* Context…

As far back as 1963, then-civil rights attorney George N. Leighton, who went on to become a federal judge, said the “number of (police brutality) cases” was “so numerous” and the patterns of brutality “so complex” that his Chicago branch of the NAACP hired an investigator just to document the allegations.

* So, I think Mark Brown nailed it…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel helped crystallize the Laquan McDonald case for me Monday, although not quite in the way he intended.

Still struggling to contain the political fallout from McDonald’s alleged murder by a Chicago police officer, the mayor characterized the situation surrounding the teenager’s death as an “inflection point” that can lead to real, substantive reform in the Police Department.

“It cannot be just another incident,” Emanuel vowed as he introduced a new boss at the Independent Police Review Authority.

That’s it, though, isn’t it? That’s been the problem.

Right from the start, city government from the mayor on down treated McDonald’s death at the hands of a police officer as “just another incident.”

Just another police shooting. In a city that records dozens every year. […]

There’s a popular narrative in some quarters that Emanuel and his minions covered up McDonald’s shooting to get past the election. It’s possible, I suppose.

But I think the real problem may be that the alarm bells barely sounded at all.

There have been other police shootings, other citizen complaints, other videos, but people barely took notice. The city’s big media outlets weren’t even the ones which finally pried that McDonald shooting video from the government. There was no series of thundering editorials, columns and blog posts in April after the city council voted to give $5 million to McDonald’s survivors.

The mayor and just about everybody else treated this the same way they’ve always treated these things.

But this one crystallized it for people.

* Mary Mitchell also nails it…

Video footage released by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez on Monday showing the police shooting of Ronald Johnson last year revealed more than a fatal police shooting.

It showed the turmoil that some Chicagoans are living in as a result of gun violence — turmoil that has also made it harder to hold police officers accountable for misconduct. […]

Prior to the shooting — something that is not captured on the video — Johnson allegedly struggled with another police officer and was able to break free, according to Alvarez’s investigation.

At one point, five police officers and at least three police patrol cars and a marked Tahoe were involved in the chase.

Officers were dispatched to the scene when frightened residents called 911 to complain about shots being fired. You could hear the fear in their voices.

Residents reported shots being fired in front of 346 E. 53rd St., and that there were hooded black males running in the backyards and trying to get into the building’s entrance.

One exasperated caller pleaded with police officers to do something.

Unbeknownst to scared residents, a group of males that included Johnson had left a party in the nearby building and someone had shot out the back window of the car the group was traveling in.

Way too many Illinoisans are trapped in their own homes while this insane street war rages on around them.

* Agreed…

Chicago’s best hope — and the mayor’s best hope — is the federal Justice Department investigation announced Monday. This sort of “pattern and practice” probe, which likely will lead to long-term federal court supervision of the Chicago Police Department, has worked wonders for other police departments. In the most successful cases, the use of deadly force declines while crime rates decline or hold steady — and community trust soars.

“This mistrust from members of the community makes it more difficult to gain help with investigations, to encourage victims and witnesses of crimes to speak up, and to fulfill the most basic responsibilities of public safety officials,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday, announcing the investigation.

Yep, that would be Chicago. Bring in the feds.

* I wrote about this topic last week…

[Rep. Elgie Sims] and [Sen. Kwame Raoul] also suggested licensing police officers, in that suspending or revoking a license might serve as an extra level of enforcement, as with lawyers, doctors and other licensed professionals.

Republican state Sen. Tim Bivins actually introduced a police licensing bill way back in 2010…

Provides that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board has the power to require local governmental units to furnish personnel rosters, employment status reports, and annual training plans to the Board. Provides that a police officer who has been licensed, certified, or granted a valid waiver shall be decertified or have his or her license or waiver revoked upon a determination by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel that he or she knowingly and willfully violated a rule or regulation of his or her department or agency that has as a penalty the discharge or dismissal of the officer from the department or agency. Establishes hearing procedures on decertification. Contains other provisions.

Bivins’ bill attracted just two co-sponors (the Democrat Raoul and Republican Sen. Pam Althoff) and went nowhere.

* Other developments…

* ADDED: New FOIA bill on police videos filed: A bipartisan measure aimed at strengthening the right of the public to see police dash-cam video has been filed in the Illinois House in the wake of law-enforcement-involved shooting deaths in Chicago. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago, and co-sponsored by Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, provides that such videos, including dash-cam and body videos, are not exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act unless an agency obtains a court order. The bill also requires a court to conduct an expedited hearing when an exemption to the FOIA Act is claimed.

* Video shows Chicago cops repeatedly using Taser, then dragging suspect from cell

* Chicago police commander goes on trial today on charges he assaulted suspect

* Chicago Police Department Chief of Detectives Dean Andrews Resigns

* African-American Legislators Call for Expanded Probe of Chicago Police