CPD's second-in-command gets dramatically different responsibilities in shakeup

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

The second-in-command of the Chicago Police Department appears to have been stripped of virtually all of her duties related to the department's daily operations, according to a new organizational chart sent Wednesday to CPD personnel.
Yolanda Talley has overseen much of the department's day-to-day operations since March 2025, when Supt. Larry Snelling promoted her to the role of first deputy more than a year into his tenure at the helm of CPD.
Under the new order, released to department members in an administrative message, the first deputy's office will supervise the department's records division, which is staffed by civilians, its alternate response section, which handles 311 calls, its Office of Community Policing and the department's detached services division, which leases with other public bodies like the Office of Emergency Management and Communication.
According to the most recent organizational chart on CPD's directory of general orders, the first deputy's office previously supervised the department's patrol units, detective division, bureau of counterterrorism, street deputies and prosecutorial strategies. That organization had been in effect since May 2023.
Under the new general order, the bureaus of patrol, detectives and counterterrorism will report directly to Snelling. Street deputies will report to Chief of Patrol Jon Hein and prosecutorial strategies will report to the Chief of Staff for the superintendent, under Snelling's command.
The new order will be read at roll calls for the next week, the message to department members said. A department representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Talley, a 30-year veteran of the department, was previously the head of the bureau of internal affairs. She is the first Black woman to serve as first deputy superintendent, reporting directly to Snelling. Prior to internal affairs, Talley was commander of the Austin District (15th) on the West Side.
In February 2022, Talley's personal vehicle was involved in a narcotics arrest in the Harrison District (11th). The first deputy's niece was driving the car, and a man in the passenger seat was seen by police throwing a package of heroin out the window before officers placed him under arrest.
In body-worn camera footage previously obtained by the Tribune, Talley's niece told responding officers, 'Don't even worry about it cause my auntie's probably your boss.'
Talley's niece was not arrested, but the man later faced narcotics charges and ultimately was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Former CPD Superintendent David Brown later said there was 'no evidence of any misconduct by Chief Talley.'
The departmental reorganization comes five years after former CPD interim superintendent Charlie Beck drastically restructured CPD operations, though many of those plans were reconsidered as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
The changes are in keeping with Snelling's history as a hands-on chief executive.In September 2024, about a year into his tenure as superintendent, Snelling still had not yet named a first deputy superintendent — a role that typically oversees the day-to-day operations of the nation's second-largest police department.
Snelling said at the time that he had assumed most of the first deputy's responsibilities with assistance from the department's chiefs. He conceded that some saw the approach as 'problematic,' and Snelling said he 'would like a break every now and again,' but the arrangement, to that point, had worked.
'I learn by diving into the deep end of the pool,' Snelling said last year. 'I want to know every aspect of every job at the command staff position because it really helps me to develop and it helps me to have a better understanding of what to expect for the next person that I'm going to put in that position.'