Chicago PD aims for transparency with massive video release
CHICAGO -- The agency that investigates police misconduct released hundreds of videos and audio recordings from more than 100 cases on Friday.
In one video from November of 2012, Ismaaeel Jamison is apparently menacing Chicago police after allegedly assaulting bus passengers. He's shot and tased by officers at the scene, but survives.
Another from July of 2014 shows a cop breaking up a block party, slamming a woman's head on the hood of a car, and punching a bystander to make his point.
And in a video from a year ago, an off-duty Chicago cop doubling as a security guard repeatedly punches a restaurant patron who refused to leave after closing time.
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These were officially released online along with videos and information involving 98 other serious police incidents -- an unprecedented attempt at transparency to root out cop misconduct and restore public confidence.
"This has been a tremendous undertaking," said Sharon Fairley, chair of the Independent Police Review Authority.
The agency has been the object of ridicule for past inaction. All of these just released cases, which date as far back as 2011, are still open with no finding one way or the other by the authority yet.
"You almost never find the police were guilty of misconduct. Is that not true?" CBS News asked her.
"That has been the history of the agency. I'm not sure that's the case going forward, Fairley said.
From now on, she said, relevant videos will be released 60 to 90 days after the incident.
The notorious Laquan McDonald shooting by a white cop in 2014 came out 400 days after his death, caused widespread protests, and was the trigger for this new, more transparent policy.
Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago, who studies police misconduct, says it's a good start.
"But the real question is -- and the real challenge is -- what happens next? And Chicago's policies still fall far short of what's going to be needed to build trust here."
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said this is a bold and thoughtful change in policy. But the police union called the move unfair, irresponsible, and sad.