Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Call Officers to Be Retrained, Carry Tasers
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce sweeping changes for the city's police department at a Wednesday press conference which will require all officers to undergo retraining and carry a Taser.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Emanuel will stipulate that his decree about Tasers be met by the summer of 2016. The changes come in the wake of widespread protest across the city following the recent release of a video showing now-indicted officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 16 bullets into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014 as the teen walked away from officers.
Since the video's release, then-Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has been relieved of his duties, and calls for Emanuel and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's resignation only seem to be growing louder.
In addition, the U.S. Justice Department has announced plans for a complete probe of the department, where practices and policies followed by officers are expected to be under heavy scrutiny.
Emanuel's plan is also expected to call for new training for the department and will emphasize teaching officers to try to deescalate conflicts rather than to see every confrontation as a "shoot or don't shoot" situation.
The news conference will mark Emanuel's first public appearance since he cut short a family vacation to Cuba following the police killings of a college student and mother of five earlier this month.
In the McDonald shooting, Van Dyke opened fire on McDonald despite the fact he was already surrounded by officers and only carrying a small knife. Other officers at the scene had requested that a Taser be delivered to the scene.
Police have not said whether responding officers were equipped with a Taser during last weekend's police shooting. Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante has acknowledged that the shooting of the woman was an accident. Tasers have been regarded as much less lethal and available in the department for years, though not every officer carries them, or has been trained to use one.
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