Van Stone's Radio Magazine- Top Music Studios For Kids And Adults In Philly: Doris J. Hall-James Online Interview by Van Stone, Editor/Publish Philadelphia Front Page News frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (267) 293-9201

Van Stone's Radio Magazine- Top Music Studios For Kids And Adults In Philly: Doris J. Hall-James Online Interview by Van Stone, Editor/Publish Philadelphia Front Page News frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (267) 293-9201

Doris J. Hall-James, Music Master Professional, Professional Model.

We caught up with Doris J. Hall-James and her partner Gilbert Lomax Jr., one of the few Master Music Professionals who started making music well before they were old enough to attend college. Now these talented music master professionals are taking the music studio scene in Philly by storm and winning fans across the city. But first, we did our interview with Hall-James. And we’ll give you our Gilbert Lomax Jr. interview soon. 

Philadelphia Front Page News Newspaper: So, tell everyone the address of the music studio location.

Doris J. Hall-James: The Simply Music Studio is located at 251 South 60^th Street Philadelphia, PA 19139.

PFPN: Since you and Gilbert Lomax Jr. are master music professionals, what’s the name of the group for your team with Gil?

Doris J.: The name of the company is Simply Music Incorporated and Greenroom Productions. And our title is the Master Music Professionals. And in 2014, I became the founder of the Simply Music Learning Center to share Music Creation with ambitious music enthusiast. 

PFPN:  What type of cultural activity have you specialized in over the years? And which section of the city do you service?

Doris J.:  My cultural activities always deal with music, talent shows, musical plays, recitals, recordings and performances.   And the section of the city is usually, West and Southwest Philadelphia.  However, we have provided music services in various other states besides Pennsylvania.   

PFPN:  How many years have you done this, what is your official title, and at for what companies have you worked with?  For whom specifically would you like to do cultural activities?

Hall-James: I have worked with music since I was a teenager.  I studied music with the Berklee School of Music, the Settlement School of Music, and Al Johnson’s School of Music.    I am the owner and CEO of Simply Music Incorporated which is a non-profit music company that specializes in all aspects of music creation. And by the way, I am also the Vice President of GreenRoom Audio Sound Studio (GRASS).  

I have over twenty years in the music industry.  I performed, sang, became a songwriter and did some producing - I continued this through adulthood.  And also, I have worked and recorded with such professional recording artists as: Fat Larry’s Band, Slick, Brandi Wells, David Simmons, Sweet Thunder, Butch and Tammy Ingram, Phyllis Fine and a host of other Philadelphia professional artists. As a former performer, I recorded and released albums on WMOT/Fantasy/and Virgin Records. 

I own my publishing company, James Gang Music and have a catalog of over 100 songs recorded and published by professional artists from Virgin, Fantasy and WMOT Records.

In addition I have been a Center Director for Job Corps over the past 20 years and have been responsible for academic and vocational education for the federal government. 

Today, I am also the Choir Director for the First Baptist Church in Morton, PA.  I love to do cultural activities for both kids and adults. 

PFPN:  When did you notice something was lacking in the urban section of the city and what did you plan to do about it?  Did you organize anything specifically for youth, adults, or seniors and if so, what was the result?

Hall-James: In all of my centers I created some type of music program for the kids. I traveled many places but always returned home to fill the void in the urban community not having musical training facilities within the community that I live. When I returned home from West Virginia in 2009, for example, I began to implement music teaching in my home BY teaching piano. Children, adults and seniors were attending classes in my home. I had 18 students then.    

PFPN: Is there a mission or curriculum and if so what is it?

Doris J.: Our mission is to provide music education and appreciation to lower income children and youth between the ages of 3-15. And we want to bring the entire Urban Community a means to partake in the creation and development of music.  Our company enjoys providing training in piano, flute, guitar, bass guitar, music software, vocal coaching, songwriting, studio recording, music theory, and other aspects of music.  

PFPN:   Have any of the youth who engaged in the activities developed so well to advance beyond high school?  Without naming them, can you list what they have become such as musicians, etc.?

  

Doris J.: Yes. I have two males who have moved on to colleges majoring in music.

Sikhs feel vulnerable, join with Muslims to combat backlash

Sikhs feel vulnerable, join with Muslims to combat backlash
 

In this Dec. 11, 2015, photo, Darsh Singh, left, poses for a photo with his wife, Lakhpreet Kaur, in Dallas. It happens regularly: Someone sees a man with a turban and beard and hurls anti-Muslim slurs his way, or worse. Members of the Sikh religion, like Singh and his wife, also are feeling vulnerable as anti-Islamic sentiment heats up across the U.S., but instead of distancing themselves from Muslims, members of this southeast Asian religion are working with them to combat hateful rhetoric and dispel misconceptions about their respective faiths.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Pardeep Kaleka spent several days after 9/11 at his father's South Milwaukee gas station, fearing that his family would be targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim. No, Kaleka explained on behalf of his father, who wore a turban and beard and spoke only in broken English, the family was Sikh, a southeast Asian religion based on equality and unrelated to Islam.

But amid a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Kaleka is vowing to take an entirely different approach.

"For us it does not matter who they're targeting," said Kaleka, a former Milwaukee police officer and teacher whose father was one of six people killed in 2012 when a white supremacist opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. "This time we cannot differentiate ourselves; when hate rhetoric is being spewed we cannot be on the sidelines."

Across the U.S., Sikhs and Muslims are banding together to defend their respective religions. Someone bent on harming Muslims wouldn't understand - or care - about the distinction between the two faiths, they say, and both also deserve to live in peace.

So they plan educational sessions and rallies. They successfully pushed the FBI to track hate crimes against Sikhs. They speak to lawmakers and support each other's legal action, including a lawsuit filed over a New York City police surveillance program targeting New Jersey Muslims.

"We are in this fight together," said Gurjot Kaur, a senior staff attorney at The Sikh Coalition, founded the night of Sept. 11.

Sikhism, a monotheistic faith, was founded more than 500 years ago in Southeast Asia and has roughly 27 million followers worldwide, most of them in India.

There are more than 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S. Male followers often cover their heads with turbans - which are considered sacred - and refrain from shaving their beards.

Reports of bullying, harassment and vandalism against Sikhs have risen in recent weeks.

Last week, a Sikh temple in Orange County, California, was vandalized, as was a truck in the parking lot by someone who misspelled the word "Islam" and made an obscene reference to ISIS.

A Sikh woman said she recently was forced to show her breast pump before taking her seat on an airplane in Minneapolis because another passenger thought she might be a terrorist. Several Sikh football fans said they initially were not allowed into Qualcomm Stadium to watch the San Diego Chargers game against the Denver Broncos last Sunday because several of them were wearing turbans. Schoolchildren say they've been bullied.

For most Sikhs, much of the backlash has been frequent stares or comments and occasional online insults.

Former NCAA basketball player Darsh Singh said he has heard insults throughout his life, including recently when someone recently yelled "Osama!" at him as he was crossing a street in Phoenix.

Then last week, a photo making the rounds on Facebook showed the former Trinity University basketball player - the first turbaned Sikh to play in the NCAA - with the caption: "Nobody wants to guard Muhammad, he's too explosive." A friend came to his defense with a lengthy post -saying, "do the world a favor and educate yourself" - which got tens of thousands of likes.

"A lot of people act out of fear or ignorance," said Singh. "I don't know who started it, but whoever they are, I forgive them."

Rajinder Singh Mago, community outreach director at the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, said it's more difficult for Sikh schoolchildren who sometimes are bullied.

"Ninety-nine percent of Americans are good ... then that one person who just came out of a tavern after a few beers, you don't know what he's thinking at that point," Mago said.

Madihha Ahussain, a staff attorney at the national group Muslim Advocates, said people who are misinformed about both religions not only are "blaming entire faith communities, now they're blaming multiple groups for the acts of a couple individuals."

As a result, some Sikhs have encountered violence.

A Chicago-area teenager was charged with a hate crime after a September road rage incident in which he called 53-year-old Sikh taxi driver Inderjit Mukker "Bin Laden" and repeatedly hit him in the face, breaking his cheekbone.

In 2013, a Green Bay, Wisconsin, man was charged with a hate crime for allegedly setting fire to a convenience store owned by a Sikh-American.

That was less than a year after white supremacist Wade Michael Page killed six people and wounded four others at the Oak Creek temple. Kaleka said his father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, was the last person killed inside the temple, after Page broke into an office where the elder Kaleka was calling 911.

Kaleka said the Muslim community reached out to Sikhs in the aftermath, and members of both faiths - along with Christians, Jews and others - are continuing to work together to combat inflammatory rhetoric. Last weekend, he spoke at a Muslim women's coalition.

"I think this is just another test and, unfortunately, I think as bad as the comments are from some politicians, it does surface some underlying issues we haven't addressed," in this country, he said.

Saudi voters elect 20 women candidates for the first time

Saudi voters elect 20 women candidates for the first time
 

Saudi women vote at a polling center during the municipal elections, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Women across Saudi Arabia marked a historic milestone on Saturday, both voting and running as candidates in government elections for the first time, but just outside polling stations they waited for male drivers — a reminder of the limitations still firmly in place.

  

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi voters elected 20 women for local government seats, according to results released to The Associated Press on Sunday, a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history.

The women who won hail from vastly different parts of the country, ranging from Saudi Arabia's largest city to a small village near Islam's holiest site.

The 20 female candidates represent just one percent of the roughly 2,100 municipal council seats up for grabs, but even limited gains are seen as a step forward for women who had previously been completely shut out of elections. Women are still not allowed to drive and are governed by guardianship laws that give men final say over aspects of their lives like marriage, travel and higher education.

Though there are no quotas for female council members, an additional 1,050 seats are appointed with approval by the king who could use his powers to ensure more women are represented.

Around 7,000 candidates, among them 979 women, competed in the election for a seat on the municipal councils, which are the only government body elected by Saudi citizens. The two previous rounds of voting for the councils, in 2005 and 2011, were open to men only.

The conservative capital of Riyadh saw the most women candidates win, with four elected. The Eastern Province, where minority Shiites are concentrated, saw two women elected, said Hamad Al-Omar, who heads the General Election Commission's media council.

Saudi Arabia's second largest and most cosmopolitan city, Jiddah, also elected two women, as did one of the most conservative regions, Qassim.

The mayor of the city of Mecca, Osama al-Bar, told the AP that a woman won in a village called Madrakah, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) north of the city which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which Muslims around the world pray.

Another woman won in Medina, where the Prophet Muhammad's first mosque was built.

Other women hailing from the kingdom's northernmost areas won, with two elected in Tabuk, one in al-Jawf and another in Hail. Additionally, a woman won in Saudi Arabia's southern border area of Jizan, another in Asir and two won in al-Ahsa.

Many women candidates ran on platforms that promised more nurseries to offer longer daycare hours for working mothers, the creation of youth community centers with sports and cultural activities, improved roads, better garbage collection and overall greener cities.

In October, the Saudi Gazette reported that harsh road conditions and long distances to the nearest hospital had forced some women in the village of Madrakah, where one female candidate was elected, to give birth in cars. The local newspaper reported that the closest hospital and the nearest university were in Mecca, prompting some students to forgo attending classes. The article said residents were also frustrated with the lack of parks in the village.

It is precisely these kinds of community issues that female candidates hope to address once elected to the municipal councils. The councils do not have legislative powers, but advise authorities and help oversee local budgets.

Most ran their campaigns online, using social media to get the word out, due to strict gender segregation rules that ban men and women from mixing in public. This meant candidates could not directly address voters of the opposite sex.

In an effort to create a more level playing field for women who wear the traditional full-face veil, the General Election Committee banned both male and female candidates from showing their faces in promotional flyers, billboards or online. They were also not allowed to appear on television.

Still, al-Omar said the historic election drew a staggering 106,000 female voters out of some 130,000 who'd registered. Out of 1.35 million men registered, almost 600,000 cast ballots. In total, some 47 percent of registered voters took part in Saturday's election.

In Jiddah, three generations of women from the same family voted for the first time. The oldest woman in the family was 94-year-old Naela Mohammad Nasief. Her daughter, Sahar Hassan Nasief, said the experience marked "the beginning" of greater rights for women in Saudi Arabia.

"I walked in and said 'I've have never seen this before. Only in the movies'," the daughter said, referring to the ballot box. "It was a thrilling experience."

Proving a negative: In Porter case, inaction is on trial

Proving a negative: In Porter case, inaction is on trial
 

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2015 file photo, William Porter, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, walks to a courthouse for jury selection in his trial in Baltimore. In Porter’s case, an officer’s negligence, rather than violent acts or excessive force, is on trial. He is also charged with assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. If convicted, Porter faces up to 25 years in prison. Legal experts say when it’s inaction rather than action that’s in question, it could be a hard case to prove.

  

BALTIMORE (AP) -- He didn't fire a gun or wield a Taser. He didn't place anyone in a chokehold or wrestle anyone to the ground. In fact, William Porter barely touched Freddie Gray.

But Porter, the first officer on trial in Gray's death, is accused of manslaughter for failing to pay enough attention to the 25-year-old black man, who was handcuffed and shackled in the back of a police van and suffered what would be a fatal spinal injury.

In Porter's case, an officer's negligence, rather than violent acts or excessive force, is on trial. He is also charged with assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. If convicted, Porter faces up to 25 years in prison.

His crime, according to prosecutors, is failing to immediately call a medic to the scene when Gray indicated he needed medical attention and ignoring a Baltimore Police Department general order requiring officers to buckle prisoners in with seat belts.

Jurors will begin deliberating on Monday. But with no eye witnesses and no unequivocal evidence as to exactly how or when Gray was injured, negligence could be difficult to prove, legal experts say.

"Usually, criminal law has to do with intentionally doing something - stealing, assaulting," said Baltimore attorney David Irwin, who recently represented an Episcopal Church bishop in Maryland. The bishop pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and other charges because she left the scene of a crash with a cyclist and failed to call an ambulance.

Porter was present during five of the six stops the police van made during the 45-minute ride between Gilmor Homes, where Gray was arrested when he ran from officers, and the Western District station house, where Gray arrived unresponsive. He died a week later.

Porter, who testified on his own behalf, told jurors that Gray wasn't visibly hurt and didn't exhibit any signs of distress when the officer offered him aid. Porter testified that Gray never once asked for a medic, but simply said "yes" when Porter asked if he'd like to go to the hospital.

Porter said he told van driver Caesar Goodson to take him there, because while he still didn't believe Gray was really hurt he knew the jail would reject a prisoner claiming injury. He didn't think it was an emergency, he told investigators, because Gray had been kicking inside the van at a previous stop, and "he didn't appear hurt in any way, shape or form."

Porter testified along with other defense witnesses that included a law enforcement expert and a Virginia police chief that it would have been van driver Caesar Goodson's responsibility to buckle Gray into a seat belt, though officers are permitted to skip the seat belt if they feel they're in danger or at risk.

Instead of going to the hospital, Goodson picked up a second prisoner and drove both men to the station. 

By the time they arrived, it was too late.

Steve Levin, a Baltimore-based attorney and former federal prosecutor who has represented Baltimore police officers in the past, said the charges are unusual based on what he knows about the case.

"It'd be difficult to prove that Mr. Porter's failure to follow policy caused Mr. Gray's injuries," he said. "It's easier to prove affirmative misconduct than misconduct by failing to do anything at all."

That's because of the way American laws are written, according to David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in policing, adding that the Porter case is unusual "not just in police cases but in criminal law."

"The criminal law is set up as 'thou shalt not kill, steal, rob, break.' We handle criminal conduct in terms of things that people are prohibited from doing. 'You may not,'" Harris said. "It's fine to tell us what not to do, but we don't like to be told you must. That current runs very deep in the American psyche. When it comes to criminal liability for criminal omissions we're very stingy about how we allow that."

Gray's death from a critical spinal injury is not the first in Baltimore's recent history: an eerily similar case 10 years earlier saw civil litigation but no criminal charges.

In the case of Dondi Johnson, a man who died in 2005 two weeks after suffering a near-identical injury as Gray in the back of a Baltimore police wagon, his family won a $7.4 million judgment after suing the police. 

The officers who transported Johnson were never criminally charged, and in fact, two of the three remain on the force despite the lawsuit's finding of liability due to negligence.

Gray's family settled with the city for $6.4 million without ever filing a lawsuit.

Tonya Kelly, a defense attorney and former state prosecutor, said there are implicit realities that come with being a police officer that jurors will likely consider: Porter's duty to act, and his understanding of certain policies that require him to do so. Still, she said the state's case is a difficult one to prove,

"If you don't know when the injury occurred, how can you possibly tie his inaction to Freddie Gray's harm? There are so many facts that aren't linear," Kelly said.

Armed 'patriots' turn protests toward Muslim Americans

Armed 'patriots' turn protests toward Muslim Americans

DALLAS (AP) -- They are known as "Three Percenters," followers of a movement that has rallied against gun control efforts nationwide, patrolled the U.S. border with Mexico and recently begun confronting Muslim Americans.

Followers describe themselves as armed "patriots." But some of their leaders have been blamed for threats and vandalism against lawmakers, police and Muslims. One prominent member from Phoenix prompted an FBI alert in November after posting an expletive-filled Facebook video saying he was headed to upstate New York with guns to challenge a Muslim group. A Three Percenter in suburban Dallas led a mosque protest by armed, masked men that same month.

Texas has been the scene of several other incidents this year that have raised anti-Muslim unease. Two 

Muslim gunmen in May were shot outside a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland. Police in Irving arrested a 14-year-old Muslim whose teachers thought his homemade clock was a bomb in September.

All this comes at a time when Texas has led a number of states trying to block the resettlement of Syrian refugees and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a "complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S.

"We will interfere with every move they (Muslims) make towards taking over our country," Dallas protest organizer David Wright said in response to questions the Associated Press sent to his personal Facebook page. "We are ready to fight back if they come at us violently."

Wright, who plans to protest Saturday at a different mosque, hasn't advertised the "Three Percenters" name in his activities. But he claimed membership in comments on Facebook and told the AP he was a leader in a Texas chapter. A second Facebook profile appends the Roman numeral "III" to his name, as do other Three Percenters, and features a black "III%" patch as a background photograph.

The Three Percenters movement began in 2008, galvanized by President Barack Obama's election, followers and researchers say. The name comes from the disputed percentage of colonials who armed themselves and fought the British during the American Revolution.

The number of Three Percenters is unclear partly because anyone can ascribe to the movement. The man credited as the founder has claimed 3 million on his blog. One national Three Percenters' Facebook group has about 12,000 members, including people from all 50 states.

Followers appear to consist mainly of white, male, conservative gun owners who believe the nation has been pushed to a tipping point by socialists in government aiming to disarm them, strip their constitutional rights and take their property, according to groups that track anti-government movements.

The Three Percenters lack a formal command structure, but have ideological similarities with other groups such as minutemen or militias. Their founder, a former militia member named Michael B. "Mike" Vanderboegh, stresses what he calls "armed civil disobedience."

Vanderboegh, 63, a one-time nurse's aide who lives in Pinson, Alabama, looks the part of an elderly professor. With the cadence of a Baptist preacher, he blends references to God and fist-banging disdain for "predatory government."

"What they are selling is a lie told by pathological collectivist liars ... to satisfy their insatiable appetites for your liberty and your property, even at the cost of your life," he told a crowd this year in Canon City, Colorado.

A 2009 Anti-Defamation League report called Rage Grows in America featured Vanderboegh and the Three Percenters as a growing "anti-government" movement. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled him an extremist.

After the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 26, Vanderboegh sent emails to hundreds of Connecticut state police officers saying they risked "initiating hostilities" if they enforced new gun-control measures.

"People like Mike Vanderboegh and others, can cause all sorts of people from the fringes who might be listening to do a violent act," said Mark Pitcavage, a defamation league expert on anti-government movements.

In 2011, one of four suspected militia members charged in a plot to attack unnamed government officials in Atlanta cited Vanderboegh's self-published online novel as inspiration, federal authorities said. Vanderboegh said at the time that the book, about a deadly federal gun raid that spurred armed citizen resistance, was merely a "useful dire warning."

Wright borrowed from Vanderboegh's tactics last month. Wright posted the names and home addresses of Muslim residents and other "Muslim sympathizers" who spoke against a city of Irving resolution they called discriminatory. Vanderboegh once shared similar information on Connecticut state senators who supported gun-control measures after the Sandy Hook shooting.

Some Three Percenters, such as Kaleb Hill, say they don't share Vanderboegh's "extreme ideology."

"We are more concerned about exposing corruption and preserving the Constitution and our God-given freedoms," said Hill, who runs a Three Percenter group and Facebook pages from Mississippi. "Those who have anti-government views are not welcome in our group."

In response to AP questions, Vanderboegh did not specifically address characterizations of him as an extremist. He said, generally speaking, that not "all folks claiming to be 'Three Percenters' are."

Little is known about Wright's past. He says on Facebook that he's a general contractor originally from Garland, Texas, but has declined to share biographical information, citing security concerns. Wright posted pictures of himself armed and talks tough about jihadists on Facebook. In July, Wright wrote: "We should be setting traps for them and exterminating them."

Wright said he and his cohorts protest only at certain Muslim locations. The mosque they plan to picket Saturday is in the same suburb, Richardson, as a now-defunct charity that federal investigators said had illegally funded Hamas, an Islamic militant group.

Wright's group promises a "peaceful" event Saturday, Richardson police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Perlich said. The group staged a demonstration there in October with less than 10 people.

"We have never hurt anyone," Wright said. "We are careful to work within the law at all times as we prepare to defend our homes and communities from any offensive forces."

Chicago protesters target independent police review agency

Chicago protesters target independent police review agency
  

CHICAGO (AP) -- Protesters who have been calling for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's resignation also have another target: a much-criticized, quasi-independent agency that was created to investigate complaints against police officers but has rarely ruled against them.

The mayor's critics complain that his pledge to reform the Independent Police Review Authority is too limited because he seeks to improve an existing system rather than scrapping it and starting over.

In the outrage that erupted over the video showing an officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald, Emanuel sacked his police chief and set up a task force to recommend changes. He also replaced the head of the authority known as IPRA.

Former IPRA investigator and supervisor Lorenzo Davis said he was fired this year after refusing to reverse his finding in one fatal police shooting that it was not justified.

The idea behind IPRA when it was set up in 2007 was for the agency to be wholly independent of police and the mayor's office as a way to weed out bad officers, but that never actually happened, Davis' lawyer, Torreya Hamilton, said Thursday.

"The goal became to exonerate the police officer and therefore the city," said Hamilton, who represents Davis in a lawsuit he filed against the city over his firing.

Suspicion about reforms initiated by City Hall runs deep in Chicago, especially among blacks, who have heard similar pledges every couple of years, whenever allegations of police brutality arose. Many put more hope in a just-launched federal civil-rights investigation, though that could take years to play out.

In an address to the City Council this week, a sometimes emotional and sometimes tough-talking Emanuel apologized for any mishandling of the McDonald case and repeatedly pledged to improve how IPRA deals with the issue of police misconduct.

"Each time when we confronted it in the past, Chicago only went far enough to clear our consciences so we could move on," he said. "This time will and must be different."

In all, Lorenzo, himself a former Chicago police officer, was told six times to change his findings in favor of officers, according to Hamilton.

"There was never ever a time when they said, 'You want to exonerate an officer, and we think he should be disciplined,'" she said.

An IPRA spokesman declined to comment Thursday.

When it was created, the authority's exact operations were not made precisely clear. Many details were left to politically appointed administrators with law enforcement backgrounds. Since around 2008, when Davis began working there, more than 10,000 excessive-force complaints have resulted in the dismissal of just four officers, he said.

"It was inadequate from the beginning," Davis said Wednesday at a Chicago Urban League forum.

The authority's new head is Sharon Fairley, a recent federal prosecutor. Davis complains that Emanuel sought no feedback from the community before the appointment. He said IPRA should be led by someone not beholden to the established power structures and who can absorb and implement new procedures.

One activist on the Urban League panel, Trina Reynolds, argued that the agency is beyond salvaging, calling it "illegitimate."

Others expressed skepticism about Emanuel's newly created policing task force.

It includes several figures associated with existing accountability bodies, including Lori Lightfoot, a former assistant U.S. attorney who heads the Chicago Police Board, which is responsible for disciplining officers. Protesters attended one of its meetings Wednesday, demanding the resignation of its members. They chanted, "Step down! Step down!"

Advocates are also seeking other reforms that include:

- Creating a new civilian-controlled body, the Police Auditor's Office. It would have subpoena and other powers to oversee police and IPRA, including unfettered access to all police records. Proponents say its head should not be chosen by the mayor but by a third party after feedback from the community.

- Renegotiating the city's union contract to strip it of provisions critics say can shield bad officers. 

Chicago-based lawyer Paul Strauss says one rule bars internal investigators from interviewing officers involved in shootings for 24 hours, potentially giving them time to coordinate fabricated stories. Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor, pointed to requirements that records of complaints against officers be destroyed after several years.

The changes ought to include the adoption of stark, simple rules of thumb for police, said Rufus Williams, an African-American businessman, activist and former president of the Chicago Board of Education.

"Don't shoot to kill. ... Don't shoot us in the back," he said.

Another emphasis should be on recruiting more African-Americans as officers, Davis said, arguing that they are less likely to open fire without justification as they patrol in neighborhoods they're from.

"At least they'll treat black people like human beings ... and not treat them like they are dogs," he said.

But advocates acknowledge the difficulty of the task.

"It's going to be difficult, even if you have the best intentions," Strauss said.

The management of officers' behavior on the street level is a major challenge, in part because officers in many situations look for guidance from their union - not the department brass.

Still, Williams and others say they're also more optimistic than ever about achieving real, lasting change - thanks in large part to the intense scrutiny that's followed McDonald's death.

"This is a defining moment," he said. "McDonald had a short life, a very tough life. ... But his legacy will be strong."

Trump's Muslim ban idea pushes GOP toward chaos

Trump's Muslim ban idea pushes GOP toward chaos

White House press secretary Josh Earnest answers a question about Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump during the daily press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, in Washington.

  

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump's plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States is shoving the Republican Party to the edge of chaos, abruptly pitting GOP leaders against their own presidential front-runner and jeopardizing the party's longtime drive to attract minorities.

Unbowed, Trump fired a searing warning Tuesday via Twitter to fellow Republicans carping about his proposal. A majority of his supporters, he tweeted, "would vote for me if I departed the GOP & ran as an independent."

The crossfire between Trump and frustrated Republicans became a furious blur the day after the billionaire businessman announced his plan. Beleaguered 2016 rivals condemned his proposal and complained that his divisive positions were dominating attention in the crowded Republican contest. Party elders, meanwhile, warned that too much criticism might indeed push him to abandon the GOP and launch a third-party bid that could hand the presidential election to the Democrats.

And Republicans up for re-election in the Senate grew terse in the Capitol hallways as they were asked again and again to respond to Trump's remarks - a glimpse of their political futures if the former reality show star captures the GOP nomination.

"This is not conservatism," declared House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican Party's top elected leader. 

"What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for. And more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."

One by one, Republican officials across the country lashed out at Trump's plan, announced the night before, which calls for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" to help quell the threat of terrorism.

But party leaders are well aware that he could leave the GOP, run as an independent and challenge the party's presidential nominee next year. It's a threat they have long feared.

The Republican Party, said Jeb Bush adviser Ana Navarro, is stuck between "a rock and a jerk" less than eight weeks before the first primary-season votes are cast in Iowa.

In New Hampshire, Republican National Committeeman Steve Duprey called Trump's idea "abhorrent." At the same time, he reminded Trump of his Republican loyalty pledge, saying, "I know him to be a man of his word."

And in Mississippi, RNC member Henry Barbour said Trump's comments "aren't worthy of someone who wants to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave." He said Trump would be a "disaster politically for the GOP if he won the nomination."

"It's embarrassing at best," Barbour said of Trump's impact on his party.

Barbour helped author the Republican National Committee's "Growth and Opportunity Project" after a painful 2012 presidential election that forced party leaders to re-evaluate their strategy in presidential contests to reflect the nation's demographic shifts. Among other things, the report cited an urgent need for GOP leaders to adopt an inclusive and welcoming tone on issues such as immigration.

"If we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them and show our sincerity," it read, noting that white voters made up a record-low 72 percent of the electorate in 2012 and would represent less than half of all voters by 2050.

Yet Trump has vaulted to the top of the Republican 2016 field by attacking immigrants in many cases.

He called some Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "criminals" in his announcement speech and intensified his criticism of Muslim immigrants or visitors Monday evening. While experts widely consider his proposal unconstitutional, Trump's continued popularity underscores the deep divide between Republican leaders and the party's conservative base, which holds outsized influence in the presidential nomination process.

Indeed, Trump's plan was cheered during a South Carolina rally Monday evening, and vocal supporters across the country defended the Muslim ban as necessary for national security. Polling suggests the sentiment is likely fueled by sharp strain of xenophobia: A new AP-GfK poll found 8 in 10 Republicans think there are too many immigrants coming from the Middle East.

Trump showed little concern for critics on Tuesday.

"I don't care about them," he told CNN. "I'm doing what's right."

The debate over Trump's plan left his Republican presidential competitors struggling for attention with little time remaining before Iowa's Feb. 1 caucuses.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's calls on Tuesday for Congress to strengthen the nation's domestic surveillance program was little more than a coverage afterthought amid the wave of Trump stories.. So, too, was a new advertising campaign from allies of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that assailed Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unprepared to serve as commander in chief.

Former technology executive Carly Fiorina flashed her frustration when asked repeatedly about Trump's comments as she campaigned in Iowa.

"Maybe you should quit focusing on Donald Trump so much," she told reporters.

Trump's position has also forced vulnerable Republicans facing re-election next year into an awkward position. Those who weighed in at all condemned his plan but also stepped carefully.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she opposes any "religious-based test for our immigration standards," but she declined to criticize Trump directly when pressed by reporters.

Some Republicans not facing election next year were less cautious.

"It does not reflect serious thought. It's not our party. It's not our country," Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. told reporters.

Responding to mistrust, feds investigate Chicago police

Responding to mistrust, feds investigate Chicago police

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. Lynch announced a federal civil rights investigation of the Chicago police department.

 

CHICAGO (AP) -- Responding to deepening mistrust of one of the nation's largest police forces, the federal government opened an investigation Monday into the Chicago Police Department, and authorities announced they would not charge an officer in the death of a 25-year-old black man who was shot in the back last year.

The Justice Department investigation was to look into patterns of racial disparity in the use of force. It comes nearly two weeks after the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times.

Lack of trust between police and their communities, "makes it more difficult to gain help within investigations, to encourage the victims and the witnesses of crime to speak up and to fulfill the most basic responsibilities of public-safety officials," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. "And when suspicion and hostility is allowed to fester, it can erupt into unrest."

The investigation, which is separate from an existing federal investigation into last year's shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, will also review how the department disciplines officers and handles misconduct accusations. Justice Department officials say they use so-called patterns-and-practices probes to identify systemic failings in troubled police departments and to improve trust between police and the communities they serve.

The civil-rights investigation follows recent ones in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, and comes as the police department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are under intense scrutiny over their handling of the October 2014 death of McDonald. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder Nov. 24, more than a year after the killing and just hours before the release of police dashboard camera footage showing the officer shooting the teenager.

Emanuel, who initially said a federal civil rights investigation would be "misguided" but later reversed course, said the city needs comprehensive solutions in the wake of the video showing McDonald's death.

Speaking at a news conference, Emanuel said the police department's challenges go beyond one case and he's making several reforms, including appointing a new leader for the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings by police. The previous head resigned Sunday.

The authority's new chief will be Sharon Fairley, a former federal prosecutor who also worked with Chicago's Office of Inspector General. She appeared with Emanuel at City Hall and said she has no agenda beyond the pursuit of integrity and transparency.

Also Monday, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said there would be no charges against Officer George Hernandez in the shooting of Ronald Johnson. Authorities say he pointed a gun at police before he was killed on Oct. 12, 2014.

Alvarez and Assistant State's Attorney Lynn McCarthy spent more than 30 minutes detailing evidence before showing the dashcam video, which similarly to the McDonald case has no audio. The state's attorney's office overlaid police radio communications.

The video shows Johnson running from police across a street with several officers in pursuit, and then one officer fires. Johnson is not on screen when he was struck by two bullets.

The video was also slowed down to show what McCarthy said was a gun in Johnson's hand. Prosecutors say a loaded weapon was found in his hand after he was killed. She also said Johnson ignored officers' commands to stop and drop his weapon and had been in a physical altercation with at least one other officer before he was shot.

"We're in different times right now when we're talking about transparency and what the public wants to see," Alvarez said after showing the video. "I have pretty much opened the door here."

The attorney for the Johnson family, Michael Oppenheimer, said the prosecutors' investigation was a "joke" and an affront to Johnson's family and Cook County citizens.

When asked why there was no audio on this video and others, Alvarez said: "That's a problem for the Chicago Police Department, and I think they need to answer to that. ... Time and time again we look at these videos, and there is not any audio."

Alvarez has been criticized for not filing charges earlier in the McDonald case, in which the video shows the teen veering away from officers on a four-lane street when Van Dyke, seconds after exiting his squad car, opens fire from close range. The officer continues shooting after McDonald crumples to the ground and is barely moving.

The Chicago City Council signed off on a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family even before the family filed a lawsuit, and city officials fought in court for months to keep the video from being released publicly. The city's early efforts to suppress the footage coincided with Emanuel's re-election campaign, when the mayor was seeking African-American votes in a tight race.

Since the release of the McDonald video, Emanuel forced Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign and formed a task force to examine the police department. But protesters' calls for the mayor to resign - something he said he won't do - have grown louder.

Politicians, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, called for the federal civil rights investigation. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said he hopes it would focus not only on the police department, but on Emanuel's office and the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

"All three of them - the police, City Hall and the prosecutor's office - are suspect," Jackson said. "We cannot trust them."

The Justice Department has opened 23 investigations of police departments since the start of the Obama administration.

If the Justice Department finds systemic violations, the investigations typically result in court-enforceable agreements between the federal government and the community that serve as blueprints for change and are overseen by an independent monitor. The federal government has the option of suing a police department that is unwilling to make changes.

AP source: Justice Department to investigate Chicago Police

AP source: Justice Department to investigate Chicago Police
  

CHICAGO (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department is expected to launch a wide-ranging investigation this week into the patterns and practices of the Chicago Police Department after recent protests following the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The person said the Justice Department is expected to make the announcement of a civil rights investigation this week. The person was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly because it has not yet been announced and only spoke the AP on condition of anonymity.

The civil rights probe follows others recently in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, and it comes as the police department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are under intense scrutiny over their handling of the October 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder Nov. 24, more than a year after the killing and just hours before the release of police dashboard camera footage showing the officer shooting the teenager.

The video shows McDonald veering away from officers on a four-lane street when Van Dyke, seconds after exiting his squad car, opens fire from close range. The officer continues shooting after McDonald crumples to the ground and is barely moving. The video does not include sound, which authorities have not explained.

The Chicago City Council signed off on a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family even before the family filed a lawsuit and city officials fought in court for months to keep the video from being released publicly. The city's early efforts to suppress its release coincided with Emanuel's re-election campaign, when the mayor was seeking African-American votes in a tight race.

Since the release of the video, Emanuel forced Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign and formed a task force to examine the department in an effort to calm the city and deal with the most serious crisis of his administration.

But the pressure on the mayor has not diminished. The calls for the mayor to resign - something he said he won't do - have grown louder from protesters in the city, including more than 200 people who shouted that he step down during a Sunday afternoon march in downtown Chicago. Protesters counted to 16 during the march, a number that has taken on a symbolic significance since the demonstrations began.

Emanuel initially said a federal civil rights investigation of Chicago police tactics would be "misguided" because the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago was already investigating the incident. But Emanuel later reversed course and said he would welcome the Justice Department's involvement - something that politicians including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan have called for.

On Friday, Chicago released hundreds of pages that show police officers initially reported a very different version of the encounter with McDonald than the video shows. That further angered activists and protesters, who were already accusing the city of covering up what really happened the night McDonald was killed.

Neither Emanuel's office nor the police department immediately responded to a request for comment on reports of a federal investigation.

The Justice Department in the last six years has opened more than 20 investigations of police departments. In March, the department released a scathing report of the Ferguson, Missouri, police force that found pervasive civil rights abuses, and in May, it reached a settlement with Cleveland police that called for sweeping improvements - including to that department's use of force policies. It opened an investigation of Baltimore police in May after demonstrations there turned violent in response to the death of a black man in police custody.

Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he was pleased with the decision to investigate Chicago. Jackson said he hoped that the investigation would focus not only on the police department, but on Emanuel's office and the Cook County State's Attorney's office, which he and others have criticized for taking so long to bring charges against Van Dyke.

"All three of them - the police, City Hall and the prosecutor's office - are suspect," Jackson said. "We cannot trust them."

TV viewers get look at home of couple behind massacre

TV viewers get look at home of couple behind massacre
 

Members of the media crowd into the apartment bedroom of San Bernardino shooting suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in Redlands, Calif., Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited journalists into the townhouse. A book containing passages from the Quran is seen at right.

   

REDLANDS, Calif. (AP) -- The kitchen had pots on the stove, dirty dishes in the sink and a half-eaten pita sandwich. In a bedroom, there were boxes of diapers next to a crib with mussed sheets and a desk with photo identification of Syed Farook.

Viewers around the world got an intimate look Friday at the home of Farook and Tashfeen Malik, two days after their modest Redlands apartment became an active crime scene and where authorities said the couple stored pipe bombs, tools and large caches of ammunition.

Camera crews were elbow-to-elbow as they broadcast live inside the home in a chaotic scramble, while about 100 journalists lodged on the front lawn. Television crews moved documents to position for their shots. Some picked through documents and photos and rummaged through bedrooms.

The images showed mundane details of everyday life. A mattress lay on a bedroom floor, covered with documents and Arabic books. The closet had clothes hanging and family photos on the top shelf, with a hole in the ceiling.

The living room table had several documents, including one that authorities left behind listing what they had seized. Walls were covered with decorative rugs with Arabic script.

David Bowdich, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge in Los Angeles, said authorities returned the home to the owner Thursday night after executing a search warrant.

"Once the residents have the apartment and we're not involved any more, we don't control it," he said.

FBI Director James Comey said he was "neither happy nor unhappy" with the video footage shown.

"When we're done with a location, we return it to the rightful owners and we have to leave an inventory under the law of what was taken," he said. "People got to see our great criminal justice system in action."

Ellen Glasser, a former FBI agent who coordinated a counterterrorism task force in Jacksonville, Florida, said anything left behind would be compromised but authorities may have gotten everything they needed. She found the spectacle unsettling.

"I thought it was bizarre," said Glasser, a professor of criminology at University of North Florida. "I've never seen that kind of thing happen before, but this is a frenzy for information."

As journalists sifted through the family's personal belongings live on air, social media responded with a barrage of angry tweets. MSNBC was trending within the hour, with more than 42,000 tweets sent out about the network that had aired family photos, a driver's license and a social security CAPS card.

MSNBC said that while it was not the first crew to enter the home, it was the first to air live shots from inside.

"We regret that we briefly showed images of photographs and identification cards that should not have been aired without review," said Diana Rocco, MSNBC spokeswoman.

CNN said that it made an editorial decision not to air close-up photos of material that could be sensitive or identifiable, such as photos or ID cards. Fox said it exercised "cautious editorial judgment and refrained from showing close-ups of sensitive information."

The Associated Press was among the news organizations that visited the home, but did not touch anything.

Landlord Doyle Miller opened the home after the FBI was finished with its investigation and that journalists quickly took over the home, where the couple had lived since May.

"I opened up the door, I looked in, and all of a sudden rush, whoosh," said Miller.

14 dead, more than a dozen wounded in California shooting

14 dead, more than a dozen wounded in California shooting
 

Two women embrace at a community center where family members are gathering to pick up survivors after a shooting rampage that killed multiple people and wounded others at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015.

   

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) -- As many as three gunmen believed to be wearing military-style gear opened fire Wednesday at a Southern California social services center "as if they were on a mission," killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others, authorities said.

Hours later, police hunting for the attackers riddled a black SUV with gunfire several miles away, and one person lay motionless in the street - dead or dying - with a gun nearby. Officers appeared to remove a second person from the vehicle.

San Bernardino Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes said authorities had not immediately confirmed whether those in the SUV were involved in the morning carnage. And the hunt went on, apparently for a possible third gunman. A law officer suffered minor injuries in the afternoon shootout.

It was the nation's deadliest mass shooting since the Newton, Connecticut, attack in December 2012 that left 26 children and adults dead.

Police shed no light on a motive for Thursday's massacre, which came just five days after a gunman opened fire at Planned Parenthood in Colorado, killing three.

"They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission," San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said, noting the attackers carried long guns - which can mean rifles or shotguns.

Witnesses said several people locked themselves in their offices, desperately waiting to be rescued by police, after gunfire erupted at the Inland Regional Center, which serves people with developmental disabilities. 

Some people telephoned their loved ones and whispered to them what was going on.

The attack took place in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was renting space to hold a banquet, said Marybeth Feild, president and CEO of the center. She said the building houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference center.

FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities converged on the center and searched room to room for the attacker or attackers, but it was feared that they had escaped.

Ten of the wounded were hospitalized in critical condition, and three were in serious condition, San Bernardino Fire Chief Tom Hannemann said. Police cautioned that the numbers of dead and wounded were early estimates that could change.

No weapons were recovered at the center, though authorities were investigating unidentified items in the building and brought in bomb squads, Burguan said.

San Bernardino police spokesman Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told The Associated Press there were reports from witnesses of one to three gunmen.

As the manhunt went on, stores, office buildings and at least one school were locked down in the city of 214,000 people about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and roads were blocked off.

Triage units were set up outside the center, and people were seen being wheeled away on stretchers. Others walked quickly from a building with their hands up. They were searched by police before being reunited with loved ones.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the attack by his homeland security adviser.

He said it was too early to know the shooters' motives, but urged the country to take steps to reduce the frequency of mass shootings. He told CBS that stricter gun laws, including stronger background checks, would make the country safer.

"The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently," Obama said.

The shooting sounded like "an organized plot," and preliminary information seems to indicate that "this is personal, and there seems to suggest some element of revenge and retaliation," said Erroll G. Southers, director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California and a former FBI agent.

"What it says to me, it's someone who's familiar with the facility, it's someone who knew exactly what room they were going to go to, they knew exactly which way they needed to escape," Southers said. "They've done their homework, they know what the response time in this jurisdiction."

Terry Petit said his daughter works at the center, where social workers find jobs, housing, transportation and provide programs for people who have disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He got a text from her saying she was hiding in the building after hearing gunshots.

Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center. He said she wrote: "People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."

Sherry Esquerra was searching for her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom work at the center. She said her daughter helps "very disabled" children and "gets all the services she possibly could for these kids."

"I just don't understand why somebody would come in and start shooting," Esquerra said. She last saw her daughter at Thanksgiving and planned to see her Friday. When she calls her phone now, "Nothing. I just get her message. Straight to voicemail."

Marcos Aguilera's wife was in the building when the gunfire erupted. He said a shooter entered the building next to his wife's office and opened fire.

"They locked themselves in her office. They seen bodies on the floor," Aguilera told KABC-TV, adding that his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.

The social services center has two large buildings that require a badge to get in, said Sheela Stark, an Inland Regional Center board member. However, the conference room where many public events take place - including the banquet on Wednesday - is usually left open when visitors are expected.

Chicago mayor fires police chief in wake of video release

Chicago mayor fires police chief in wake of video release
 

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.