Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Announces Further Police Reforms

Emanuel says the city will double the number of Tasers available, to 1,400.

The US Department of Justice is investigating how Chicago police use force after the death of a black teenager who was shot 16 times as he was walking away from officers. Tasers are also very expensive, and a police department spokesperson says it will take a big financial investment to equip the entire department with Tasers. The officer, wearing a dark suit and blue striped tie, appeared in court Tuesday as his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf.

“With the right policies, the right procedures and the right practices, we can change our officers’ perspectives to help them ensure their own safety and the safety of others”, he told reporters at City Hall.

When a New York Times editorial described the Emanuel administration’s actions as a blatant “cover up”, writing that the city seemed to have done everything in its power to delay release of the video, the mayor’s chief of communications wrote an email expressing shock.

Police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have said little about what happened the night of the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation by the city’s Independent Police Review Authority.

The letter alleges that police officers tried to get one witness-who was so appalled at the incident that she screamed at Van Dyke to “stop shooting”-to change her account”. “And helping officers (make) that distinction – and the training that goes with it – is essential”. Chicago officials released hundreds of emails Thursday Dec. 31, 2015 related to a video showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times that wasn’t released until more than a year after the shooting. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murdering Laquan McDonald. The turmoil after that shooting led Emanuel to fire the police superintendent and create a task force to review police accountability.

The city is adding 700 Tasers – twice the current total – which will be “enough to equip every CPD officer who responds to calls for service on every shift”, according to the statement.

Police said LeGrier was being “combative” before he was shot early Saturday.

The Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney has requested assistance from the FBI in investigating the police-involved shooting that left a 55-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man dead last week.

Lauren Chooljian, with NPR member station WBEZ in Chicago, reported that Escalante said front-line officers, who respond to the majority of calls, would receive the crisis training first. His office said he cut his trip short and returned to Chicago Tuesday.

Emanuel said trust of the police by the public has “frayed to the point where it is broken”. After training and additional Tasers are put in patrol cars, “You won’t have a situation where officers are calling frantically for a Taser, because they’ll be there in the vehicles”.

This concern is an issue nationwide, as several police departments have found themselves facing serious criticism in the wake of police shootings and in-custody deaths.