Bryan Spreyne, who led the Chicago Police Department’s 8th District on the Southwest Side, has been promoted to deputy chief, the department announced Oct. 1.
Spreyne said the promotion to street deputy chief took effect Oct. 1 and he is already in the new role. The department has not named his replacement.
“I am not assigned to the 8th District, but of course, I’m going to help transition,” he said. “They have not appointed a new commander as of yet for the 8th District. So currently, we have a captain that they have filling in there.”
Interim Superintendent Fred Waller announced the move as part of a round of command staff promotions and reassignments.
As street deputy, Spreyne moves from running one district to commanding police at the scenes of the city’s most serious incidents.
According to the CPD’s General Orders and Directives, a street deputy, who holds the rank of deputy chief, is a high-ranking field commander who goes directly to critical incidents such as police shootings, deaths in custody, severe injuries and major tactical deployments and takes command of police activity there.
The department describes the post as a field-command assignment, not a permanent civil service rank.
“There’s a lot of different assignments for deputy chiefs,” Spreyne said. “The particular assignment that I have in the first deputy superintendent’s office is street deputy.”
He said he will respond citywide to major unplanned incidents, including serious use-of-force situations involving officers and large unplanned gatherings, and take overall command.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this point.”
He credited the officers he led. “The officers and supervisors in the 8th District have been absolutely phenomenal. And I don’t think I could’ve made the success that I had without their hard work, from every officer to every supervisor,” Spreyne said.
The newly appointed deputy chief said he couldn’t be more proud to say he commanded the 8th District.
“It’s been great,” he added. “They’ve (the rank and file) been very responsive to the changing needs of the department or the district. I grew up in the district. I spent a lot of time there as a sergeant and to be able to come back and command the district was an honor in and of itself.”
“It is bittersweet to leave,” Spreyne said. “It’s time for change. It’s time to open the next chapter and help out on this next level and I’m very excited about it.”
Local officials who worked with Spreyne praised the promotion and said they will miss him. Some also said his departure should not stall their push to split the 8th District and create a new police district on the Southwest Side.
“I’m really happy for Commander Spreyne,” said Ald. Marty quinn (13th). “He’s done great work for the residents of the entire 8th District, which we’ve talked about at length. There’s 250,000 residents the Commander has shown up for day in and day out and his leadership has been rewarded.”
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) said she has worked with Spreyne since 2021.
“He’s one of the hardest working commanders in the city of Chicago,” Tabares said. “He’s always been there, on the clock, off the clock, and not only in the district, but I would see him at ceremonies supporting the Gold Star families.”
She said he answered her calls even on vacation. “He was at those parades in the evening, even though he worked all day and had to work the next day. He was always there when we need him. We were very lucky, very fortunate, and this promotion is very well-deserved,” Tabares said.
“He did really good building relationships in the district and was really good at attending the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch meetings. When we needed his support, he showed up,” she said.
Al Cacciottolo, president of the local neighborhood watch, said the same.
“I’m happy for the commander,” he said. “It’s well deserved. He’s been nothing but phenomenal for our community and our district, but I’m sad we’re going to lose him.”
He said the district has had strong commanders before and has always found good replacements. “I’m looking forward to the new person and hoping they’ll be community-driven.” Cacciottolo said. “He’s left an 8th District that runs like clockwork. His people do a great job.”
Spreyne returned the credit. He said he has worked with the district’s nine aldermen and their staffs for five years, and he praised Quinn, Tabares and Al Cacciottolo, Jason Huff and Mark Hamberlin, all serving on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
“So, it’s not just the officers, it’s not just the community, it’s the mix of everything. It’s really been a good mix,” he said.
“As you well know, as they know, it’s a very large district,” he said. “There’s a lot of unique things to it.”
Spreyne also acknowledged his CAPS team, EDO officers, “my” district intelligence officers and tactical team.
“They’ve really knocked it out of the park and they’ve made the Eighth District itself succeed,” Spreyne said.
He said 8th District officers won citywide trophies for charity work, including the largest contribution to the St. Jude League and the largest group in the Run to Remember, held by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
“Those trophies are for the entire city,” Spreyne said. “Those are not things that I can claim I did.”
He credited officers who organized the efforts, naming Matt Stevens, John Clark and Dawn Richardson, and his CAPS team again, who he said worked events such as National Night Out.
“They really took the bull by the horns and handled the business,” Spreyne said. “It’s a very happy part of my career.”
Spreyne, a 29-year member of the department, oversaw all operations in the 8th District as commander. In that role, the department said, he worked to reduce violence while building community trust and prioritizing officer wellness.
His career has kept him on the South and Southwest sides. Before becoming commander, he was lieutenant for the Community Safety Team (South) and a watch operations lieutenant in the 5th (Calumet) District. As a sergeant, he worked in the 5th District and in the 8th District, the district he would later command.
Spreyne holds a master’s degree in public safety administration from Calumet College. He graduated from the Class of ’92 of the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police.
The push for a new district
Spreyne declined to take a position on splitting the 8th District.
“Well, that’s not something that’s at my level that I can speak about,” he said. “There’s pros and cons on both sides of it.”
“I will absolutely comment to this point, I would want to do anything that’s going to be the best for the residents and the officers of the 8th District. Whether that’s a new district, whether it’s more manpower, whatever the case may be, I’m an advocate for that.”
Cacciottolo said he does not expect the leadership change to affect the effort.
“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference. I think everybody’s goal is still getting a new district. I think it depends on the mayor’s office,” he said.
Quinn said his plan would create a new district with redrawn beats.
“This would have to be a brand new police district with new beat lines,” he said. “So if my plan went into effect, it would be Central Park to Bell, that would be the current 8th District, and then Central Park, west would be the new district. Inside those two districts, we’d reimagine those beat lines, make them smaller so you’re seeing more canvassing of the beat cars on a regular basis. And that’s what the taxpayers want to see.”
Quinn continues to advocate for the new police station to positively affect police response times.
“Whether it’s the 13th Ward or 23rd Ward, people want to make sure that the police are showing up if they need them. And frankly, that’s what they pay for. That’s your tax dollars,” Quinn said.
He credited state Rep. Angie Guerrero Cuellar (22nd) and state Sen. Mike Porfirio (11th) with leading the effort to acquire a building for the district and said the campaign will continue. Of the building, he said: “It’s a magnificent place and wouldn’t take too much to get it operational.”
Both aldermen blamed the mayor for the lack of progress.
“I think, a situation where the mayor’s going to regret not doing this new police district,” Quinn said. “He could’ve been a leader on this particular initiative. He chose not to. And that’s on him.”
Tabares continues to hope for the current or a new mayor’s support for the project.
“That’s up to the fifth floor at City Hall and we’ve received no support with our current mayor,” Tabares said. “We’re going to need a new mayor who’s going to support us here on the Southwest Side with a new police district.”
She also faulted the former police superintendent (Larry Snelling) for canceling at the last minute on a walkthrough at the Midway Armory, and said the district needs a superintendent who will support it.
In a related move, Cmdr. Joseph Mark, who has overseen day-to-day policing in the Deering (9th) District since July 2024, will now lead the department’s alternate response section. The alternate response section handles nonemergency calls. It’s also the typical landing spot for cops who have been stripped of their police powers.
Mark will be replaced by James Triantafillo, who was most recently a captain in the Harrison (11th) District.