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[h=4]Chicago mayor fires police chief amid protests over police shooting[/h]Garry McCarthy is out as the top cop of the nation's third-largest city.
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Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has fired the city's police chief after a public outcry over the handling of the case of a black teenager shot 16 times by a white police officer. Wochit
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy speaks during a news conference about a shooting on Sept. 20, 2013.(Photo: Getty Images)
CHICAGO — Facing growing anger over his administration's handling of the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times, Mayor Rahm Emanuel<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on Tuesday.
McCarthy's firing comes one week after Emanuel's administration was forced by court order to release a year-old video that showed officer Jason Van Dyke<span style="color: Red;">*</span>pump 16 shots into Laquan McDonald, 17, on a Chicago street. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder last<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tuesday, the same day the police dashcam video was released.
The firing of McCarthy marks an about-face by Emanuel, who said in recent days he was standing by McCarthy.
Emanuel announced McCarthy's ouster at a late-morning news conference, saying he formally asked for his resignation on Tuesday morning.
"I have a lot of support and confidence in the work that he has done," Emanuel said. "But our goal is to build the trust and confidence with the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>public. At<span style="color: Red;">*</span>this point and this juncture for the city, given what we're working on, he has become an issue rather than someone<span style="color: Red;">*</span>dealing with the issue."
Calls for McCarthy's ouster grew over the last week,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>following the release of the Laquan McDonald video. Protesters hit<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the streets chanting "16 shots and a cover up" and demanded<span style="color: Red;">*</span>McCarthy's ouster.
Van Dyke, who was suspended without pay after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>charges were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>filed against him, was released from jail<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tuesday evening after posting the necessary 10% of $1.5 million bail.
In the video, McDonald can been seen walking down the middle of a thoroughfare. He appears to be walking away from police when he's first struck. Van Dyke fired the 16 shot over a 15 second period, according to prosecutors.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Five other officers who were at the scene held their fire.
Police said they were pursuing McDonald, who was later found to have PCP in his system and was holding a knife with a 3-inch blade, after receiving a 911 call that the young man was breaking into cars and wielding a knife.
Shortly before he was shot, McDonald had punctured the tire of a squad car with his knife, according to prosecutors.
USA TODAY
Voices: Chicago officials face tough road after police shooting video
Even before the video was released, a coalition of black city council members had called for McCarthy's firing, citing concerns about the rising homicide toll in the city in 2015. They aldermen also complain<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that the superintendent had made little effort to hire and promote African-American officers. City council members also intended to push for a no-confidence vote against McCarthy later this month.
“McCarthy’s resignation provides more evidence that the African-American community, and those who care about it, must work together to bring significant changes in how justice is administered in our community,” said Shari Runner, interim president of the Chicago Urban League, which last week had called for McCarthy's ouster.
Demonstrators protest outside the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel at City Hall following press conference where the mayor announced the firing of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on December 1, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. McCarthy has been under fire since the release of a video that showed Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting and killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, hitting him with 16 bullets on October 20, 2014.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Getty Images)
On Friday, McCarthy told reporters that he had no intention of resigning and that <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Emanuel "made it very clear that he has my back.”
"I have never quit on anything in my life," McCarthy said. "The mayor has made it very clear that he has my back. If people peel away the onion on what's happening right now in the policing world, you're going to find a police department that is doing an exceptional job, and quite frankly I'm not going to quit on the people of Chicago, and I'll never quit on these men and women."
Emanuel, however, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he began speaking with McCarthy about his departure on Sunday. The mayor said that while he felt McCarthy had accomplished much, including reducing Chicago's overall crime rate, his presence at the top of the department had become a "distraction" and that it was an "undeniable fact that the public trust in the leadership of the department has been shaken and eroded."
Emanuel added that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>McCarthy knows that a police officer "is only as effective as when he has the trust of those he serves."
The mayor tapped John Escalante, the first deputy superintendent of the department, to serve as acting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>superintendent until a permanent replacement for McCarthy is named. The city's police board will now conduct a search for a new superintendent and will present recommendations to the mayor.
The video of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Oct. 20, 2014, shooting was only made public after the city was sued by independent journalist Brandon Smith for its release. Emanuel had resisted releasing the police dashcam<span style="color: Red;">*</span>video, citing ongoing state and federal probes of the shooting.
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Chicago police released a dashcam video Nov. 24, 2015, that shows the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was killed by an officer in October 2014. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, has been charged with first-degree murder. VPC
Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a Cook County commissioner who waged an unexpectedly strong challenge to Emanuel's ultimately successful re-election effort<span style="color: Red;">*</span>earlier this year, said that if the video had been released<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>prior to the the voting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Emanuel would have lost.
Chicago's city council voted in April, after Emanuel secured reelection, to approve a $5 million settlement that was paid to McDonald's family. The city's top attorney described the contents of the video to council members before they approved the settlement.
On Tuesday, Emanuel ignored reporters<span style="color: Red;">*</span>questions about the impact the video's release would have had on his re-election. But he noted that he followed previously established city policy by not releasing the video before the criminal investigations were completed.
The mayor announced the creation of a new police accountability<span style="color: Red;">*</span>task force on Tuesday, which he said he hoped would review that policy. Among the members named to the advisory is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>former Massachusetts governor. Deval Patrick.
"We have two principles," Emanuel said. "We have the desire for public information and ... the principle of the integrity of the investigation. It's clear...that those two principles are in conflict."
Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy (R) standing with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (L) as they announced the release of dash cam video of a shooting involving Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke who has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of 17 year old Laquan McDonald, at Chicago Police Headquarters. McCarthy was fired on Tuesday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: EPA)
McCarthy, 56, started his career as a New York City police officer and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually be elevated to the position of deputy commander of operations for the NYPD. In 2006, he was tapped to lead the Newark, N.J., police department and was hired by Emanuel in 2011 to take over as head of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Chicago Police Department.
Calls for the ouster of McCarthy, as well as the resignation of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, were a central rallying cry from protesters who took to the street following the release of the video.
Alvarez, who has also faced fierce criticism from some black and Latino politicians, has pushed back against criticism that her office moved too slowly in charging the police officer, Van Dyke, for the shooting.
The prosecutor says she will not resign from her elected<span style="color: Red;">*</span>position. She faces a Democratic primary in March and is expected to face a tough race from two former prosecutors, Kim Foxx and Donna More, who have announced their candidacies.
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