Head of city agency investigating police misconduct stepping down
BY ART GOLAB Staff Reporter agolab@suntimes.com April 12, 2013 2:52PM
Ilana B. Rosenzweig
Updated: April 13, 2013 2:08AM
The head of the agency that investigates allegations of Chicago Police misconduct has submitted her resignation and will leave her post at the end of May, according to a city spokesman.
Ilana Rosenzweig, chief administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority, told Mayor Rahm Emanuel that she is moving with her family to Singapore, where her husband has accepted a new job.
She came to Chicago in 2007, when former Mayor Richard Daley appointed her as the chief administrator of the Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards.
Rosenzweig, who had worked in a similar post in Los Angeles, oversaw the transformation of OPS into the IPRA, which reported to the mayor instead of the Police Department.
As chief administrator, Rosenzweig hired more investigators and started making audio recordings of police officer interviews.
However, her leadership has drawn mixed reviews from both police union officials, who said she has attempted to violate contract provisions, and civil rights attorneys, who said the percentage of sustained complaints against officers has gone down under her tenure.
In October, 2011, she was reappointed to the post by Emanuel.
After accepting her resignation, the mayor said in a statement: “Ilana Rosenzweig has served the City of Chicago and its residents with great honor and integrity as Chief Administrator of IPRA. While we are disappointed she and her family are leaving Chicago, we wish her nothing but the best, and thank her for her commitment to our city.”
Over the next few weeks, the mayor will appoint a committee to conduct a search for a replacement. The committee will interview prospective candidates and make two or three recommendations for the mayor’s consideration.
