Small group of Chicago cops cost $34M in settlements

Police said Smith was first to shoot at them.

Defense attorney Terry Ekl, a former prosecutor, said that not punishing officers, even in less serious crimes, eats away at public trust in police, particularly in Chicago. More than 270 people were victims of gun violence this January, compared with 133 in January 2015. A newly formed Task Force on Police Accountability will be instituting an “early intervention system” to try to identify troublesome cops before a bad encounter happens.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has faced fierce backlash in the city’s African-American community over his handling of the McDonald case, also fired his police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, after the video’s release. He blamed gang disputes, the easy availability of guns and the use of social media to spark conflicts. As part of the agreement, police have had to collect more information on “contact cards” used to document a stop as of January.

St. Louis saw a dramatic increase in the number homicides following the August 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson spurred months of angry protests. In the past, police officers were only required to fill out cards for stops that didn’t result in an arrest.

Most Chicago cops appear to be good at their jobs: 82 percent of them were not associated with any payouts over the last six years.

An Independent Police Review Authority spokesman told The Chicago Tribune that the male victim was pronounced dead inside a South Side home.

The department also said it plans to utilize decentralized gang and enforcement units and targeted raids in an effort to disrupt gang violence. Police allege an armed offender met officers and “shots were exchanged”.

A joint initiative involved the Cook County sheriff’s office will aim to suppress gang activity.

Last month was the deadliest January on record in Chicago for at least 16 years.