CHICAGO (CBS) — Former Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis says his first priority as the new deputy director of the Chicago Crime Commission will be to assess the causes of gang and gun violence.

Weis says discovering where the city is in terms of crime means going out and talking to residents

“We want to raise our interaction,” Weis said.

“I think we want to try to expand our area to all parts of the city and work closely to try to tamp down this violence, to tamp down the impact of gangs and the guns and the drugs.”

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In addition he would like to advocate mandatory collection of DNA samples from all those convicted of a crime.

Weis becomes deputy director of the Chicago Crime Commission after three turbulent years as police superintendent.

He said that all of the decisions made were in the best interest of the officers’ safety despite some of them being less than popular.

As superintendent, he made $300,000 a year. Weis would not reveal how much he will make in his new position but said it’s less than his previous job.

Weis took over as police superintendent in 2008 after 22 years at the FBI. He was appointed after Supt. Phil Cline resigned in the wake of a scandal sparked by Officer Anthony Abbate, who was caught on surveillance video brutally beating a female bartender half his size at a bar on West Belmont Avenue.

But soon after Weis took over, he drew sharp criticism from rank-and-file officers, who felt he wasn’t on their side.

Among Weis’ most unpopular decisions among the rank-and-file was subjecting Officer Bill Cozzi to a new federal prosecution and prison time after the officer had already been convicted and sentenced to probation for beating a man in a wheelchair.