Chicago police officers’ emails discussing the Laquan McDonald shooting can’t be kept secret even though they were transmitted privately, a state official has decreed in what open-records advocates say is a solid step toward transparency on an issue that has roiled IL and reached as high as Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Two of the officers cited in the report have since retired.
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Police released a video Tuesday showing the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was killed by an officer in October 2014.
Van Dyke was not charged with first-degree murder until more than a year after the shooting, and only just before the release of the graphic video.
As part of process, Johnson will submit his recommendations to the Chicago Police Board, which will ultimately decide whether to fire the officers. However, a portion of the shooting was captured on video, which differed greatly from the accounts of the officers on the scene.
Earlier this month, a Cook County judge appointed a special prosecutor to take over the case against Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in Laquan’s death.
As NPR’s Cheryl Corley reports for our Newscast unit, the footage seemed to contradict police statements indicating “that MacDonald had lunged at officers”.
Superintendent Eddie Johnson called for their removal after a report concluded the officers made false statements.
Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement Thursday that after reviewing documents, video and other evidence, he was accepting the recommendation of the city’s inspector general to fire seven officers due to their accounts of the incident.
Meanwhile, Ald. Anthony Beale from the Roseland neighborhood said he believes Johnson should act now, and act with a heavy hand to terminate all of the officers that Ferguson has recommended for such action.
Criminal justice experts and activists reached on Thursday said the firing of the officers in Chicago could signal to the entire nation that a culture of covering up law enforcement misconduct is no longer being tolerated.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he would let Johnson make the decisions on discipline in the case, contending Wednesday that he would get ripped in the media if he took the lead now in calling for the officers to be fired.
Guglielmi said that the police department “respectfully disagrees” with the inspector general’s recommendation that the 10th officer be fired. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I don’t see how they can change back to the way things were before”, he said.
The officers have been stripped of their police powers.
A spokesman for Emanuel and the president of the local police union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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A ninth officer, a woman, was not recommended for firing by Johnson although an Inspector General report found she should be fired as well, according to the Sun-Times.
