Sydney Roberts got the unanimous support of the City Council last week in being named COPA’s chief administrator. She will serve out the remainder of the inaugural four-year term of Sharon Fairley, who stepped down to run for Illinois attorney general.

Chicago has a new head of the agency investigating police complaints.

Sydney Roberts has been given the responsibility of leading the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Roberts, who has served in the Secretary of State’s Department of Police since 2010, brings more than 30 years of state and local government experience to the post.

“This is an important step on the city’s road to creating a strong, lasting system of police accountability,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “… Sydney’s law enforcement expertise, commitment to transparency and career in accountability will serve her well in this new role.”

Roberts got the unanimous support of the City Council last week in being named COPA’s chief administrator. She will serve out the remainder of the inaugural four-year term of Sharon Fairley, who stepped down to run for Illinois attorney general. Roberts’ term goes until Fall 2021.

“I am very pleased and excited to get started, as there is a lot of work to be done,” Roberts said. “As an agency, we want to build trust with the community and law enforcement. Transparency will be a very important part of what we do, as well as accessibility.

“The city of Chicago and its residents deserve a robust police oversight agency. I look forward to making COPA the best police oversight body in the country.”

Roberts was the choice of a search committee that screened candidates from across the nation for the post.

In addition to serving as chief deputy director and then director of the Secretary of State police, Roberts has served as first deputy and chief operating officer of the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General, leading investigations into fraud, waste, abuse and misconduct. She has also served as inspector general for the Illinois Department of Human Services, a commander for the Maywood Police Department, and as a lieutenant of internal affairs for the Essex County (N.J.) Prosecutor’s Office.

“She’s more than a wealth of information; she’s a wealth of experience,” Ald. Carrie Austin (34^th Ward) said of Roberts. “The experience I believe will be a benefit to the citizens of Chicago. I believe that if the citizens allow her the opportunity to make this city better and work better on their behalf, you’ve done an outstanding job, Mr. Mayor … I am 100 percent in support of Sydney.”

Emanuel agreed with the search committee’s recommendation and put Roberts’ name before the council for consideration as COPA’s chief administrator.

Secretary of State Jesse White said that Roberts has done an outstanding job with his police department and is an excellent choice to lead the Police Accountability Office.

“Sydney brings legal training, a law enforcement background and an ability to work well with people from different points of view,” White said. “She will do very well in this position.”

Ald. Harry Osterman (48^th) said that Roberts is stepping into a very important role.

“It is critical that every Chicagoan has trust in the work that you and your investigators do,” Osterman said.

He said it is equally important that police officers have trust in the work that Roberts and her investigators do.

“It’s also important that you get out of the office and get out into the communities across the city of Chicago. Let Chicagoans know the work that you do,” Osterman said.

The alderman said when COPA was created last fall, the system that led to the chief administrator’s position being created, was left silent. That needs to change through City Council action, Osterman contended.

“The work that we have before all of us,” he said to his fellow aldermen, “is to make sure we have a system in place so that when vacancies occur, we’re not coming up with blue ribbon committees but we have a system in place that Chicagoans know about.”

While the search committee had the opportunity to recommend multiple candidates, it determined Roberts was the best applicant and submitted only her name for consideration.

“Sydney was the choice of a very diverse and highly motivated search committee,” said Paula Wolff, director of the Illinois Justice Project and search committee co-chair. “In addition to her years of management experience and her superb investigative skills, we were impressed with her passion for public accountability and respect for the rights of all residents of Chicago — community members and police officers alike. Those who know her and have worked with her uniformly commented that ‘she will always do what is right.’”

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