Terry Hillard takes over Wednesday as Chicago’s new interim Police Superintendent, one day after Jody Weis stepped down.

Weis’ three-year contract expired yesterday but many expected him to stay on the job to finish out the last couple months of Mayor Richard Daley’s time in office. In fact, as late as monday Daley said he hoped Weis would stay on.

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel had said he would replace Weis but Tuesday afternoon the superintendent beat him to the punch. In a written statement, Weis says he’s looking for new career opportunities and believes it would be selfish for him to stay on the job while doing that.

Daley also released a statement thanking Weis for assuring that the conduct of police officers is meeting the highest standards. The mayor hired Weis, who was never a Chicago cop, to clean up the department in the wake of several police scandals.

Terry Hillard will now run the department on an interim basis. It’s his second time in the position. He was police superintendent under Daley from 1998 to 2003.