Futterman says he impressed by the individuals appointed to the task force. Garry McCarthy addresses the media early Wednesday morning.
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In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch made public on the day Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was sacked, Madigan asked the department’s Civil Rights Division to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Chicago Police Department similar to probes done in other cities.
“I don’t have a specific list today but people who are engaged in these issues, who have constructive things to say, are people we are going to want to engage with”, Lightfoot said. “I don’t shirk that responsibility”. “He has obviously confronted this situation over the course of the last week quite directly and already taken some steps to indicate his own commitment to addressing some of the problems that he has seen”. As I told you, this is a work in progress and finding a solution.
If evidence of a cover-up emerged, any indictment would most likely involve a charge of obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum 20-year prison term and $250,000 fine on each count.
On Tuesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed the request citing that the police department violated federal law, signaling a need to investigate the department’s “use of deadly force and whether a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing exists”.
There had been calls for McCarthy’s resignation leading up to the mayor’s announcement.
But some say the panel lacks representation from those most critical of the department and those most affected by police misconduct.
Patrol officers have never liked the idea of being electronically monitored, regarding it as something imposed from the upper brass, Stutchman said. “We wanted McCarthy gone, but he’s just the lesser of the devils”. Mr. Emanuel was re-elected on April 7; the City Council approved a million settlement for the McDonald family on April 15. Running without the backing of any major local political organizations, she portrayed herself as a protective mom and tough-on-crime prosecutor who said she’d take on the “good ol’ boy mentality” that had driven the office for too long.
Chicago recently released police dashcam video of McDonald’s shooting, sparking days of mostly peaceful protests. “It is evident now that at the time of the settlement, the tape could have been released”.
The silence is nearly sure to figure into the ongoing federal investigation of the case, and it raises questions about whether officers were careless with the recording equipment or, worse, attempting a cover-up.
Emanuel was asked if he had been trying to block the release so that it wouldn’t hurt his bid for re-election ahead of the vote last spring.
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“We brought those charges within two months of the killing – without a video”, said Zopp, who has called for a special prosecutor to handle the latest case.
