By Dan Hinkel
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has proposed new use of force rules that would ratchet back restrictions on officers he floated five months ago.
An earlier version of the draft policy released in October drew complaints from both rank-and-file officers and police reform advocates.
Some officers said the draft policy was too restrictive for cops making quick decisions under pressure, though reform advocates said it didn’t spell out clearly enough when officers should and should not use force.
The new proposed policy is significantly shorter, and many of the modifications address complaints that the last policy was unrealistic or unfair to police; near the top of the new draft policy is a rhetorical nod to officer safety.
The new draft removes language mandating that officers must use only the least amount of force needed in any situation, though it still holds that force must be objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional. The new draft also strips out a requirement that cops use force only when no alternative appears to exist.
The draft also softens an earlier proposal that would have compelled police to use de-escalation techniques designed to help officers deal with tense confrontations. The new draft calls for de-escalation only “when it is safe and feasible.”
The draft also forgoes language from the earlier version that laid out standards for treating the public professionally and with dignity.
With the release of the latest draft policy, the police and public will have 10 days to comment. Department brass plan to review the new feedback, make any changes deemed necessary and enact new rules.
The first draft policy was among the early changes pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he worked to move past the controversy sparked by video of a white officer shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. The video’s release in late 2015 stoked protests fueled by long-simmering anger over police abuse against African-Americans and Latinos.
When the first draft was released, the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the department’s practices, and Emanuel was pressing changes aimed at getting in front of any reforms the federal authorities would eventually suggest or seek to enforce through the courts.
When the Justice Department finished its report in January, it castigated officers for using force too aggressively and frequently against minorities. The department and disciplinary system, meanwhile, have failed to adequately train, supervise or punish officers for misconduct, the report found.
But Donald Trump’s election as president led to Jeff Sessions’ appointment as attorney general, giving him control over any federal investigations of local police departments. Sessions has sent signals he is unlikely to seek court enforcement of reforms in the Chicago Police Department, and the vacuum of federal pressure would leave Emanuel largely in control.
Emanuel has largely hewed to a pro-police message in recent weeks as he seeks to boost department morale and add about 1,000 officers to the force.
Emanuel is trying to tamp down surging violence on the South and West sides, which some blame on officers ratcheting back activity to avoid trouble.
Last year, the city had more than 760 slayings and 4,300 people shot, huge increases over 2015. That surge has continued this year, with homicide numbers as of last week nearly the same as last year.
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