IPRA is the independent agency that investigates allegations of Chicago police misconduct.
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Citing a person familiar with the case, the NYT said it followed similar forensic reviews of the Ferguson and Baltimore police departments after high-profile shootings, patterns of racial profiling and abuse at the hands of officers.
The announcement comes almost two weeks after the city released the explosive video of a white Chicago police officer shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times and killing him. The police department and the city government have faced massive criticism since a video showing a police officer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times was released in November.
The footage of McDonald’s fatal shooting outraged many Chicagoans, who took to the streets to protest what they felt was an excessive use of force and dishonesty by the city and Van Dyke’s fellow officers, who initially accused McDonald of threatening officers.
The Chicago Police Department said the IPRA is conducting the investigation into McDonald’s killing.
Last week, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she sent a letter to the USA attorney general asking the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the Chicago Police Department to see whether its practices violate the Constitution and federal law. Alvarez’s decision comes after the Department of Justice on Monday announced it was launching a wide-ranging review of the Chicago Police Department and its use of force.
“There’s no way the Chicago Police Department, regardless of who they bring in, could ever change the culture of that department”, Ford said. The events unfolded mere hours after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who sustained a spinal injury while in police custody and later died.
Scott Ando was in charge of IPRA for four years.
“We will let the Department of Justice address what action they will or will not choose to take, but as was made clear last week, we welcome the engagement of the Department of Justice as we work to restore trust in our police department and improve our system of police accountability”, said Emanuel’s spokesman, Adam Collins.
Holmes filed a federal lawsuit against Chicago police shortly after her son’s death, and the defendants filed a motion to block the video’s release. His administration had paid a US$5 million settlement with McDonald’s family ahead of his re-election campaign, and after demands for his resignation, he forced the police superintendent to resign.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says the investigation shouldn’t be viewed as a penalty but rather an opportunity to identify areas where Chicago police have “fallen short”. The news site also notes that there is no sound in the video, which has not been explained by the city as dash cams are set to record audio.
Police say Johnson pointed a gun at police before Hernandez killed him. Former prosecutor Ron Safer said the investigation will focus on systematic patterns, not a single case.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks during a news conference Monday at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.
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This story has been corrected to show the name of the new head of the Independent Police Review Authority is Sharon Fairley, not Fairly.
