Ex-L.A. Chief Charlie Beck to be named interim top cop Friday

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck will be announced as the interim Chicago police superintendent on Friday, sources said.

Beck is flying into Chicago and will be introduced at a press conference Friday, sources said.

Beck only plans to serve in the role for as long as needed while officials undertake a nationwide search for a new permanent chief. The search is expected to take three to six months, sources said.

Beck, 66, retired as Los Angeles police chief in June 2018 after nine years at the helm. All told, he spent more than 40 years with the LAPD.

The Sun-Times reported Wednesday that Beck was the leading contender for the interim job.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson announced his retirement at a Thursday morning press conference. Johnson plans to work through the end of the year.

It’s unclear when Beck will officially start.

Bill Bratton, who served as LAPD chief before Beck, said last year that Beck was able to navigate a fiscal crisis within the LAPD while improving relations between the department and the city’s African-American community after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

“He was able to move forward and keep the ship on course in very turbulent waters,” Bratton told the Los Angeles Times at Beck’s retirement ceremony in June 2018.

Earl Paysinger, a retired LAPD assistant chief, said that Beck would, in time, go down as “the most gifted chief who ever led the LAPD,” according to the Times.