Chicago Police Veteran John Escalante Named As Interim Chicago Police Chief

Earlier, McCarthy rose through the ranks of New York City’s police department and was police director in Newark, New Jersey.

The mayor also announced the formation of a police task force that will study ways to improve one of the nation’s largest police departments, and make recommendations to the City Council by May 2016.

McCarthy and other city officials spent a year fighting multiple lawsuits from lawyers and journalists seeking the police video. A video of the killing was released on the same day. The newly elected Mayor Emanuel back then was looking for an outsider to change the tone inside the force and force a change out on the city’s crime ridden streets.

“I have a lot of support and confidence in the work that he has done”, Emanuel said at a press conference on Tuesday, according to USA Today.

Chief of Detectives John Escalante is to serve as interim chief.

Now, a week after the video’s release, the Chicago mayor has fired the police superintendent, created a task force for police accountability and expanded the use of body cameras.

This move comes in the wake of the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, which shows white officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old McDonald 16 times.

Madigan said that she also asked for the investigation of the department’s “provision of training, equipment and supervision of officers to allow them to do their job safely and effectively; and whether there exists a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing”. In the dash cam video, the African-American teen is seen walking in the middle of a two-way street, when multiple police cars drive toward him. “I think the State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez needs to be not only challenged but replaced”.

McCarthy said that the situation is out of his hands, and the only way he could legally react to the McDonald shooting was to strip Van Dyke of his authority.

The mayor’s dismissal of the Chicago Police superintendent leaves unanswered a number of serious questions.

Van Dyke, 37, was released from jail on Monday after posting bond on a $1.5 million bail.

Emanuel said he would not allow videos to “compromise, taint or otherwise hinder” police probes. “It was not the Chicago Police Department investigating this incident”. “We also stand in solidarity with the scores of people from all walks of life who are calling for significant reform in the Chicago Police Department”.

“It sends a message to the few bad police officers that you might not be able to get away with anything”, Davis said.