Mayor: ‘Not possible’ Law Department part of Chicago PD cover-up culture

“Reparations, although an historic accomplishment that recognizes that racist violence by the police is not a recent phenomenon, but rather spans many decades, can not heal the city without fundamental, systemic changes within the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Cook County criminal justice system”.

Emanuel made the statement after a federal judge accused a city attorney of hiding evidence in a lawsuit over a fatal 2011 police shooting.

The judge’s ruling also prompted Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to say on Wednesday he thinks a Justice Department civil rights investigation of the Police Department should be expanded to include the city’s law department. Senior Corporation Counsel Jordan Marsh was found to have “intentionally” concealed evidence to support officer’s recollection of what happened the day Darius Pinex was killed. During a news conference, Emanuel, Chicago’s embattled mayor, called for “zero tolerance” for a city employee not upholding professional standards, “especially an individual representing the city in a courtroom”, The Associated Press reports.

In Pinex’s case, the officers who stopped his auto testified that they did so because it matched a vehicle involved in a shooting they had heard about over their police radio.

The mayor’s defense of Patton, a confidant, comes as a federal judge has cited and rebuked five city attorneys within the past year for withholding evidence in two separate police misconduct cases. “It shows the city hasn’t just fought to protect officers, it also fights tooth and nail to protect its lawyers”, Greenberg said. The judge reversed a decision last March in which a jury found in favor of Officers Raoul Mosqueda and Gildardo Sierra, concluding they were justified in killing Pinex during a January 2011 traffic stop.

Judge Edmond Chang’s ruling Monday also blasts the city’s law department that defends accused police for shoddy record-keeping. “There is no statute of limitations on that”, Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times after the city paid the reparations. When Chang pressed Marsh on why he hadn’t disclosed the existence of the recording as soon as he learned of it, the lawyer again backpedaled, saying it hadn’t crossed his mind that it would be something that might be helpful to the plaintiffs.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the tactic would be used to improve the system through “training, policy guidance and equipment, to be more effective, to partner with civilians and to strengthen public safety”. Emanuel has yet to disclose his plan of action in reviewing the accusations against Mr. Marsh, though his legal adviser Stephen Patton “is going through the pieces right now in that area”. Emanuel, however, said he does not believe the Law Department is part of a culture of cover-ups on police shootings.

There is no indication that Emanuel’s job is in immediate jeopardy, but he continues to face protests and criticism over the police issues.

A new bill would allow voters to recall mayors and other elected officials. Plus, the majority of those calling for his resignation are grassroots activists and residents, not the city’s powerful.