Emanuel praised McCarthy, but said the city’s trust in police department leadership had eroded in the past month.
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Chicago’s new task force will include the input of victims’ rights representatives, law enforcement organizations as well as youth and religious leaders, the mayor’s office said. “That’s IPRA. Our authority in investigating those complaints is not very strong”, McCarthy said. Demonstrators have vented outrage, with many demanding that Emanuel and McCarthy resign. Right before the video’s release on November 24, prosecutors announced they would charge Van Dyke with first-degree murder. And Alvarez has maintained she was waiting for federal investigators to wrap up their own investigation, but finally made a decision to move forward on her own out of concern for “public safety” after Emanuel was ordered to release the shooting video.
The silent Chicago video shows McDonald walking down the middle of a four-lane street. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle urged Emanuel to do the same.
Emanuel called a news conference to announce the dismissal of Garry McCarthy, who only days ago insisted to reporters that the mayor had his “back”.
“McCarthy’s resignation is an essential first step for a city that must pursue new strategies to curtail gun violence and reform an unhealthy police culture of weak accountability”. The city had fought to suppress that footage for over a year, and the police department’s handling of the incident has been a focus of controversy. Police officers are only effective “if they are trusted by all Chicagoans, whoever they are and wherever they live in the city”.
Chicago police have said 25-year-old Ronald Johnson of Chicago was fatally shot by an officer on October 12, 2014.
Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke leaves the Cook County Jail after posting bond on Monday in Chicago. McCarthy came under fire following the release of dash-cam video of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, 17. Serving as the backdrop: decades’ worth of police torture and wrongful conviction cases, corruption and ineffectual oversight in shootings and other excessive force actions. Body-worn cameras are attached to an officer’s clothing or sometimes glasses or a hat, often providing a view of what the officers sees at a scene rather than a wider shot of the events unfolding. Emanuel’s “task force” is just one more futile effort to put a bandaid on a broken system that is unaccountable to the people.
“Appointing a committee to look into an issue is a tried-and-true tactic elected officials long have employed to buy time and breathing room when faced with a scandal or crisis”.
But it wasn’t enough to spare McCarthy from losing his job.
Emanuel said, “Now is the time for fresh eyes and leadership”. At the time, McCarthy had struggled with criticism from within the department that he’d brought an arrogant New York-knows-best attitude and was too cozy with Emanuel, but his decision to be visible on the ground helped his standing with the rank-and-file.
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“This morning, I formally asked for his resignation”, Emanuel said. “And I have great reverence for officers”. But overnight, the mayor called McCarthy to tell him he was out. “I’m very comfortable in that role”.
