LaKenya White, who started her career at the agency that preceded COPA, was elevated to replace Kersten on a temporary basis. She\u2019s held down the fort, while a nationwide search was conducted for her permanent replacement.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the city\u2019s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability voted to give her the permanent job. <\/p>\n
It sounds like a familiar Chicago story: a nationwide search goes through the motions only to select the person already in charge. But sources close to the process said White earned the job by rebuilding shattered trust with demoralized COPA employees and stabilizing the difficult environment she inherited.<\/p>\n
Though she also came under scrutiny for repeatedly wiping out recommendations to fire officers<\/a>, during her first months as interim chief administrator. <\/p>\n She\u2019ll be responsible for rebuilding trust in an agency undergoing turbulent times \u2014 and as the agency\u2019s list of responsibilities continues to grow. <\/p>\n An ordinance, backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling, would soon place COPA in charge of investigating any allegations officers violated the Welcoming City Act by assisting in federal immigration enforcement. Critics in the City Council have questioned the agency\u2019s ability to take on such a role. <\/p>\n The oversight commission paid a firm over $45,000 to conduct the search for the agency\u2019s new leader, according to records obtained by the Sun-Times. <\/p>\n There were over 30 candidates, which included people with significant positions at oversight agencies like COPA, according to sources familiar with the search. The commission denied the Sun-Times request for a complete list. <\/p>\n But the commission stands confident in its decision to nominate the Chicago native and oversight veteran. <\/p>\n \u201cCOPA\u2019s work requires leadership that understands both the technical demands of complex investigations and the human impact those investigations have on families, officers, and communities,\u201d CCSPA President Remel Terry said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cLaKenya has spent her career inside Chicago\u2019s police accountability system, and she understands how this agency operates at every level. That depth of experience is exactly what COPA needs in the next Chief Administrator.\u201d<\/p>\n At Thursday\u2019s meeting, Commissioner Angel Navarijo said White \u201ccan build public trust\u201d and had run COPA \u201cmore effectively, improving consent decree compliance and transforming the culture at COPA.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LaKenya White, Interim Chief Administrator of Civilian Office of Police Accountability, speaks after the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability voted to nominate her to serve as the next Chief Administrator of COPA during a meeting at Malcolm X College in Chicago on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.<\/p>\n Talia Sprague\/Chicago Sun-Times<\/p>\n Addressing the meeting\u2019s attendees, White said while there has been \u201cmeaningful progress,\u201d there was a lot of work left to strengthen public trust in the accountability process. <\/p>\n In accepting the proposed goals of her new role for 2026, she promised the the city, as well as Chicago police officers, to be \u201creal\u201d and \u201cfair.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank you guys for believing in me to take this agency on, this isn\u2019t something I take lightly,\u201d White said. \u201cI\u2019m not here for public comment or political opinion, I\u2019m here to do the work \u2026 I\u2019m here to bridge the gap between community and police.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago\u2019s police accountability agency has been without a permanent leader since last February, when Kersten resigned to avoid a potentially embarrassing vote of no confidence. <\/p>\n Kersten faced strong opposition throughout her tenure as chief of Chicago\u2019s police accountability oversight agency. Before she was even appointed, she came under fire for recommending that slain Officer Ella French be suspended for her role in the raid of social worker Anjanette Young\u2019s home.<\/a><\/p>\n Kersten apologized for the \u201cheartache, frustration and just flat-out anger\u201d she\u2019d caused French\u2019s grieving family, and was confirmed a month later<\/a> \u2014 but the pushback continued.<\/p>\n Two former COPA officials sued the city,<\/a> claiming they were retaliated against for complaining about Kersten\u2019s leadership. The city\u2019s largest police union also sued the agency under Kersten, claiming they\u2019d carried out \u201cbiased and unfair investigations.\u201d One of the former officials still has a pending case in county court, the other suits have been dismissed. <\/p>\n Last January, Kersten got a letter from the oversight commission saying they\u2019d planned a vote of no confidence in her, sources told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n This was just the latest tumultuous chapter in the city\u2019s experiment with civilian police oversight, which began in the 1970s as the Chicago Police Department\u2019s troubled Office of Professional Standards and continued with the city\u2019s successor agency, the Independent Police Review Authority.<\/p>\n IPRA was disbanded following public outcry over the police killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on the Southwest Side. Months later, in August 2016, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel established COPA as its replacement.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/6ed5d83\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5431x3734+0+0\/resize\/840x578!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F13%2F3e%2F986b6e5f4db489db8bae1b8fe336%2Fnewcopachief-260130-25.jpg\")
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![\"Community](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/4e4c976\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5018x3431+0+0\/resize\/840x574!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Ff2%2F61%2Ff3af5fcd474cb3e2b687fd9610c3%2Fnewcopachief-260130-12.jpg\")
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