The release was organized by the city’s Independent Police Review Authority. Chicago officials waited until November – after a judge’s order – to release a video taken about a year earlier that showed Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was black, 16 times. It requires specific reports – plus video and audio related to police shootings – to be released within 60 days of the incident. “I’m not aware of other cities or departments that have this extensive of an online presence for their video or audio associated with police misconduct allegations”, she said.
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“These past few months, as the city has struggled with so many questions about policing and about police accountability, it has been clear that we all agree that there’s a lack of trust and that increased transparency is essential to rebuilding that trust”, IPRA Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley told reporters Friday.
The database includes more than 300 videos from body cameras, dashboard cameras, and bystander videos, plus audio recordings from 911 calls and police radio transmissions. Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who runs the school’s Civil Rights and Police Accountability Clinic, helped release the Citizens Police Data Project last fall after spending 10 years suing to obtain the information.
Sawn-off firearms found in Timaru house Cartoon: Why not ask WINZ for cake? . “In the video, you see a woman holding a very small child – it shows that even young children are witnessing this extreme violence by police”.
Numerous videos only capture part of the encounter with police, and documents, for the most part, reveal few clues as to the context surrounding them.
In a move meant to boost transparency and regain public trust, the Chicago Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) made public an online database Friday that includes videos, audio recordings, police reports, and other documents related to 101 police misconduct cases now under investigation by the agency.
All these incidents are under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.
Two are filed as “other use of force”, meaning incidents in which stun guns have resulted in significant bodily injury or death. They have since lost public trust following years of secrecy by Chicago police.
The video of Jamison, for example, “left me with more questions than answers”, said Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NY, who analyzed the recordings.
Another from July of 2014 shows a cop breaking up a block party, slamming a woman’s head on the hood of a vehicle, and punching a bystander to make his point.
The Fraternal Order of Police was also notified of the impending release. He survived, but nearly four years later, IPRA still hasn’t ruled on the case, leaving the officers involved in limbo. According to the Tribune, the city notified police officers who might appear in the video, some of whom have not been accused of misconduct. These disclosures come as the city’s police department is facing intense scrutiny and promising reforms.
Angelo says the agency is trying to deflect attention from the poor job it does investigating cases.
In total, the release, which also includes other types of police incidents, includes information related to more than 100 investigations. It’s the latest move in the city’s effort to regain public trust in its beleaguered police force.
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There was no initial indication that any of the footage was as explosive as the dashcam video showing the death of McDonald.
