Mayor Brandon Johnson's choice to head COPA vows to rebuild police and public's trust in the oversight agency

When a nationwide search ended with the nomination of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability's acting chief administrator as the agency's permanent chief, it looked like a repeat of a familiar Chicago story, in which an insider who doesn't make waves gets retained.

But 25-year-veteran LaKenya White used her confirmation hearing Friday to dispel the notion that she got the job in order to maintain the status quo.

White told the Police and Fire Committee she intends to do plenty of things differently at an agency that officers view as a deck stacked against them — and that everyday Chicagoans don’t trust to punish police wrongdoing.

“I have seen the tears of a mother who has lost her child in an officer-involved shooting... I have seen the tears of an officer who had to make split-second decisions in order to save his own life,” White told the committee. “I’m not here to make friends… I am here to educate. I’m here to foster a better working relationship. But I’m also here to be fair, to be truthful. And if that gets me not liked, then so be it.”

COPA is the agency responsible for making disciplinary recommendations after investigating officer-involved shootings and deaths, serious injuries of individuals in Chicago Police Department custody, or serious allegations of misconduct, such as excessive force, sexual misconduct and bias-based verbal abuse.

The Police and Fire Committee supported White's confirmation, which now goes to the full City Council Wednesday for a final vote.

White said the agency “got a bad rep from different cases and it’s unfortunate.” Her goal is to change that perception, in part by ensuring that her staff has the training it needs to conduct fair, thorough and timely investigations, and is “compassionate to officers and the job that they do.”

She appeared to be referring to public trust shattered by the police shootings of Rekia Boyd in 2012 and Laquan McDonald in 2014, as well as
the city's decision to withhold the McDonald shooting video until a court ordered then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to release it.

Boyd was 22 when she was shot by an off-duty police officer. The officer, Dante Servin, was later acquitted, and that verdict became a rallying point for the #SayHerName movement, and a reckoning over how the city values the lives of Black women and girls.

White was the chief investigator in the Boyd case. She told alderpersons the case will “forever resonate with me.” To help rebuild public trust, she said she plans to create a youth commission and do outreach to Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges.

During Friday's confirmation hearing, South Side Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th) talked about the rise in activism over his twelve years in the City Council tailor-made to “sway opinion.” He asked White how that heightened level of activism would “affect you in… making decisions in your job?”

White said she was “not affected by activism.”

“Some days, I’m going to be considered pro-police and other days I’m going to be anti-police. But this is the nature of the beast. This is what I signed up for,” she said.

Chicago’s police accountability agency has been without a permanent leader since February, 2025 when Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten resigned to avoid a potentially embarrassing vote of no-confidence.

Kersten faced strong opposition throughout her tenure as COPA chief. Before she was appointed, she came under fire for recommending that slain police officer Ella French be suspended for her role in the raid of social worker Anjanette Young’s home.

Kersten apologized for the “heartache, frustration and just flat-out anger” she had caused French’s grieving family, and was confirmed a month later — but the pushback continued.

Two former COPA officials sued the city, claiming they were retaliated against for complaining about Kersten’s leadership.

The city’s largest police union also sued the agency under Kersten, claiming it had carried out “biased and unfair investigations.” One of the former officials still has a pending case in court — the other suits have been dismissed.

White has worked at previous iterations of the police oversight agency, including the Office of Professional Standards in 2000, and the Independent Police Review Authority in 2007, where she handled a number of officer-involved shootings.

She joined COPA upon its creation in 2017, and eventually became the agency’s Director of Investigations for Intake, overseeing all incoming complaints.

“I love what I do and I want to showcase that to you all, to the community and to officers as well. Because we do care about officers’ perceptions of COPA. And I want to change that narrative.” White said Friday. She vowed to "put boots on the ground" in Chicago neighborhoods to "foster a better working relationship with the community and police, and educate the community about COPA and the broader system of police accountability.”