Police Reform
In the case of Laquan McDonald, Officer Jason Van Dyke did shoot an armed suspect. However, did Van Dyke need to use lethal force? McDonald was walking away from police, approximately 15 feet away when Van Dyke fired 16 rounds into him. Could Van Dyke have responded differently? There were three other officers on scene and none of them fired their weapons, so why did Van Dyke? These were some of the reoccurring questions Chicagoans had after the murder of Laquan McDonald.
The use of excessive force by the police against African Americans was not new when Laquan was murdered. Findings of police torture was not particular to Jon Burge either. We can date police torture in Chicago all the way back to the 1880s. Claims of torture were reported in the Chicago Tribune and later investigated. It was found that police officer John Bonfield was “holding suspects incommunicado and threatening them to confess,” during the Haymarket bombing (18). In the 1900s, police were accused and founded of using the “third degree” or “sweatbox” methods to force people into confessions. Similar forms of torture were inflicted on African American boys by Jon Burge nearly a century after Bonfield began his. Both were found of inflicting torture. Neither received jail time nor did any kind of reform take place within the CPD. However, in the case of Laquan McDonald, reform in the CPD did begin to take place.
Following the release of police dash camera footage of the Laquan McDonald murder, an investigation into Chicago Police Department was conducted by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Illinois. The purpose of the investigation was to determine if the CPD was partaking in pattern or practice of unlawful conduct and if so, the reasons behind them. According to the findings, the Chicago Police Department engaged in patterns of unlawful force resulted from a collection of poor policies practices that are used routinely (19). The use of lethal and less-lethal force contributed to the pattern of unlawful conduct was founded as well. As in the cover up of Laquan McDonald’s murder, circumstances in which officers’ accounts of force were later discredited in follow up police reports were also found. The city responded to acknowledging several of these shortcomings prior to the publishing and created the Task Force on Police Accountability along with training covering principles of sanctity of life, ethical behavior, objective and proportional use of force, use of deadly force, de-escalation and force mitigation. The Department of Justice acknowledged these steps were in the right direction, however in order for the new training to work, it must be supported by leadership and enforced by supervisors. Thus, officers must be held accountable for misuse of force. The publication of these findings were published prior to the trail of Jason Van Dyke, ultimately leading to his conviction.
The most significant reform that has occurred in the CPD since McDonald is the clear distinction of when police officers should use force and what it would look like in certain situations. When identifying necessities for when to apply force, understanding sanctity of human life comes first. Officers are trained to de-escalation situation and if force is to be applied, it is to be objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional (20). To define when force would be reasonable, necessary and proportional, Force Mitigation Principles clearly define the subject’s actions and what the police’s response should be to. This new training also uses the acronym SAFE to provide steps for how to de-escalate situations. The first step is to scan the full person, followed by assessing the situation, formulate a plan, next employee plan of action and finally reassess. The only acceptable time for lethal force as a response to civilian is when their actions would be immediately likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the officer. Laquan was standing several feet away from Van Dyke and had a pocket knife in his hand. Regardless if he lunged how Van Dyke stated (the video footage provided proved Laquan did not launch) McDonald was still too far away to cause death or bodily harm to Van Dyke. Perhaps if Van Dyke had this training, Laquan would still be alive today.
The Force Mitigation Principles also clearly define when and how tasers, oc spray and other chemical agents, and canine use. The transparency of the principles allows little room for discretion. However, not all Chicago police officers received the new training that enforces sanctity of human life for all people nor the Force Mitigation Principles. Only police officers that were hired after the investigation took place have been properly trained. Therefore, the majority of the CPD have not been trained to value all human life or how to de-escalate situations.
Having only a fraction of the CPD trained to de-escalate situations and value human life, is an immense oversight in the CPD reform. The CPD reform is also lacking of teaching and acknowledging personal biases and rebuilding community relationships by acknowledging the harm that has been inflicted. Although the new training the CPD is requiring clearly defines that a police officer is only to use lethal force if their life is in danger, it doesn’t acknowledge that police officers still have biases towards groups of people that causes use an unjust use of force towards civilians. Everyone has biases. Some of our biases are from experience while others are taught to us. Acknowledging biases will ensure that we don’t react based on our biases but that we react based on the situation at hand. New police training might provide the upcoming generations to have different points of view when it comes to the police than past and present ones, but we can’t ignore those who are currently living with trauma inflicted by the police. This trauma needs to be acknowledged and police departments need to take accountability in order for communities that have been affected to heal.
The Chicago Police Department has had some form of unlawful policing since its founding in 1851. Each account has harmed the relationship between police officers and the community. People have responded by demanding action for over two centuries. The changes brought in the aftermath of the release of footage of the Laquan McDonald murder and cover-up offers hope that change has and will be implemented in order for severed relationships to be mended.
Comments: