The release of a video showing a Chicago police officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times exposed flaws in that case, but also possible flaws throughout the system. Now, there is a focused effort on who is policing the police.
“I’ve asked five respected Chicagoans who are leaders in the criminal justice system to do a top-to-bottom review of the system,” Mayor Emanuel said.
The newly-formed task force on police accountability includes:
-Sergio Acosta, a former federal prosecutor
-Joe Ferguson, Chicago’s inspector general
-Hiram Grau, former director of Illinois State Police and previously Deputy Superintendent at CPD
-Randolph Stone, a law professor and former public defender
-Lori Lightfoot, president of the police board and former federal prosecutor.
“I’m confident that this task force is going to dig down deep and come up with a list of recommendations that is going to advance that really important, critical goal of trust and accountability,” Lightfoot said.
The task force will also include former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as senior adviser.