Chicago's much-criticized police review authority replaced with civilian agency

Source: Guardian

Chicago's much-criticized police review authority replaced with civilian agency

Embattled mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plan as his approval ratings have plummeted after a video was released showing police shooting an unarmed teen

Nicky Woolf in San Francisco
@nickywoolf
Friday 13 May 2016 20.25 EDT

Embattled Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Friday that he would abolish the much-criticized independent police review authority (IPRA) and replace it with a civilian agency.

Emanuel’s approval ratings have been plummeting in recent months following the release, after a year of clamor and denial, of the video showing Chicago police shooting unarmed black teenager Laquan McDonald – a video that Emanuel claimed not to have seen until just before its release.

Laquan was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer in November 2014, a shooting that police at first claimed was in self-defense, though when the footage was eventually released it showed that the 17-year-old was facing away – and walking away –from the officer when he was killed.

In an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune released on Friday afternoon, Emanuel said it was “clear that a totally new agency is required to rebuild trust in investigations of officer-involved shootings and the most serious allegations of police misconduct”.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/13/chicago-police-review-rahm-emanuel-officer-shootings