Three Chicago police officers have been relieved of their policing powers and assigned to administrative roles after they opened fire and killed an African-American teenager suspected of stealing a vehicle last week. One thing they do know: When the incident was over, police did not find a gun, either on the street or inside the stolen vehicle, Guglielmi said Friday.
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The department said that two officers fired their weapons, wounding O’Neal, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. “And all of the sudden a lot of these body cams don’t work”. Not the police officer, executing this boy.
The department moved swiftly in the days after the Thursday night shooting to relieve all three officers of their police powers after a preliminary determination concluded they had violated department policy.
Johnson was named the police superintendent in April, after serving as the interim leader.
Relieving officers of their police powers is considered a more serious step than putting officers on desk duty, which is routinely done after a police shooting.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges the police officers fired at Paul O’Neal “without lawful justification or excuse”.
Police can not legally shoot fleeing suspects unless they pose a threat to an officer’s life or the officer’s good-faith belief that they pose a substantial danger to the public.
Police then started shooting at the driver of the auto, Paul.
Although the incident remains under investigation, “it appears that departmental policies may have been violated by at least 2 of the police officers”, Guglielmi said in a statement.
“All we have asked for is that the truth come out”, said Michael Oppenheimer, attorney for the O’Neal family. “We have also heard that the police department or the police took off their body cams or disconnected them”.
Police followed a Jaguar convertible they suspected was stolen and attempted to pull it over, according to a statement from the police department after the incident Thursday evening.
Johnson said the Police Department is committed to transparency and accountability, and that it can only be as strong as the people’s faith in it. “Shooting him in the back”, said family spokesman Ja’Mal Green.
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Community relations between police remain fraught with deep-seated distrust of law enforcement. He said public video of officers, including the infamous clip of Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times, have directly led to charges, and could in this case as well. The officers received the body cameras just days before the shooting. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, is facing murder and misconduct charges, and has pleaded not guilty. The police oversight agency is tasked with investigating the shooting.
