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Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015, in Philadelphia. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Sunday he had hired Ramsey to serve as a senior adviser to the Chicago Police Department as it goes through a Justice Department civil rights investigation.(Photo: AP)
CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has hired one of America's high-profile, big-city law enforcement officers to advise the embattled Chicago Police Department on civil rights issues.
Emanuel said Sunday he picked Charles Ramsey, who recently retired as the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Philadelphia Police Department commissioner and previously led the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.
Ramsey<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is uniquely experienced to help guide the Chicago Police Department as it faces a Justice Department civil rights investigation that was launched last month, the mayor said. Ramsey led the Philadelphia and Washington police departments after similar federal probes were launched in those<span style="color: Red;">*</span>cities.
Before Ramsey left the Philadelphia police<span style="color: Red;">*</span>last month, the Justice Department praised the department<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for making quick progress in implementing changes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>recommended by the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>federal probe on deadly force by police in the City of Brotherly<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Love.
“Commissioner Ramsey is a not only a national leader in urban policing who has led two major police departments through civil rights reforms —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he is also a native Chicagoan who knows our police department and our communities," Emanuel said in a statement.
Ramsey will be paid $350 per hour in his role advising the police department "and will work essentially as a consultant for the forseeable future as CPD continues to rebuild trust in the department," said Adam Collins, a spokesman for the mayor.
It was unclear if any<span style="color: Red;">*</span>ceiling was set on how much Ramsey will be paid under his agreement with the city.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had announced the civil rights investigation of Chicago police after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the court-ordered release of police video that showed a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>police officer shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald<span style="color: Red;">*</span>16 times. The release of the video, as well as anger over other police-involved shootings in Chicago, led to weeks of protests and calls for Emanuel to resign.
The mayor, who was re-elected to a four-year term last year, says he has no plans to resign. He did fire his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, in the aftermath of the video's release. Emanuel said McCarthy had become a "distraction."
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Ramsey, who started his career in 1968 as a Chicago police officer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and was deputy superintendent<span style="color: Red;">*</span>between 1994 and 1998, was a serious contender for the Chicago superintendent job in 2011 as Emanuel prepared for his first term as mayor. Ramsey chose to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stay in Philadelphia, where he retired.
Ramsey, who recently accepted a job at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Drexel University<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Philadelphia as a visiting lecturer, told USA TODAY this month<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that he wasn't interested in running the Chicago Police Department.
"If I were 10 years younger and my family situation was different, I might be interested,'' said Ramsey, whose son is an officer on the Philadelphia force.
Ramsey, who was raised on Chicago's South Side,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will have a broad portfolio in his new advisory position. He has been assigned to advise<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the police department<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Emanuel's office<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on training, internal management and accountability systems on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>use of force, interactions with people suffering from mental illness<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and community policing.
“Chicago is at a defining moment, and I believe that Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department are committed to meet the challenge,” Ramsey said in a statement. “The situation in Chicago is not unlike many in cities across the country, but the people of Chicago should know that their leaders are working hard to restore trust where it has been lost. Progress won’t happen overnight, but a sustained and continued effort will put Chicago on a path forward.”
Last year, President Obama named Ramsey<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as co-chairman of a White House task force to identify<span style="color: Red;">*</span>strategies to help strengthen police community relations across the country. He also serves on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Contributing: Kevin Johnson in Washington
Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Aamer Madhani on Twitter:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@AamerISmad
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