Summary: The Department of Justice will look into how Chicago has been handling the misconduct of their police officers in an attempt to rebuild trust between the city police and the public.
Chicago’s police department is about to be turned upside down and inside out as the Department of Justice has announced they will investigate into actions of the city’s police. The DOJ aims to determine if the police are engaging in “a pattern or practice of violations of the Constitution or federal law.”
The nation has been regularly placing police under the microscope as several missteps have resulted in the mistreatment of innocent and not-so-innocent civilians. Chicago is one such place where a lack of trust between the public and police has grown. Attorney General Loretta Lynch wants the ensure that the police are held accountable for wrongdoings that have “profound consequences for the well-being of communities.”
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The focus of the investigation will be on the use of force, deadly force, accountability, and the tracking of those incidents by the Chicago police department. The investigation will not focus on individual police officers but the system as a whole.
Unrest in the city has festered since the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald last year. The police video of the incident was released just a few weeks ago and the police reports were released just this last week that may feel contradict the video.
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Chicago has already taken steps on their own to improve inquiries of police conduct with the appointment of a new chief administrator for the Independent Police Review Authority. Sharon Fairley was general counsel to Chicago’s Office of the Inspector General and has also served as assistant U.S. attorney, focusing on the prosecution of financial, national security, and government fraud cases.
The city has also established their body camera program, a new task force for reviewing police discipline procedures, and has asked for Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign. Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated that “new leadership is required as we rededicate ourselves to dramatically improving our system of police accountability and rebuilding trust.”
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/us/chicago-police-justice-department-laquan-mcdonald-investigation/
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