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Head of Chicago police retires in wake of scandals
By Associated Press
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CHICAGO - The head of the Chicago Police Department announced his retirement on Monday amid a storm of controversy over two highly publicized videotaped beatings by off-duty officers.

Superintendent Philip J. Cline, 57, had been expected to retire later this year, but the embarrassing incidents captured by bar surveillance cameras appeared to have hastened his departure.

The department was vilified last month after footage that police said showed an off-duty officer pummeling a female bartender half his size was broadcast worldwide. And last week, six other officers were stripped of police powers after they were accused of beating four businessmen in a bar.

That confrontation also was caught on surveillance video, but police have not released the footage.

Cline, named superintendent in 2003, did not take questions from reporters after reading a four-minute statement. He said he would stay on until the city found a replacement.

Cline said Mayor Richard M. Daley had "given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead the best police department in the country, and I thank him for that."

To the city's police officers, he said: "I encourage all of them to rise above any controversy and stay focused on the mission."

At a separate news conference, Daley said the city would undertake a national search for Cline's replacement.

Daley said he was angered by the actions of the police officers allegedly involved in the beatings, calling the incidents "unacceptable." He also said the department moved too slowly to take action against the officers allegedly involved.

"The vast majority of Chicago police officers are dedicated, hard working professional men and women who perform their jobs diligently every day," Daley said. "Unfortunately, the actions of just a few officers," can tarnish the department's image.

But the mayor also insisted he did not ask Cline to leave. He said Cline told him a year ago that he planned to retire in 2007.

"After four years, that's a tough, tough job," Daley said. "He decided it was his time to go."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, head of the Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said Cline was retiring under "a cloud of scandal." Future allegations of police misconduct should be subject to review by a civilian board, Jackson said.

"These videos have created an embarrassment for the mayor and for the city," Jackson said. "The police cannot operate above the people ... (the) mayor is not a sufficient check."

Police have been criticized for waiting a month to arrest Anthony Abbate - a 12-year veteran allegedly seen on video punching, kicking and throwing 24-year-old bartender Karolina Obrycka to the floor after she reportedly refused to continue serving him drinks. Obrycka suffered bruises to her head, neck, back and lower body, according to her attorney, Terry Ekl.

Abbate initially was charged with a misdemeanor, but last month was charged with a felony. Police also have faced allegations that someone tried to bribe and then threaten the woman to keep her from pressing charges.

Cline announced last week that the six officers accused of assaulting the businessmen had been taken off street duty for their alleged role in the Dec. 15 altercation. Police were called to the scene, but a sergeant who was among the officers involved in the fight waved them off, Cline said. News of that beating surfaced after the Abbate incident became public.

Cline had vowed to change the way the department responds to allegations of misconduct, including moving faster to get officers accused of misconduct off the street.

During Monday's news conference, Cline did not say what role the incidents played in his announcement, only referring to them obliquely as "these times of challenge."

But in recent days, Cline said Abbate "tarnished our image worse than anybody else in the history of the department." After the second incident, Cline said he was "disgusted to witness this type of conduct" by officers.

Cline stressed the improvements the department of 13,500 officers and 3,000 civilians made under his leadership.

"Three and a half years ago, Chicago was the homicide capital of the country," he said. "Mayor Daley gave me a mandate as the new police superintendent to reduce homicides and shootings and to make Chicago the safest big city in America. Since that time the men and women of the police department have answered that call."

Cline was born in Chicago and grew up on the city's North Side. He began his police career as a cadet in 1968. His first beat was in the tough Cabrini-Green housing projects in 1970, and he was promoted to detective in 1972.

After stints in the narcotics section and organized crime division, he was named chief of detectives in 2001 and first deputy superintendent two years later.

Associated Press writer Nathaniel Hernandez contributed to this story.

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