Chicago police: Some crimes dropped in 2015; homicides rose

Newly released emails show that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, police and the group responsible for investigating police shootings in the city coordinated their response after the death of Laquan McDonald in October 2014, the Associated Press reported Friday. Tasers can cost between $500 and $1,000, potentially putting the price tag for the new stun guns at around $700,000.

A dashboard camera video released in November 2015 undermined claims by the police union that McDonald had “lunged” at officers with the knife, causing them to fear for their lives. 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. The officer has been charged with murder and pleaded not guilty this week at his arraignment.

“Just because you are trained that you can use force, doesn’t mean you should”, Emanuel told a news conference, flanked by other top officials including interim Police Superintendent John Escalante.

The release, which came weeks after Chicago made public the video of Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting Laquan McDonald, also acknowledges that trust in the department “has been shaken”.

Two dozen people protested at Emanuel’s home Wednesday evening, calling on him to resign and chanting – “16 shots and a cover up”. Controversy flared again last weekend, when a police officer responding to a West Garfield Park domestic call fatally shot two individuals, including a 55-year-old woman who was accidentally hit.

Pearson’s organization believes the only way to bring true change is to have a civilian police accountability council that isn’t appointed by the mayor. “They have no trust in the mayor”, Pearson said. And earlier this month, they launched Check the Police, a program to collect and analyze police contracts around the country in an effort to direct attention to how they perpetuate police violence. Both he and Jones were black.

“The goal is to change the way officers think when they approach a critical incident by establishing time and distance to allow for more prudent thinking and physical space to promote a safer environment”, he said.

Emanuel had been vacationing with his family in Cuba when the weekend shooting occurred. His office said he cut his trip short and returned to Chicago Tuesday.

The same week, Scott Ando, head of the Independent Police Review Authority – publicly touted by the mayor as uniquely independent in its probes of police shootings – also singled out the case.

About 1,860 officers – or roughly 15 per cent of Chicago’s police force – have completed the the department’s crisis-intervention team training, according to department statistics. Advocates say that number should be 25 to 35 percent. He noted that on audio recordings of communications between dispatchers and officers on the scene that night, several officers can be heard “frantically” asking for a Taser before the shooting.

“There’s a problem that has to be addressed”, Emanuel said.