A senior member of the Chicago Police Department who served as interim superintendent during the upheaval over the fatal police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald is leaving to become police chief at Northeastern Illinois University. The school says First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante will assume the post Sept. 7.
Escalante served as interim superintendent for four months after Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Escalante's predecessor, Garry McCarthy. That firing came shortly after the release of the video in November, which showed a white officer shooting 17-year-old McDonald 16 times.
Escalante applied to be the permanent superintendent but the job went to another high-ranking member of the department, Eddie Johnson.
Northeastern Illinois University President Sharon Hahs says Escalante "has a national reputation in the field of law enforcement for his experience, integrity and leadership."
