Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Last week, one day shy of the Thanksgiving holiday, Chicago residents, and the nation, finally had a chance to see the horrifying video of a Chicago police officer (Jason Van Dyke) ruthlessly taking the life of a 17-year-old youth, Laquan McDonald.
However, prior to the video’s release, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy felt the need to hold an impromptu press conference, in which they urged Chicago residents to remain lawful –in anticipation of community outrage and public anger.
Interestingly, both Emanuel and McCarthy commented a lot about police accountability and transparency, while sternly condemning the conduct of Van Dyke.
But, the facts in this particular police investigation speaks to another reality entirely.
To begin with, why did it take 13 months (or 400 days to be exact) to complete the police investigation and to bring formal charges?
Not to mention the fact that the police video, which has incensed thousands of people across the country, was not voluntarily released to the public by the Chicago Police.
Rather, a freelance reporter went to court and filed suit (under the Freedom of Information Act), in order for this footage to be made public.
Subsequently, a number of dash-cam videos have now surfaced, but none of them contain police audio.
Why? Initially, the narrative being put forth by the police alleged that the victim (Laquan McDonald) was wielding a knife at officers and was considered dangerous. However, the dash-cam footage clearly refutes these assertions.
Not only was Laquan not waving a weapon, he had actually veered away from the police and posed no visible threat – before Van Dyke took it upon himself to empty his clip (shooting the victim 16 times), while a crowd of fellow officers watched but didn’t discharge their weapons.
Even more damning, minutes after Laquan was shot, several police officers entered a local Burger King just yards from where the teen fell, demanding to view the store’s surveillance video.
When the police left the restaurant almost two hours later, the video had an inexplicable 86-minute gap that included when McDonald was shot, according to the store’s manager.
This begs the question: What were the police attempting to hide?
Van Dyke may have been a 14-year veteran of the department, but no stranger to controversy.
Of the 20 complaints filed against Van Dyke, 10 are for alleged excessive use of force, and at least one complaint alleges he uses a racial slur.
Furthermore, a jury did award a Chicago man $350,000 after determining Van Dyke employed excessive force during a traffic stop.
With this troubling record as a police officer, why was Van Dyke still on the force and why he continuing to be paid for 13 months after shooting Laquan?
One last point, Rahm Emanuel claims that the city is all about promoting greater police accountability and transparency.
If that was really the case, why was Laquan’s mother paid $5 million not to file a lawsuit and keep her silence (hush money)?
It remains to be seen if firing the police superintendent and creating a task force on police accountability will be enough save his own political skin?