Source: Scott Olson / Getty
On Wednesday Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that Chicago police must be better trained to distinguish between when they can use a gun and when they should use a gun, after a series of shootings by officers sparked protests and complaints that police are too quick to fire their weapons. Emanuel announced changes in police training and department policies on use of force during a news conference, pledging “nothing less than complete and total reform.”
Reforms, he said, will include doubling the number of Tasers available to officers from 700 to 1,400 as he works to restore public trust in Chicago’s 12,000-officer force and in his administration. Emanuel pledged training to make police encounters with citizens “less confrontational and more conversational.”
He also said “force can be the last option, not the first choice. Just because you train that you can use force doesn’t mean you should. And helping officers (make) that distinction and the training that goes with it is essential.”
Emanuel said by June 1, 2016 every patrol car will be equipped with a Taser, though he didn’t mention cost or how the cash-strapped city will foot the bill. Tasers can cost between $500 and $1,000, potentially putting the price tag for the new stun guns at around $700,000.
Activists were skeptical Wednesday that the changes would reverse decades of problems and mistrust between Chicago residents and police. Ted Pearson, one of the leaders of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, noted that Emanuel made leadership changes after the release of the McDonald video and gave a speech before the City Council in which he apologized, appearing at times to be near tears.
However that didn’t stop a shooting last weekend, in which police killed two people: 55-year-old Bettie Jones, who police said was shot accidentally, and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier. Pearson’s organization believes the only way to bring true change is to have a civilian police accountability council that isn’t appointed by the mayor.
Pearson elaborated by saying “The people have no trust in the police. They have no trust in the mayor. The people in charge are continuing to give (some officers) a pass.” In a weekend statement, Emanuel said he ordered Escalante and the city’s Independent Police Review Authority to review the department’s crisis-intervention team training.
The program teaches officers how to respond to a person in crisis or with mental health problems, and is aimed at resolving incidents without violence. About 1,860 officers, or roughly 15 percent of Chicago’s officers, have completed the training, according to department statistics.
However advocates say that number should be 25 to 35 percent.
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