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| FILE - In this May 16, 2012, file photo, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy responds to a question during a news conference in Chicago. Chicago's mayor fired McCarthy on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, a week after the release of a dash-cam video that showed a white officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times. |
CHICAGO
(AP) -- Rahm Emanuel sought for months to keep the public from seeing a
video that shows a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16
times.
Now, a week after the video's release,
the Chicago mayor has fired the police superintendent, created a task
force for police accountability and expanded the use of body cameras.
But
Emanuel's effort to keep the video secret and his long wait to take
action at the police department has stirred deep skepticism among those
protesting the teen's death. Many activists are especially incensed by
the fact that the video first surfaced during a re-election campaign,
when the mayor was seeking African-American votes.
"In
our community, everyone is saying it (the video) was not released
because of the election," said Corey Brooks, a prominent black minister.
The
mayor's quest for a second term sustained a setback after he failed to
win the February election. He desperately needed black support to
prevail in an April runoff.
But Emanuel had
angered black voters with his decision to close dozens of schools. And
many African-Americans complained that the city was not doing enough to
police the predominantly black West and South Sides.
Had
it emerged earlier, the video "could have buried" Emanuel's chances for
re-election, Columbia Law School professor Bernard E. Harcourt wrote in
a New York Times op-ed piece published Monday.
The
mayor defended the decision to withhold the video from the public until
the investigation was finished and the officer charged with murder. He
said the move had nothing to do with his 2015 campaign.
"You
don't compromise an ongoing investigation," he said Tuesday. "Yet it's
clear you all want and the public deserves that information. They're two
conflicting principles."
Asked by a reporter
if Emanuel thought he would become a distraction himself and would
consider resigning, the mayor responded, "You'll make that judgment. I
think I'm doing my job."
Emanuel announced the
dismissal of Superintendent Garry McCarthy, whose departure on Tuesday
came just a week after the video was released.
The mayor praised McCarthy's leadership but called it an "undeniable fact" that the public's trust in the police had eroded.
"Now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership," Emanuel said.
Protesters
have been calling for McCarthy's dismissal in response to the handling
of the death of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old who was killed in October
2014.
Some aldermen, particularly members of
the city council's black caucus, have also been seeking McCarthy's
resignation, citing the city's crime rate and questions about the
department's transparency.
The city released
video of the shooting only after a judge ordered it to be made public.
On the same day, officer Jason Van Dyke was charged.
The
mayor also announced the creation of a task force on police
accountability that will help develop an early warning system allowing
the department to intervene with problem officers racking up complaints
from the public.
Van Dyke was the subject of
18 civilian complaints over 14 years, including allegations that he used
racial epithets and excessive force. Complaints against police are not
uncommon, but the number filed against Van Dyke was high compared with
other officers.
Emanuel's office announced
Sunday that the police department would expand its use of officer body
cameras from a single district to roughly a third of Chicago.
Chief of Detectives John Escalante will oversee the department until a permanent replacement is named, Emanuel said.
Emanuel
introduced McCarthy as his pick to lead the department in May 2011,
replacing former FBI agent Jody Weis, who was unpopular with many
rank-and-file officers who claimed Weis did not stand behind them.
The
mayor credited McCarthy with modernizing the police force, getting
illegal guns off the streets and pushing a community policing strategy
that the mayor said had reduced overall crime rates to a record low.
In
particular, McCarthy was a constant preacher on the need for tougher
punishments for gun offenses. He hammered on the fact that many murder
suspects had prior gun convictions, which McCarthy argued should have
kept them off the streets.
But the police
chief came under pressure because of homicides that included
high-profile cases such as the slaying of Hadiya Pendleton.
Pendleton,
an honor student, became a national symbol of gun violence when she was
gunned down in 2013 as she talked with friends just a mile from
President Barack Obama's South Side home. She died just days after
returning from the president's inauguration.
Through a spokesman, McCarthy declined to comment Tuesday to The Associated Press.
The
silent Chicago video shows McDonald walking down the middle of a
four-lane street. He appears to veer away from two officers as they
emerge from a vehicle, drawing their guns. Van Dyke opens fire from
close range and continues firing after McDonald crumples to the ground.
Police
have said McDonald was carrying a knife, and an autopsy revealed that
he had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system. Cook County State's
Attorney Anita Alvarez has said the 3-inch blade recovered from the
scene had been folded into the handle.
Defense
attorney Dan Herbert has said the officer feared for his life, acted
lawfully and that the video does not tell the whole story. Van Dyke was
released from jail Monday after paying the required $150,000 of his $1.5
million bail.
Also Tuesday, relatives of
another person fatally shot last year by Chicago police stepped up their
pleas to have the squad car video made public. Emanuel spokeswoman
Kelley Quinn said the city was "looking into" releasing it.
Police
have said 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III was fatally shot by an officer
on Oct. 12, 2014. At the time, authorities said he pointed a gun at
police.
His mother, Dorothy Holmes, has said
he was running away from officers. She and attorney Michael Oppenheimer
have seen a copy of the video because of lawsuits they have filed.
