Mayor Brandon Johnson is on the clock.

       He faces an Aug. 12 deadline to select the next leader of the Chicago Police Department from a list of three finalists handed to him earlier this month. If he decides none of the candidates fit the bill — a long shot, but not impossible — he could order the vetting process begin anew.

       Advertisement

       But until the next permanent superintendent is chosen and approved by the City Council, the CPD remains under the direction of Fred Waller, the recently retired chief of patrol whom Johnson asked to lead the department through the city’s historically violent summer months.