DeKalb Public Safety Director May Head to Chicago

Dr. Cedric Alexander, who has been DeKalb’s public safety director since 2013, is reportedly in line to become Chicago’s new top cop.

Alexander is the frontrunner to replace Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

McCarthy was fired last December in the fallout that surrounded the shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black man who was fleeing from police when he was shot to death. A widely circulated video of the shooting led to social unrest and protests throughout the city, and led to McCarthy’s dismissal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

According to Alexander’s bio from DeKalb County, he was the Federal Security Director for the Transportation Security Administration through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

He’s also served as deputy commissioner of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and Rochester, NY, chief of police. Alexander began his law enforcement career in 1977 and also served with the Miami-Dade Police Department, and was a law enforcement officer in Florida for 15 years.

He is currently national second vice president for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).