Dec. 31--Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday outlined more steps the Chicago Police Department will take to protect the public and curb unwarranted use of lethal force when police deal with potentially heated crisis situations.
The police will deploy hundreds more Tasers and train officers in how to use the stun guns. Officers will get more guidance on how to de-escalate a situation. "There's a difference between whether someone can use a gun and when they should use a gun," Emanuel said.
All welcome. The city is attempting to meld a quick response to the policing crisis along with the thorough changes that will come over time from investigations launched by the U.S. Department of Justice and a task force appointed by the mayor.
Chicago, like many cities, has to figure out how police can protect themselves and protect citizens in potentially violent situations.
Chicago has another issue, though. One that goes directly to public trust. In the wake of the delayed release of video in the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald -- a video that sharply conflicted with reports filed by officers on the scene -- the Emanuel administration and the Police Department desperately need to rebuild trust. That will come only by being an open book.
Emanuel and interim police Superintendent John Escalante outlined some new police procedures at the news conference. But they would not outline exactly what happened early Saturday morning when police shot and killed 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones on the West Side.
Police have acknowledged that Jones was an innocent bystander, shot by accident. But they have not provided an account of the events. Who fired the shots? Were officers in danger? Is there any video or audio recording?
Just what happened?
What the public knows has largely come from reporters' interviews of people at the scene, family members, lawyers and documents obtained by the Tribune of 911 calls related to the incident.
The eyewitnesses, though, were the police officers.
Emanuel and Escalante said they couldn't discuss details because that could jeopardize the investigation under way by the Independent Police Review Authority. The IPRA review could take months.
That invites suspicion, given the reason the city cited for withholding the McDonald shooting video for more than a year -- that its release could jeopardize a criminal investigation.
Surely police on the scene have been debriefed. Surely the city can provide a factual outline of what happened and who was involved. Not to determine who, if anyone, was at fault. We get it: That will take time.
But explain to the public, and to the friends and family of the victims, what circumstances led to the deaths of two people at the hands of police.
In this city, in this environment, with this cloud of mistrust, time is critical. Stand before the public, explain what happened, answer the questions.
