Cops Might Get Fired Over Laquan McDonald ‘Cover Up’

The police department received criticism for taking over a year to release the video of Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old McDonald 16 times.

The superintendent did not name any of the officers he is seeking to fire, but many of them were the patrol officers at the scene of the shooting.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has recommended firing seven officers accused of covering up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald in October 2014.

In a statement released Thursday, the Chicago Police Department said it had reviewed reports on the case by the city’s inspector general, who alleged that the officers filed false police reports.

Supt. Eddie Johnson issued an e-mail on Thursday recommending the termination and suspending the officers of their police powers, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Johnson was also advised by the inspector general that a 10th officer, a female, should also be sacked, but Johnson has decided against this.

Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder on McDonald’s death. That day, Van Dyke was charged with six counts of first degree murder and one count of official misconduct.

Mr Van Dyke, the only officer who fired his gun in the incident, has pleaded not guilty.

In addition, two other high-ranking officers retired during the city’s long-delayed response to the shooting. Further, he supported Van Dyke’s claim saying McDonald “swung the knife toward the officers in an aggressive manner” and that he believed McDonald was “attempting to kill them”. The process typically takes about seven months, so any decision to fire the officers isn’t likely until next year.

Police initially said McDonald had lunged at officers with a knife, but this did not align with dash cam footage of the incident.

But the video belies those accounts. Video of the shooting, which has roiled the city since it was released late previous year, does not bear out that version of events.

Open-records advocates say the public access counselor’s binding declaration – combined with a May court opinion about Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s emails – swings the pendulum toward transparency over an issue that has embroiled officials from IL right up to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state.

Angelo says the officers must wonder if they can get a “fair shake” before the board in the wake of police protests.

The attorney general’s ruling, which the department can seek to have overturned by a judge, is the latest blow for the Chicago Police Force as it faces a federal investigation and allegations of racism and brutality.