Chicago police superintendent fired by mayor

amid outcry over video of shooting

Chicago Mayor Rahm

Emanuel announced the dismissal of Chicago police superintendent, Garry F. McCarthy,
Dec. 1. Emanuel also said a police accountability task force is being established,
following days of unrest over the alleged murder of a black teenager by a white
policeman. (Reuters)
Object 1

By Mark Berman-December 1
The head of the Chicago Police Department has been fired amid widespread criticism
over how authorities responded to the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white
police officer last year.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) said he formally asked Garry F. McCarthy, the Chicago
police superintendent, for his resignation on Tuesday morning, a week after video
footage of the shooting was released and the officer was charged with murder.
He has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction,
Emanuel said. He added that while he is loyal to McCarthy, whom he praised for his
leadership of the department, the needs of the city are more important.
Anger has erupted in Chicago since authorities released footage of Jason Van Dyke, a

city police officer, shooting Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old, last year.

[Officer Van Dyke posted bond and was released Monday]
Emanuel said he began talking to McCarthy on Sunday, after several days of heated
protests, about the undeniable fact that the public trust in the leadership of the
department has been shaken and eroded.
When Emanuel announced McCarthys appointment in May 2011, he praised him as
someone who proved reducing crime and working closely with the community are not
conflicting goals.
McCarthy has spent more than three decades in law enforcement. Before coming to
Chicago, he served as the police director in Newark and was an officer and deputy
commissioner of the New York Police Department.
The same month his appointment in Chicago was announced, the Justice Department
launched an investigation into the Newark police force. That review looked at reports
of how officers used force and how complaints of excessive force that occurred before
and after McCarthy took over the Chicago police force. The Justice Department said
last year it had found patterns of misconduct in Newark, releasing a report that did
not mention McCarthy, and reached an agreement with the city to have its force
overseen by an independent monitor.
While Emanuel said he had a lot of confidence in the work McCarthy has done, he
said the move was necessary to rebuild public trust and confidence in the police force.
City leaders and demonstrators have called for Emanuel to remove McCarthy, arguing
that new leadership is needed to reassure a troubled public. Last week, a dozen
members of the city councils black caucus gathered to reiterate these calls for new
leadership.

Emanuels decision to dismiss McCarthy also comes as there is growing public anxiety
over a rise in violent crime in Chicago and other big cities across the country. Chicago
has seen more than 2,700 shootings so far this year, topping the total for all of last
year, and more than 430 of them have been fatal.
During an October meeting of more than 100 of the countrys top law enforcement
officers and politicians in Washington, Emanuel said his police department has turned
fetal due to the increased focus on how police use deadly force and demonstrations
that have occurred after high-profile deaths at the hands of police. He also said this
prompted officers to pull back from policing. That drew a rebuke for him back home,
as the head of the police union argued that officers are not backing down.
More recently, though, outrage has mounted over the long lag between McDonalds
death in October 2014 and last weeks release of the video and charges against Van
Dyke. In the interim, Emanuel was reelected to a second term after an unexpected
runoff.
[Protesters shut down Chicagos Magnificent Mile in demonstrations over the
shooting]
Since the videos release, Emanuel has said he fully supported McCarthy, a position he
held publicly until word leaked shortly before the news conference that he had asked
him to step down.
As recently as Tuesday morning, McCarthy was conducting interviews and responding
to the calls for him to step down.
McCarthy acknowledged missteps, saying in an interview with NBC Chicagothat the
initial press release about the shooting, which said McDonald had continued to
approach officers and disregarded orders to drop his knife, was mistaken.
In addition, a spokesman for the police union had said after the shooting that

McDonald lunged at police with a knife. Last week, that spokesman said he was
relaying information told to him by other people on the scene and said he never spoke
with Van Dyke.
But McCarthy said his authority in the Van Dyke case was limited as an outside agency
and federal officials investigated what happened.
The things that I have authority over are training, policy and supervision, he said.
McCarthy also defended how the city has responded to the protests that have erupted
since the shooting video was released last week, praising incredible restraint by
officers.
However, calls for McCarthys ouster have continued in the days since the video was
released. On Tuesday, the Chicago Sun-Times released an editorial saying McCarthy
has lost the trust and support of much of Chicago.
In addition to announcing that McCarthy would step down, Emanuel also said he had
created a task force focused on police accountability that was intended to improve
independent oversight of the police and the way authorities respond to police officers
who receive multiple complaints. The task force is also meant to determine if the city
should change its policy of not releasing footage of police shootings.
This groups recommendations will be presented to Emanuel and the Chicago City
Council at the end of March, he said.

Hundreds of protesters marched after the release of a graphic video

showing the killing of a black teenager by a white officer.

Related:
The Posts database on police shootings
How The Post is tracking these shootings
Unarmed and Black: unarmed black men are seven times more likely than whites to
die by police gunfire
Current and former police officers describe tension in current environment
This post has been updated. First published: 12:05 p.m.

Mark Berman is a reporter on the

National staff. He runs Post Nation, a
destination for breaking news and
stories from around the country.
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