Law and Order in Chicago

Throughout his extensive law enforcement career, Garry McCarthy has consistently delivered superior results. Through executive leadership roles, operations management techniques, and implementing innovative crime control strategies, McCarthy has significantly reduced crime and streamlined efficiencies.

From 2011 to 2015, McCarthy served as the Police Superintendent for the City of Chicago—the second largest police department in the nation. He oversaw a $1.4 billion budget and 13 thousand sworn and civilian employees. During his tenure, he worked diligently to reduce violence and crime by using proven crime fighting and prevention strategies that helped reduce crime in other major American cities including New York City and Newark. Under McCarthy’s leadership, Chicago saw four straight years of reduction in overall crime and the fewest violent crime incidents since the 1960s. Through policy and training efforts, he reduced police related shootings by 70 percent and police complaints by 50 percent. Since 2011, overall crime in Chicago fell by more than 37 percent—across the FBI’s combined major crime indices.

McCarthy has been awarded more than twenty Commendations for Valor, is a sought-after expert and international public speaker, and is an active member of many organizations. He served as the First Vice President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and is a member of the Police Executive Research Forum. He was also featured in the award-winning documentary Brick City. McCarthy attended the prestigious Police Management Institute at Columbia University as well as the graduate program at Marist College in New York. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York-Albany. Garry has three wonderful children and lives in Chicago with his wife Kristin and their son.