Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to give every cop a Taser to reduce fatal police shootings

Mayor Emanuel cut a family trip to Cuba short this week after police brutality opponents renewed calls to unseat him

Massoud Hayoun
New York
Wednesday 30 December 2015 21:45 GMT
Comments
Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday announced new training procedures and a push to supply all police with tasers amid mounting tension over police shootings of black Americans, reports say.

The city plans to supply all officers with Tasers and overhaul its training methods to promote the deescalation of physical confrontations with suspected criminals, local newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The mayor's office did not respond to a request for further comment from The Independent.

Mayor Emanuel cut short a family trip to Cuba this week after police brutality opponents renewed calls to unseat him over what they called his mishandling of police shootings. Over the weekend, Chicago police shot dead Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55, further incensing activists across the nation decrying what they call the violent and discriminatory policing of communities of colour in Chicago and across the United States.

In Ms Jones’ case, she “was accidentally struck and tragically killed” amid a standoff between between police and suspects, a Chicago Police Department press release said.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on December 7 that the US Justice Department would investigate the “patterns and practices” of the Chicago Police Department. The announcement came weeks after the release of video of a white police officer’s killing of a black teenager.

“Specifically, we will examine a number of issues related to the Chicago Police Department’s use of force, including its use of deadly force, racial, ethnic and other disparities in its use of force,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch told the press.

A judge on November 24 charged Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, 37, with first-degree murder after video — captured by a police car dashboard camera — was released showing Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old LaQuan McDonald 16 times on October 20, 2014. Police have said that Mr McDonald refused to comply with orders to drop a knife he had been wielding.

Video of Laquan McDonald Shooting Causes Huge Protests in Chicago

President Barack Obama told the press that he was “deeply disturbed” by the footage. McDonald’s and other high-profile police killings drove hundreds of protesters to block Chicago’s retail district on Black Friday, the U.S.’s post-Thanksgiving sales event.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in