Chicago Police Accountability Task Force On December 1, 2015, Rahm Emanuel created the
Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, led by then-President of the Chicago Police Board
Lori Lightfoot, "to review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for
Chicago's police officers." The Task Force's final report, published April 13, 2016, found racism and systemic failures in the city's police force, validating complaints made for years by African-American residents.
Firing of Superintendent Garry McCarthy Emanuel fired the head of the Chicago Police Department, Superintendent
Garry McCarthy, on December 1, 2015, under political pressure from protesters. McCarthy knew of the dash-cam video a few weeks after the shooting and stripped Officer Van Dyke of his police powers. Due to the IPRA investigation under way, McCarthy could not fire the officer, nor discipline him or put him on a "no pay" status.
Calls for Anita Alvarez's resignation Cook County State's Attorney
Anita Alvarez was criticized by political challengers and others for the delay in the release of the dash-cam video, which she viewed weeks after the shooting, Calls for her resignation came from within her own party, including Cook County Board President
Toni Preckwinkle. As of December 2, 2015, Alvarez had refused to resign, which prompted a 16-hour sit-in by protesters at the Cook County building on December 3, 2015. Alvarez said she had been cooperating with the FBI investigation since November 2014, and asked her critics why she would call in the FBI if she was attempting a cover-up. Alvarez lost her bid for reelection in the March 2016 primary, earning 29 percent of the votes. Challenger
Kim Foxx, who ran on a platform of criminal justice reform, won with 58 percent of the votes, and went on to win the general election.
Calls for Rahm Emanuel's resignation McDonald's killing occurred four months before Emanuel faced a difficult campaign for reelection in February 2015. (He failed to win the majority and was elected by 56 percent in a
runoff election—the first in Chicago's history— against
Jesús "Chuy" García.) The delayed timing of release of the video, the Chicago City Council's awarding the family $5 million within weeks of McDonald's death, prompted some commentators to accuse the city of cover-up. Journalist Ben Joravsky wrote in the
Chicago Reader: Just imagine [if] Mayor Emanuel had released the video in, say, November [2014]—without being forced to by a lawsuit.... But of course, he didn't do the right thing. He buried the video. He allowed officials to mislead the public. He hid the tapes because most likely he [...] assumed it would hurt his reelection campaign. Thus he not only did the immoral thing, he did the politically stupid thing. Cook County state's attorney Anita Alvarez probably would've quickly responded with an indictment—just like she did earlier this week, when the tape actually was released. I mean, it's really hard to look at that tape and not call for an indictment. If the mayor had done that, he wouldn't be the villain in this sordid story. He'd be the hero. Or at least the guy who finally, for once in his life, did the right thing. Emanuel subsequently created the Task Force on Police Accountability to review current training and oversight for Chicago's police officers. He also maintained he never saw the dash-cam video until it was publicly released and would not resign. There was no legal mechanism to force Emanuel's resignation. State representative
La Shawn K. Ford filed House Bill 4356 to set up the mechanism for a recall election, but it was not passed. Illinois Republican governor
Bruce Rauner said he would sign such a bill.
Video released of shooting of Ronald Johnson III On December 1, 2015, the city announced that there was a video of a fatal police shooting that took place on October 12, 2014. who shot Ronald Johnson III in the back during a foot chase. The officer opened fire seconds after arriving on the scene, when Johnson was moving away from police. Johnson was allegedly a known gang member and also allegedly armed; a gun was recovered at the scene. The attorney for Johnson's family contends police planted the weapon. Officers at the McDonald scene were waiting for a Taser to arrive before Van Dyke shot the suspect. At that time, 21.5 percent of officers had been trained to use a Taser. Dean Angelo, president of the Chicago chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said on the subject: "I know there are people on the job for 9 or 10 years who have not been trained. I can't say they have all requested training, but I am sure some have. It's very hard to get the proper training as a Chicago police officer and that's something that has been going on for a very long time. There is certainly a percentage of my members who believe that the Chicago Police Department doesn't offer the same level of training, or the same opportunities to obtain training, as many other police departments in the country. I think the general attitude is that's just 'Welcome to the Chicago Police Department.'" split across seven PDFs regarding the McDonald case and other police-related matters were obtained under the
Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The timing of the release (on
New Year's Eve) has been described by reporters as "strategic". The exchanges show that the mayor's staff had been communicating with both the IPRA and the office of the Cook County state attorney since the October 2014 shooting. They document fact-gathering and news-monitoring, to crafting a unified "message" on how to respond to media inquiries regarding the McDonald shooting. The emails included several highly redacted speech drafts to use if the video was released, The emails also cover the topics of discrepancies between the police reports and dash-cam video, the lack of audio on the dash-cam videos (which senior mayoral adviser David Spielfogel noted: "The number of malfunctions seems a bit odd."), express exasperation with statements made by the IPRA, note the missing Burger King footage, and reports on protests and social media activity—all of which is highly redacted. Aides to the mayor have responded that the communications were routine and did not interfere with the IPRA's investigation. In August that year, Attorney General
Lisa Madigan ruled that emails on personal accounts that pertain to public business must be disclosed to the public. Her ruling was a binding opinion, requiring CPD to search the officers' email accounts and comply with the decision within 35 days. CPD appealed the ruling in court, and lost in September 2017. Ultimately, CNN never received the emails that it had requested. Each of the officers, individually or through their attorneys, either refused to provide emails, ignored the request, or denied having any relevant emails.
Two recommendations that officers be fired On August 16, 2016, inspector Joseph Ferguson recommended that 10 officers be fired, followed up by Superintendent
Eddie T. Johnson's recommendation on August 18, that 7 police officers be fired for false or misleading statements made about the incident.
2017 DOJ report and repercussions DOJ announced the completion of their investigation and issued a "scathing report" in early January 2017, noting problems in a police culture of excessive violence, especially against minorities; and lack of training and oversight. DOJ and the city have a preliminary agreement to undertake broad reforms for improvement, with the goal of increasing the safety of both citizens and officers. It noted the department's improvements, such as training in de-escalation to avoid use of force, issuance of Tasers, officers wearing body cameras, and the reshaping of a police oversight body. Also in January 2017, the city and DOJ signed "an agreement in principle to work together, with community input, to create a federal court-enforceable consent decree addressing the deficiencies uncovered during the investigation. An independent monitor, who has yet to be chosen, will oversee compliance." In February 2017, U.S. Attorney General
Jeff Sessions signaled that the
Trump administration would "pull back" on federal civil rights probes of local police departments. He would not commit to enforcing the consent decree signed by Chicago and the Department of Justice. In June 2017, Mayor Emanuel backed off his commitment to enter a court-enforced agreement with the federal government. He said that an independent monitor selected by the city could work with the Justice Department to pursue police reforms without court oversight. Later that month, a group of civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit seeking court enforcement of police reforms. Also in June,
Toni Preckwinkle, the president of the
Cook County Board of Commissioners, and
Jesús "Chuy" García, another member of the Cook County Board, advocated for judicial oversight, as did Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson. In August 2017, Illinois Attorney General
Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit in federal court requesting that a judge oversee police reform in Chicago. In July 2018, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan announced a proposed court settlement that was the first draft of a consent decree that would eventually serve as a court-enforced mandate governing reforms of the Chicago Police Department. ==Documentary film==