#DOJReport | Here's What Happened (in Less Than 2 Minutes)
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/302550455" params="color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true" width="100%" height="20" iframe="true" /]Aired on Chicago's WVON 1690AM Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.
The Department of Justice has found the Chicago Police Department engages in the pattern and practice of unreasonably using excessive force. That goes for both deadly force to actions like deploying a taser on someone who does not follow a command.
That amounts to a violation of fourth amendment rights.
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Taking the podium this morning, Attorney General Loretta Lynch says not only does the Chicago police department poorly train its officers...
"...[The CPD] fails to properly collect and analyze data, including data on misconduct complaints and training deficiencies. And it does not adequately review use of force incidents to determine whether force was appropriate or lawful, or whether the use of force could have been avoided altogether."- Lynch
Lynch also noted cops are discouraged and feel they lack support from both the community and the city.
The Department of Justice interviewed over 1000 Chicagoans, 340 police officers and 90 community groups to come to their findings. Lynch credited the city for taking what she calls encouraging steps toward reform.
CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson laid out a set of changes expected to take hold fairly soon including:
- Launching a community-policing pilot program this Spring
- Training officers on a new use of force policy
- Fitting each Chicago officer with a body camera by the end of 2017
- and plans to make officer accountability more transparent through a publicly released "matrix of disciplinary offenses and associated penalties."
According to DOJ Civil Rights Division head Vanita Gupta, the team assigned to the Chicago investigation was the largest in the organization's history.Lynch said the city and Justice Department will begin negotiations on an independently monitored, court-enforceable consent decree. However, with a new attorney general on the way, some are questioning how productive those talks will be.
Read the full report here.