The police chief of Chicago has been relieved of drunkenness and subsequent lying of his post. Eddie Johnson was dismissed "for a series of unacceptable moral misconduct" with immediate effect, said Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfood.
Johnson has been in office since 2016 and has over 13,400 police officers. In October, he was found by subordinates asleep at the wheel of his car shortly after midnight. He initially explained this by forgetting to take important medications. But, according to Lightfoot, he admitted later that he had drunk a few glasses of alcohol.
Johnson "purposely lied to her on purpose" and served her a "completely exaggerated story with false statements" about the events on October 17, Lightfoot said. Johnson recently announced that he would retire later this year. He said that his job had affected his health, his family and friends.
Lightfoot had taken office in May with the promise to fight the gun in Chicago fight. Last year, there were 578 murders in the third largest city in the US.