* I thought I’d share a bit of what I’ve been reading today and yesterday, starting with the AP…
A police dash-cam video that captures a white Chicago officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times has no sound, nor do videos from four other squad cars at the scene. But department protocol indicates all the cruisers should have been recording audio that night. […]
Several experts on the type of equipment commonly installed in police vehicles told The Associated Press that it’s plausible for a single squad car to have a glitch preventing sound recording. But they could not imagine how an entire fleet of cars would ever lose audio at the same time and place by mere happenstance.
Either their equipment totally sucks or something else is going on.
* The Tribune took a look at Burger King surveillance footage which shows “12 camera angles from inside and outside” the restaurant near the LaQuan McDonald shooting…
There is a gap in the footage from about 9:18 p.m. to 10:39 p.m., which covers the time when McDonald was shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke on a nearby street. […]
After the gap, a police officer in a bulletproof vest is seen sitting at a desk in front of a computer monitor in the back of the restaurant. Another officer is seen walking around behind the seated police officer.
I checked with the reporter and the gap is from all 12 camera angles. So, either the system went down (I saw another report a while ago which claimed the BK system was unreliable), or we’ve got another cover-up. The state’s attorney says there was no alteration, and other media outlets claim the feds say the same.
* Speaking of videos, the city is releasing the police shooting footage of Ronald Johnson, who, like LaQuan McDonald, was also killed in October, 2014. Mary Mitchell talked to Johnson’s mom, Dorothy Holmes…
Shortly after her son was killed, Holmes said she and several other mothers went to City Hall and tried to meet with the mayor.
“We wanted the mayor to come out and talk to us. He sent his spokesman out for him. He didn’t face us. If he had come out and talked to me, it would have meant something. It would have showed me that he cared,” Holmes said.
“But now that I had to go this far with it, I can’t accept his apology because I shouldn’t have had to fight this hard. It’s been 14 months that I’ve been fighting to get this dashcam video released,” she said.
“I wonder if he would have had to fight this hard if it was his son that had gotten killed by police. I just don’t want him in the office period,” Holmes said.
* The mayor apparently reserves his anger for reporters who divulge his vacation plans…
Rahm Emanuel laid into POLITICO’s Mike Allen on Wednesday when Allen revealed the Chicago mayor’s plans to vacation in Cuba with his family over the holidays, angrily saying, “I really don’t appreciate that.” […]
Allen again expressed his apologies.
“I don’t know if you know this: It’s not gonna work,” Emanuel said
* Not buying it…
Asked this week why he never watched the video, Emanuel responded that “reporters would say, ‘If you got to see it, why doesn’t the public get to see it?’ ” Viewing it, the mayor claimed, would have “compromised the integrity of the investigation,” which assumes this investigation had any integrity to begin with.
* Some David Axelrod quotes…
“…But [Emanuel] also has the opportunity to make some historic reforms that will make a real difference.”
Axelrod noted that although use of excessive police force is not new to Chicago — he wrote his first newspaper column 43 years ago on that exact subject, “You fit it with other tragedies we’ve seen nationally, and it’s a seismic event.”
Agreed on both counts. Let’s hope the mayor eventually comes around to that thinking, because the Tribune is correct here…
Emanuel’s reflex is to try to control the story, the news cycle, the basic information about the operation of this city. He has been burned by his own instincts.
Yep. Use this as an opportunity to do some darned good. Stop being such a control freak.
* Sun-Times editorial…
The Justice Department launched a pattern-and-practice probe of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1994, as allowed by a new federal law. It was triggered by the notorious case of Rodney King, the black man who was beaten by Los Angeles police after being stopped for speeding.
The federal probe led to a 2001 consent decree in which the LAPD agreed to enact dozens of reforms. And that, in turn, led to a dramatic transformation of the department, well before court oversight of the department was lifted in 2013.
“The LAPD remains aggressive and is again proud, but community management and partnership is now part of the mainstream culture of the Department,” concluded a 2009 study by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “The Department responds to crime and disorder with substantial force, but it is scrutinizing that force closely and it is accountable through many devices for its proper use.”
Public satisfaction in the LAPD jumped, with 83 percent of residents saying the police were doing a good or excellent job, according to the Harvard study. The use of serious force by officers declined for five years straight, yet the cops did not curl up in a fetal position for fear of being accused of overreacting.
Two takeaways: 1) The civil rights probe is needed; and 2) Don’t expect quick results since it took them 7 years to get a consent decreee in Los Angeles, which welcomed the probe. Mayor Emanuel needs to get something moving now. There’ve been enough police studies to fill the Harold Washington Library. Action is needed.
* Kristen McQueary…
A couple of years ago, Garry McCarthy met my boss and me for lunch. It was months after the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago and around the time the police superintendent was getting good press for joining his rank and file on patrols. […]
McCarthy also recounted in detail the NATO protest and his role commandeering the police barricade that ended the march. He received wide praise for the department’s handling of that scrum, and it was deserved. Certain factions of protesters were beyond obnoxious. They got into cops’ faces and taunted. They repeatedly provoked. They wanted so badly for law enforcement to lose its cool.
I almost lost mine. I wanted to punch a few protesters’ bandanna-covered faces as they darted and shoved through the crowd, occasionally popping up black umbrellas and huddling underneath to do God knows what. I gained greater respect that day for the unassailable restraint good policing requires.
I felt the same, exact way.
But somebody else was at that protest…
Careful what you wish for.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:30 am:
“[They] darted and shoved through the crowd, occasionally popping up black umbrellas and huddling underneath to do God knows what.”
And THIS merits a punch in the face?
Even in theory?
My God, this city needs help.
– MrJM
- Rich Miller - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:38 am:
===And THIS merits a punch in the face? ===
She’s obviously not a very good writer. But what angered me was the way they pushed others into the cops and did whatever they could to bait the cops into overreacting. Those anarchists were disgusting.
- Juice - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:40 am:
“popping up black umbrellas and huddling underneath to do God knows what.”
Umm…Kristen, it was raining. No wonder it is so easy for her to nonchalantly pray for a hurricane. She doesn’t know what rain is!
- PT - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:44 am:
According to Natasha Korecki’s Politico story, the joint State’s Atty/U.S. Atty grand jury on the LaQuan shooting has interview more than 80 witnesses. You can bet the missing Burger King video and missing dash cam audio have been center stage.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/illinois/2015/12/8584709/many-witnesses-laquan-mcdonald-grand-jury-probe-result-far
- SAP - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:45 am:
As disgusting as the LaQuan McDonald situation has been, I think both the protesters and the Chicago Police deserve some praise for not escalating last Friday’s protest into a violent melee. It could have gotten ugly, but for the most part, both sides behaved like adults.
- Anon221 - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 11:56 am:
Yesterday Rauner said he cried when watching LaQuan die on video. And he cried for a list of other things as well. Fine, I hope the tears were real. Many don’t. If they were, and he actually felt empathy, then he needs to take a hard look in the mirror and decide if “short term pain” is still worth his “long term gains”. You want to do something for the future generation(s), STOP punishing them by playing “take-away” games with non-profits and others who are sincerely trying to make this world a better place. Echoing Mrs. Holmes’ sentiments- no one should have to continue to fight so hard to achieve what is achievable.
- wordslinger - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:09 pm:
Maybe they opened those umbrellas because they were hoping for an Old Testament-like cleansing storm.
From my experience as a 52-year-old white man, who was a cop reporter for 10 years, most cops are just regular folk out to do a very tough job and go home.
Except when it comes to the Code of the Blue.
I’ve known cops who will rant and rave off-the-record about the Cowboys in their midst, but they’d never give them up, they’d never violate the Code.
Nobody volunteers for Internal Affairs.
- LizPhairTax - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:18 pm:
Rauner cried? Maybe he did. I don’t buy it. I wish someone would press him on it or that it was verifiable like the election night “spoke to” lie.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:25 pm:
The question isn’t if Rauner cried, that’s the easy out.
The question is;
“If you were so moved by the horrific footage, why did it take for someone to ask you your thoughts, if moved to tears as you were, and to comment?”
As governor, moved to tears as he was, felt no obligation to weigh in?
The disappointment for me? Not that Rauner stated he cried, or not cried, commented or not commented.
The disappointment is the fact that Rauner made the point that he saw it, and a point if moved him to tears. That’s placing himself as the story, not that he saw the video.
That’s disappointing.
- Responsa - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:30 pm:
==Rauner cried? Maybe he did. I don’t buy it.==
Even though many people may dislike the governor’s politics and/or policies why do they also need to believe he is devoid of human emotion and that watching a clearly disturbing video would not affect him?
- wordslinger - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:32 pm:
–” Viewing it, the mayor claimed, would have “compromised the integrity of the investigation,” –
That doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s just gibberish.
Are we to believe that Emanuel recommended a $5 million payout to the family that stipulated they would not disclose the contents of the video, without actually seeing the video?
Emanuel thinks the inhabitants of Planet Earth are all idiots who will believe any crazy thing out of his mouth.
- LizPhairTax - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:39 pm:
Responsa,
Here is the Governor’s quote, pulled from the Tribune:
“I watched the video when it came out last week. I cried,” Rauner told reporters. “That video — shocking, terrifying. I cried for the young man who was brutally shot. I cried for the thousands of police officers who are honest and hardworking, put themselves in harm’s way to serve and protect us and whose reputation gets damaged by the behavior of a few bad people.”
The Governor did not say “it affected me” he said “I cried” and then goes into who he cried for.
How many tears for each? It’s like the Carlin “thoughts and prayers” bit.
Crying is a verifiable physical act. I do not think he cried. I do not doubt it affected him.
If I said something “made me feel ill” that is different than saying it “made me throw up”
- Anon - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:43 pm:
So… No riot shield. Only his beatin’ stick.
If Chicago were a 3rd World Country, while Emanuel was on vacation in Cuba there’d be a coup and the city would have a new mayor.
I get that the current ‘crisis’ in Chicago is over something that happened a year ago, but it looks really bad for him to take a vacation to a tropical island right now, considering that they spent a year trying to cover this up.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:46 pm:
McQueary is a disgusting ghoul who writes about a “city on a ledge” with the tone of someone crying “jump.”
Yeah, we get it, Chicago isn’t fixable, Kristen.
Go sell your schlock in Kansas City or something.
- Spiritualized - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:46 pm:
Two immediate reforms that should be put into place. First, require the city to hire a prosecutor that only prosecutes police misconduct cases. Second, limit the FOP’s ability to bargain on anything regarding police misconduct/abuse (i.e. the amount of years it stays on file, etc.). What is everyone waiting for?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 12:47 pm:
To the Post,
Plausible deniability by Rahm Emanuel is one of many reasons, and, by not having the videotape released, and by continuing the narrative that seeing the tape before it’s release would hamper, it was thought a safe political course to take.
None of the Rahm moves make logical sense but can be gamed out, poorly, to work in a political saving way, in the most embarrassingly obvious CYA way a survivor clings to… when sharks circle the absurd rationale.
- hisgirlfriday - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 1:43 pm:
Why do you agree with Kristen McHurricane that you wanted to punch all the NATO protest people? Rich, for some time I’ve noticed there’s kind of a recurrent strain in all of your commentary whenever public protests come up, especially left wing protests, that is instantly dismissive and vaguely hostile despite you not coming across as someone with strong right-wing convictions. I get these people can be annoying and their methods ineffectual but it feels like it goes deeper than that. Just seems like it offends your sensibilities somehow. Is that the case?
- JackD - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 1:56 pm:
Interesting politico story, PT. So it was the mayor and not the State’s Attorney resisting release and litigating that resistance. They don’t say how long the joint grand jury has been working although the joint investigation is at least since April. It all gets curiouser and curiouser.
- truthteller - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 2:08 pm:
Sorry, does anyone NOT believe that orders . . .
- Carhartt Representative - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 2:16 pm:
=McQueary is a disgusting ghoul who writes about a “city on a ledge” with the tone of someone crying “jump.”=
That’s a perfect description of everybody’s favorite hurricane fan.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 2:39 pm:
Rauner’s response is what we should have expected. Over the past year he has repeatedly referred to personal meetings that never took place, phone calls that never occurred, and relationships that are not there. Rauner is a salesman and he can’t stop himself from making ridiculous claims he hopes will pacify the questioner and the listeners.
“I watched the video when it came out last week. I cried,” Rauner told reporters. “That video — shocking, terrifying. I cried for the young man who was brutally shot. I cried for the thousands of police officers who are honest and hardworking, put themselves in harm’s way to serve and protect us and whose reputation gets damaged by the behavior of a few bad people.”
Rauner is using the verb “cry” in the same manner as is used in the title, “Cry, The Beloved Country”. Yet he is also instinctively using it in order to demonstrate a level of emotion he hopes will appeal to all listeners.
Cry: to produce tears from your eyes often while making loud sounds because of pain, sorrow, or other strong emotions - to shout or say something loudly - of a bird or animal - to make the loud sound that is usual for a particular type of bird or animal
The moment Rauner went from saying he cried and then moved onto claims that he cried for the police, et cetera, et cetera, I recognized his usage of the verb.
Rauner didn’t weep and technically, he didn’t say he wept any tears. Instead, he is using the word for emotional impact to surprise us and to escape further questions.
And his second response, to me, confirms that - “Why did it take you a week to comment?” was asked of Rauner, “Because I wasn’t asked.” Did the Governor understand the importance of the question? The McDonald case has been commented upon by dozens of national figures, yet the governor of Illinois - who is “crying” - doesn’t feel enough emotion or responsibility to speak out?
We can add these comments to the mountain of strange utterances made by Bruce Rauner. He is being exposed as being unable to connect, respond or be coherent. Quinn used to drop into a predictable response and bore us into turning away. Rauner, as a state figure, wants to be different and hasn’t yet settled upon a way of being different and intelligent when asked questions by citizens.
- West Loop Chicago - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 2:53 pm:
Its’ almost amusing to see McQueary write with such disdain about anti-government protesters. I thought the IPI and the Tribune hate big government with a passion? Her diction illustrates the fact that they only hate the parts that limit corporate power and prop up the underclass.
- wordslinger - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 3:02 pm:
I think if last Wednesday someone had told us the extent of the public protests to the release of the video was some blocked cars and shops, and one goof taking a swipe at a cop, we would have been amazed and very relieved, indeed.
I think most expected and feared much worse.
- Muscular - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 3:14 pm:
Chicago Police arrested and charged the man who hit the cop. Anita ordered prosecutors in the courtroom to drop charges, likely to please the protesters politically. They did not reward her this week for ignoring the rule of law though.
- SAP - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 4:11 pm:
Emmanual’s failure to view the video strikes me as implausible deniability.
- walker - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 4:23 pm:
The bulk of the protesters are effectively making their points as responsible citizens. Great for Chicago, IMO.
The handful who agitated for more violence by either side, would be undercutting the protesters’ own credibility. and in this case they would let others take the brunt.
That’s why I personally don’t like those grown children wearing bandanas across their faces, as if this were some sort of heroic game.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Dec 4, 15 @ 4:41 pm:
“what angered me was the way they pushed others into the cops and did whatever they could to bait the cops into overreacting. Those anarchists were disgusting.”
Although I was not a protester, I was on the ground there. Let me assure you there was baiting on both sides. But cops yelling “F▊▊▊ing f▊▊▊▊▊s!” — especially when up-armored like Officer Van Dyke — doesn’t show up in the video.
And many of the anarchists were disgusting. But the idea that CPD didn’t respond to them (and to others in the protests) with violence is simply incorrect.
– MrJM