Chicago launches national search for next police superintendent after Larry Snelling retirement

Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has launched a nationwide search for the next Chicago Police Department superintendent following Larry Snelling’s announced retirement.

Snelling’s retirement was effective July 15, 2026. The commission’s announcement was dated July 2, and an official release describing the search was published July 7.

The commission, known as CCPSA, said the replacement will be chosen through its formal selection process. The reviewed material does not identify a final candidate or give a date for an appointment.

A citywide public-safety leadership transition

The superintendent leads Chicago’s largest public-safety agency. The pending selection therefore carries implications for the department’s policing priorities, accountability work, investigations, services for crime victims and community-policing policy.

The announcement does not describe the retirement as forced or link it to any particular crime trend. It does not identify who, if anyone, has been formally named to serve as interim superintendent.

That leaves the national search as the next confirmed step in the leadership transition. The commission has not announced when it expects to name a successor.

Commission’s role in the selection

CCPSA previously led the search that resulted in Snelling’s appointment in 2023. In its release on the new search, the commission also said it had worked with Snelling on annual department goals involving investigations, crime-victim services and community policing.

The commission’s new search is not an announcement of a permanent replacement. Rather, it begins the process to select the person who will next lead the Chicago Police Department.

For Chicago residents, the process will determine who takes responsibility for leading the department and working with the commission on its public-safety priorities. The available materials provide no timetable beyond the search itself, and they do not identify finalists or a confirmed appointment date.

What is known and what remains unresolved

Snelling’s retirement date is established as July 15, 2026, and the nationwide search remained active as of Aug. 3, according to the approved source packet. But the commission’s release reviewed for this article does not say how long the search will take, who will be considered, or when the next superintendent will begin.

Those unanswered questions mean the commission has announced a process, not a completed leadership selection.

Sources

• CCPSA Launches Nationwide Search for New Superintendent – 2026, Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability

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