johnson, who then gets 30 days to choose one or reject all three, which would force the commission to start over. Johnson’s pick must be confirmed by the City Council. It is legal in Illinois to simultaneously earn a salary from a government agency and collect a taxpayer-funded pension. Waller is not the first public official to take on a new taxpayer-paid job after retiring from another government position.
In 2017, then-Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law preventing police officers who retire, begin collecting their pension and are rehired from earning a second pension.
