Chicago's top cop names Yolanda Talley new second-in-command, first woman to hold post
More than a year after being confirmed as Chicago’s top cop, Larry Snelling on Monday finally named a second-in-command: 30-year department veteran Yolanda Talley, the first woman to hold the position.
Talley, who most recently served as internal affairs chief and led recruitment efforts, was previously embroiled in a bizarre incident involving a drug bust centering around her personal vehicle.
Talley wasn’t there, but her niece was driving her Lexus when a man was caught tossing heroin from the car in February 2022. An investigation by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s office didn’t find that Talley had broken any rules.
Body camera footage showed Talley’s niece telling officers that her “auntie’s probably your boss” when they took the car.
The officers who arrested the man, Kenneth Miles, were placed on desk duty without explanation. The Lexus was taken to the Homan Square police facility after the arrest but was never impounded.
The car was returned to Talley’s niece after investigators determined she “did not have any knowledge of said narcotics being inside the vehicle,” according to a police report.
Witzburg’s office investigated allegations that officers in the case “improperly returned” the car without impounding it. But investigators said they were “unable to find any directive, policy, or procedure for CPD members to follow when seizing a vehicle and then returning it without impounding the vehicle.”
Witzburg’s office called for policy changes and other remedies.
Witzburg’s office most notably pushed to bar then-Supt. David Brown from being rehired by the city because he failed to cooperate with the probe. Police officials rebuffed the request because it “seemed severe” and Brown had already resigned, according to a report issued last July.
Talley has also served as Area 1 deputy chief and commander of the Austin District, among other roles.
Snelling also announced a series of other command staff changes, including naming a civilian to help shepherd the department’s lagging court-ordered reform efforts.
Allyson Clark-Henson, a 25-year-veteran, has long been a key player in CPD’s reform push. But as the new executive director of constitutional policing and reform, Clark-Henson steps into a role that has been mired in controversy.
Her predecessor, Tina Skahill, announced she was quitting in 2023 after then-interim Supt. Fred Waller ordered her to end the department’s relationship with a Texas training firm with close ties to former Supt. Brown.
Skahill alleged that Waller had sought to demote her and stymie her chances of replacing him as superintendent because she headed an internal investigation that led to his suspension for a month.
Skahill’s exit came just months after her predecessor, Robert Boik, was fired for criticizing Brown’s decision to move nearly 50 officers under Boik's command to patrol duties.
Ralph Cruz, who most recently worked as commander of the department’s Training and Support Group, was named deputy chief of constitutional policing and reform, serving under Chief Angel Novalez.
Andre Parham was promoted to Area 4 deputy chief, and Patrick Kinney, Johnny E. Tate Jr., Herbert Williams III and Davina Ward were respectively named commanders of the investigative response team, the Harrison District, the Wentworth District and the Alternative Response Section.
"These dedicated leaders have spent their careers working to make this city safer for all and our department stronger for every member," Snelling said in a statement. "Each of these members were chosen following a thorough selection process based on their experience and individual expertise.
“I am confident in their leadership and I look forward to their continued contributions to our Department and city."