The Chicago Police Department unveiled its new use of force policy on Wednesday.
The CPD has not heard from the DOJ with regard to any potential consent decree, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Under a draft released past year, officers would've been required to use the least amount of force required, and stressed de-escalation.
The new policy also addresses long held public suspicions that there is a so-called "code of silence" in which officers stay quiet about or hide misconduct by other officers suspicions that the department itself confirmed a year ago when Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson recommended that officers at the scene of the 2014 shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald be fired for filing false reports. The new rules hold that officers can't shoot a fleeing person unless he presents an imminent threat to police or others.
The McDonald shooting was one of many high-profile incidents that thrust Chicago and other US cities into a national debate over the use of excessive force by police against minorities. She said Johnson and his commanders had created a policy "that promotes the core value of sanctity of life, and will result in better, more frequent training for officers so that they have the right tools to engage with the public to keep themselves and citizens safe". Johnson says that all police officers will have to take an online course in the new guidelines, followed by 12 hours of training. Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired then-Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy, the Justice Department launched its investigation, and Emanuel installed then-Chief of Patrol Eddie T. Johnson as the new superintendent.
"We will be a department that is better for the citizens of Chicago and better for the fearless men and women that make up its ranks", he said.
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Members of the government will also be forced to sign an "integrity" pledge that they are not engaged in illegal activities. Environmentalist Nicolas Hulot, takes charge of ecology, and publisher Francoise Nyssen became culture minister.
The new rules closely adhere to the controversial "30 Guiding Principles" unveiled by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum in January 2016 and supported by almost every big-city police chief but strongly opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police officers union and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, made up largely of the heads of smaller departments. "We will - we will - be a department that is better for the citizens of Chicago and better for the courageous men and women that make up it's ranks".
Pointing to incidents in which Chicago police officers have been shot in recent weeks and the growing combativeness of offenders, Graham said, "We do not believe that extensive changes should be made to the current Use of Force policy".
"There will be some who will think that these policies are too restrictive, and there will be some who think it isn't restrictive enough", he said. The reality is that many offenders do not want to go to jail and they become resistant or combative with officers.
The policy released in March opened by proclaiming the department's commitment to officer safety while eliminating a provision saying cops must use only the least amount of force needed. The Police Department came under intense scrutiny after video of the teen's fatal shooting was released in November 2015.
Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, last month cast doubt on the role of the federal government in reforming police departments.
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