CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that Chicago police must be trained better 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. He also said the police department will double the number of Tasers available to officers — from 700 to 1,400— as he works to restore public trust in the police force and his administration.
“Our police officers have a very difficult and dangerous job. They put their lives on the line so the rest of us can be safe. And, like all of us, they are human, and they make mistakes,” the mayor said. “Our job is to reduce the chances of mistakes.
“That requires us to give them the right guidance, the right training and the right culture to prevent abuses,” he said.
Emanuel pledged training to make police encounters with citizens “less confrontational and more conversational.” He said “force should be the last option and not the first choice.”
Every police patrol car will be equipped with a Taser by June 1, he said.
Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante said the city looked at 15 police departments, including New York, Seattle, Cincinnati and Cleveland as it developed its policy changes.
Emanuel and Chicago police have been under heavy scrutiny since the city, under court order, released a squad car video last month showing white officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. McDonald, armed with a knife, is seen veering away from Van Dyke in the video before the veteran officer starts firing.
Van Dyke, who faces six counts of first-degree murder, pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday.
The release of the video set off weeks of demonstrations, forced the resignation of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and has led to an ongoing wide-ranging civil rights investigation of the entire Chicago Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Activists were skeptical that the changes would reverse decades of problems and mistrust between 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.
Yet 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.
