Mayor Rahm Emanuel Fires Chicago Police Superintendent
By MONICA DAVEY and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
New York Times
DEC. 1, 2015
Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago fired Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy following days of protests in the city after the police released footage of the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel ousted Chicago’s police superintendent on Tuesday, responding to an uproar over a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times and anger at the Police Department for resisting, for more than a year, release of a video of the fatal shooting.
“He has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction,” Mr. Emanuel said of Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. He said he had asked for, and received, Mr. McCarthy’s resignation.
The mayor hired Mr. McCarthy, 56, in 2011 to take over law enforcement in a city plagued by persistent violent crime, and homicides declined during his tenure. But Chicago still has a serious problem with gang violence, in particular, including the Nov. 2 killing of Tyshawn Lee, 9, who police say was targeted by gang members.
But the biggest blow to the department came with the release last Tuesday of a dashboard camera video of the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting of Laquan McDonald, 17, by Officer Jason Van Dyke, which led to protests against police use of force, demands that Mr. McCarthy be dismissed and even calls for Mr. Emanuel to resign. The city had refused to release the video until ordered to do so by a judge.
The video shows that Mr. McDonald, who was walking down a street holding a small folding knife, was several feet away from the officer and not moving toward him when the officer opened fire. The officer appeared to continue shooting after the teenager was lying on the pavement. After the video’s release, Officer Van Dyke was charged with murder; he was released Monday on $1.5 million bond.
Mr. Emanuel was on the defensive throughout a news conference on Tuesday, his characteristic fiery manner kept in check as reporters suggested political motives for the city’s moves — at one point, in response to a question, he said, “I just, if I could, beg to differ on that.” He was asked repeatedly why the video was not released last fall or early this year, while he was in a tough re-election fight; why he removed Mr. McCarthy and took other measures only after the uproar caused by the video’s release; and whether he was adequately shouldering responsibility for what had occurred.
“I’m responsible,” he said, acknowledging what he said was a history of abuse of force by the Chicago police. “I don’t shirk that responsibility. I have taken certain steps prior to this day. I’m taking steps today.”
As for building public trust in himself, he said, “I have a lot of work to do at that.”
Mr. Emanuel was forced into a runoff in the mayor’s race earlier this year, in part because of anger in mostly black and Latino neighborhoods over the closure of nearly 50 public schools and a standoff with Chicago schoolteachers that led to a strike. He was re-elected in April but is now facing skepticism in some of the same neighborhoods over the police treatment of young black people and over how his office handled the McDonald case in the 13 months before video of it became public.
A collection of videos that have led to nationwide protests, federal investigations and changes in policy and attitudes on race.
Critics of the police have suggested a cover-up, noting missing surveillance video from a Burger King near the shooting scene that might have shed light on what happened the night Mr. McDonald was killed. The Justice Department is investigating.
Ricardo Muñoz, a city alderman, said he viewed the superintendent’s firing as a “good first step,” but not nearly enough. “There needs also to be significant reform to the police department processes that have allowed a cover-up to happen here,” he said. “There needs to be more transparency in this city. Stop fighting the freedom of information requests.”
Jedidiah Brown, founder of the Young Leaders Alliance, a Chicago community organization, said Mr. Emanuel should apologize to the city and change his leadership style. He and other activists said the state’s attorney for Cook County, Anita Alvarez, who has charged Officer Van Dyke, should also be forced out for not acting sooner and more forcefully.
Mr. Emanuel appeared to defend the delay in releasing the video, saying that it had been publicly described by officials months ago and that law enforcement agencies generally do not release evidence while an investigation is underway. “It is clear based on this event that between the public’s desire to know, which is essential, and the integrity of the investigation, we have two principles that are in conflict,” he said.
That is one issue he said will be examined by a five-person commission he announced “to do a top-to-bottom review of the system of oversight and accountability, training and transparency that is currently in place for Chicago police officers.” Deval Patrick, a former governor of Massachusetts and former chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, will advise the commission.
Mr. Emanuel said he also wants to develop “an early warning system” to identify problem officers and intervene.
He praised the work Mr. McCarthy had done, crediting him with lowering crime, increasing community policing and transparency, and modernizing the department. But he said public trust in the police, essential to reforming the department and fighting crime, was lacking.
“In order to bring the level of safety to our streets that every Chicagoan deserves, people must have confidence in the police,” he said. “Now it’s time for fresh eyes and new leadership.”
The mayor said the department’s second in command, First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante, will be the acting head until a successor for Mr. McCarthy is chosen. Mr. Escalante, a former chief of the department’s bureau of detectives, became first deputy superintendent in October, when two of the department’s top officials retired.
Mr. McCarthy spent most of his career in the New York Police Department, rising through the ranks to become deputy commissioner for operations during the Giuliani administration. He also oversaw the department’s lauded CompStat program, a crime reduction strategy that has since been imitated in dozens of cities around the country.
After being passed over for the top job in New York City, Mr. McCarthy became police chief in Newark in 2006, where he managed a significant reduction in crime in a city that had been in the midst of a surge in homicides and other violent crime. But his four-and-a-half year tenure in Newark was also criticized by residents for the frequency with which officers used force against civilians, conducted illegal searches and stopped African-American pedestrians.
Last year, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found that the Newark police had engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing, including when Mr. McCarthy was chief. The investigation found that officers frequently used unreasonable force and violated people’s rights but were rarely disciplined, and that some officers had stolen from people they arrested. The city and the Justice Department are expected to sign a consent decree outlining reforms, including the appointment of a federal monitor for the police.
The Chicago Police Department has been accused of some of the same shortcomings, including almost never punishing officers for wrongdoing.
New York Times
DEC. 1, 2015
Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago fired Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy following days of protests in the city after the police released footage of the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel ousted Chicago’s police superintendent on Tuesday, responding to an uproar over a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times and anger at the Police Department for resisting, for more than a year, release of a video of the fatal shooting.
“He has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction,” Mr. Emanuel said of Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. He said he had asked for, and received, Mr. McCarthy’s resignation.
The mayor hired Mr. McCarthy, 56, in 2011 to take over law enforcement in a city plagued by persistent violent crime, and homicides declined during his tenure. But Chicago still has a serious problem with gang violence, in particular, including the Nov. 2 killing of Tyshawn Lee, 9, who police say was targeted by gang members.
But the biggest blow to the department came with the release last Tuesday of a dashboard camera video of the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting of Laquan McDonald, 17, by Officer Jason Van Dyke, which led to protests against police use of force, demands that Mr. McCarthy be dismissed and even calls for Mr. Emanuel to resign. The city had refused to release the video until ordered to do so by a judge.
The video shows that Mr. McDonald, who was walking down a street holding a small folding knife, was several feet away from the officer and not moving toward him when the officer opened fire. The officer appeared to continue shooting after the teenager was lying on the pavement. After the video’s release, Officer Van Dyke was charged with murder; he was released Monday on $1.5 million bond.
Mr. Emanuel was on the defensive throughout a news conference on Tuesday, his characteristic fiery manner kept in check as reporters suggested political motives for the city’s moves — at one point, in response to a question, he said, “I just, if I could, beg to differ on that.” He was asked repeatedly why the video was not released last fall or early this year, while he was in a tough re-election fight; why he removed Mr. McCarthy and took other measures only after the uproar caused by the video’s release; and whether he was adequately shouldering responsibility for what had occurred.
“I’m responsible,” he said, acknowledging what he said was a history of abuse of force by the Chicago police. “I don’t shirk that responsibility. I have taken certain steps prior to this day. I’m taking steps today.”
As for building public trust in himself, he said, “I have a lot of work to do at that.”
Mr. Emanuel was forced into a runoff in the mayor’s race earlier this year, in part because of anger in mostly black and Latino neighborhoods over the closure of nearly 50 public schools and a standoff with Chicago schoolteachers that led to a strike. He was re-elected in April but is now facing skepticism in some of the same neighborhoods over the police treatment of young black people and over how his office handled the McDonald case in the 13 months before video of it became public.
A collection of videos that have led to nationwide protests, federal investigations and changes in policy and attitudes on race.
Critics of the police have suggested a cover-up, noting missing surveillance video from a Burger King near the shooting scene that might have shed light on what happened the night Mr. McDonald was killed. The Justice Department is investigating.
Ricardo Muñoz, a city alderman, said he viewed the superintendent’s firing as a “good first step,” but not nearly enough. “There needs also to be significant reform to the police department processes that have allowed a cover-up to happen here,” he said. “There needs to be more transparency in this city. Stop fighting the freedom of information requests.”
Jedidiah Brown, founder of the Young Leaders Alliance, a Chicago community organization, said Mr. Emanuel should apologize to the city and change his leadership style. He and other activists said the state’s attorney for Cook County, Anita Alvarez, who has charged Officer Van Dyke, should also be forced out for not acting sooner and more forcefully.
Mr. Emanuel appeared to defend the delay in releasing the video, saying that it had been publicly described by officials months ago and that law enforcement agencies generally do not release evidence while an investigation is underway. “It is clear based on this event that between the public’s desire to know, which is essential, and the integrity of the investigation, we have two principles that are in conflict,” he said.
That is one issue he said will be examined by a five-person commission he announced “to do a top-to-bottom review of the system of oversight and accountability, training and transparency that is currently in place for Chicago police officers.” Deval Patrick, a former governor of Massachusetts and former chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, will advise the commission.
Mr. Emanuel said he also wants to develop “an early warning system” to identify problem officers and intervene.
He praised the work Mr. McCarthy had done, crediting him with lowering crime, increasing community policing and transparency, and modernizing the department. But he said public trust in the police, essential to reforming the department and fighting crime, was lacking.
“In order to bring the level of safety to our streets that every Chicagoan deserves, people must have confidence in the police,” he said. “Now it’s time for fresh eyes and new leadership.”
The mayor said the department’s second in command, First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante, will be the acting head until a successor for Mr. McCarthy is chosen. Mr. Escalante, a former chief of the department’s bureau of detectives, became first deputy superintendent in October, when two of the department’s top officials retired.
Mr. McCarthy spent most of his career in the New York Police Department, rising through the ranks to become deputy commissioner for operations during the Giuliani administration. He also oversaw the department’s lauded CompStat program, a crime reduction strategy that has since been imitated in dozens of cities around the country.
After being passed over for the top job in New York City, Mr. McCarthy became police chief in Newark in 2006, where he managed a significant reduction in crime in a city that had been in the midst of a surge in homicides and other violent crime. But his four-and-a-half year tenure in Newark was also criticized by residents for the frequency with which officers used force against civilians, conducted illegal searches and stopped African-American pedestrians.
Last year, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found that the Newark police had engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing, including when Mr. McCarthy was chief. The investigation found that officers frequently used unreasonable force and violated people’s rights but were rarely disciplined, and that some officers had stolen from people they arrested. The city and the Justice Department are expected to sign a consent decree outlining reforms, including the appointment of a federal monitor for the police.
The Chicago Police Department has been accused of some of the same shortcomings, including almost never punishing officers for wrongdoing.
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