December 2, 2015

Reactions to a recently released video of the 2014 killing of African American teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer dominated headlines in late November and early December 2015. During demonstrations held in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping district, protesters pressed for local leaders to be held accountable for their part in concealing the details of the killing, during which Officer Jason Van Dyke shot 17-year-old burglary suspect Laquan McDonald. Prosecutors charged the officer with first-degree murder more than a year after the shooting, just before the court-ordered release of the police dashboard camera video.

Police misconduct has become the focus of protests in Chicago, Illinois, and around the United States. Credit: © Anton Prado, Shutterstock

In late November—following a journalist’s freedom-of-information request and over the objections of prosecutors—an Illinois judge ordered the release of the video showing the October 2014 shooting. The video shows Officer Van Dyke emerging from his squad car and shooting McDonald 16 times. Many of the shots were fired as the teen lay on the ground. Police had been called to a trucking yard on the city’s Southwest Side to investigate reports of someone—allegedly McDonald—breaking into vehicles while holding a small pocketknife. McDonald died while being transported to a hospital.

At a press conference on December 1, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that he had asked for and received the resignation of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, saying that McCarthy “has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction.” Emanuel also announced that he had created a police accountability task force to review police procedures and recommend ways to rebuild trust with the city’s minority communities, which are frequently beset by crime and tense relations with police.

Protesters included members of the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups, who viewed the shooting and the efforts to conceal the video as more evidence of institutional racism that colors police interaction with minorities. Since 2014, high-profile killings of blacks by police have unleashed protests near St. Louis, Missouri; and in Baltimore, Maryland; New York City, New York; and other areas. The Chicago, Illinois, protesters also called for the resignation of Cook County State’s Attorney (prosecutor) Anita Alvarez, who charged the officer with murder only after the video of the shooting was scheduled to be released to the public. According to news reports, Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer to be charged with murder in 35 years.

In Chicago, police misconduct cases—including accusations of brutality, false arrest, and illegal search and seizure—have not only damaged residents’ trust in the officers obligated to protect them, but have become an embarrassing and costly expenditure for the cash-strapped city. The City of Chicago paid more than $80 million in settlements and other expenses related to police misconduct in 2013, and more than $50 million in 2014. The city quietly negotiated a $5-million settlement with McDonald’s family in April 2015.

Additional World Book articles:

• Ferguson Protests of 2014
• Autopsy Results for Teen Shot Dead in Ferguson (a Behind the Headlines article)
• Protests Turn Deadly in Baltimore (a Behind the Headlines article)