In the wake of the death of Laquan McDonald, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will serve as a senior advisor to a Chicago Police Department task force, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday.
McDonald, an African-American teenager from Chicago, was shot and killed by police officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014. Dashboard camera footage that was released Nov. 25 showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as McDonald appeared to be moving away from the squad cars of the police officers at the scene.
Patrick will review the systems of accountability, oversight and training that already exist in Chicago police departments.
“In light of recent events, the community’s confidence in the police and in the system of accountability must be rebuilt,” Patrick said in a Tuesday statement. “As a Chicago native, a former civil rights official, and someone concerned about and experienced with the many issues raised by this tragedy, I hope I can offer the Mayor and his Task Force some guidance and feedback on the important work they now undertake.”
Emanuel cited public solidarity and a strong task force as requirements for solving the policy brutality issues in Chicago.
“The shooting of Laquan McDonald requires more than just words,” Emanuel said in a Tuesday release. “It requires that we act; that we take more concrete steps to prevent such abuses in the future, secure the safety and the rights of all Chicagoans, and build stronger bonds of trust between our police and the communities they’re sworn to serve.”
The new oversight committee, known as “The Task Force on Police Accountability,” will recommend reforms designed to improve the means by which officers are held accountable to the public, according to the release.
The release outlined plans for the committee, including investigation of any suspected police misconduct, identification of officers with multiple complaints against them and discussion of a system through which to release footage of incidents where there is believed police wrongdoing.
Christopher Ott, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said the death of McDonald speaks to racial issues in not only Chicago, but also what can be done regarding police brutality in Boston.
“The Laquan McDonald incident shows a really troubling example of the need for police reform in Chicago, but we have concerns here in Boston, too,” Ott said in a voicemail. “The ACLU welcomes the Boston Police Department’s announcement that it will begin piloting a police body wearing camera program next year.”
Ott added that he hopes to see the Boston Police Department implement some of the reforms that various organizations across Massachusetts have suggested.
“The ACLU welcomes the Boston Police Department’s announcement this fall that it will begin piloting a police body camera program next year,” he said. “[And] we hope that they will consider other reforms that we and other community leaders have suggested, and those include issuing a receipt for every encounter between an officer and a civilian, and regularly publishing data about all of those stops.”
Several residents said police brutality needs to be addressed and recognized by both city governments and the public.
Robert Crowson, 26, of Allston, said that while a review of the CPD would be a good measure, it is incorrect to generalize that police brutality exists at departments across the country.
“I don’t think there is really enough insight to hold the whole of police officers accountable,” he said. “I don’t think [credit] is given properly to police.”
Vikram Shandilya, a graduate student in Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said that police in the United States are more violent toward citizens than they are in India, where he is originally from.
“All I can say is, being international, I see cops in India, [and] I don’t feel scared of them,” he said. “Here, I’m scared of the cops. If I saw a cop I would not go to him seeking help, I would go home.”
Sean Mullady, 24, of Brighton, said that the decision about what to do with the police should be made by Chicago authorities only. Society as a whole should be aware of the violence that is going on, he said.
“There have been so many police brutality situations. I just think that police need to be policed,” he said. “There have been so many race situations, and I think that people really need to pay attention to what is going on.”
