Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced several changes in the training and equipping of the city’s police, responding to a torrent of criticism about police brutality.
According to the Chicago Tribune, details of the plan include providing officers with Tasers and training them to “de-escalate” situations rather than use their guns.
Tasers are available but only a few officers have them. The Tribune reported that the plan will have every officer Taser-equipped by June.
The news conference also included interim Police Superintendent John Escalante, who has his job because complaints about the Laquan McDonald shooting led Mr. Emanuel to fire his predecessor in the post, Garry McCarthy.
The McDonald shooting led to demands for wider use of Tasers because, according to the Tribune, the police rules of engagement said the situation — McDonald was carrying a small knife and refusing police orders to drop it — called for their use. But before a Taser-equipped officer arrived at the site, Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times, with several of the bullets entering his body as he lay prone on the street.
Officer Van Dyke pleaded not guilty to murder charges Tuesday.
Chicago police have not said whether a Taser-equipped officer was available at the weekend shooting that killed two people — a mentally-disturbed 19-year-old student who was the object of the call and a 55-year-old grandmother neighbor who was shot accidentally.
Another of the changes Mr. Emanuel will detail — training in de-escalation techniques — seems to have been prompted by that case, a domestic dispute between student Quintonio Greer, who was wielding a baseball bat, and his father.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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