police department, the fire department and city wide. we ve had to have federal intervention in order to get progress. you said after the firing of the police superintendent, you said it won t mean much if mayor emanuel doesn t demand serious changes in the way the police interact with the community. is he now making serious changes? based on what has happened tod today, it looks like they re moving in that direction. however, the work is just starting. we want to see this all the way through, because the angst that people have in the communities is real. this is something that s been systemic, and something that s been going on for a number of years. and hopefully the federal government will get to the bottom of it so we can make the necessary changes that need to be made. i assume you ve seen the video of ronald johnson s shooting death at the hands of police. had you seen that prior to today? no, i had not seen it prior to today. i did know that the state s attorney locally
new investigation by the doj, will you promise here and today that whenever they finish their work and come up with the list of changes and recommendations, that you will implement them, you won t fight about it, that you ll say yes and do it? i think two things i would say to you. first, we already getting to work. both from dashboard to body cams to new leadership, ipra, in the search for a new police superintendent, also with the task force and the reputation and their body of work, in the area of oversight and accountability. but i would draw your attention, greg, to one other issue. it was also, when it was federal oversight of our hiring practices, called the shackman degenerati degenerative decree, it was
and we need to be open to making the changes. the other message just hold on. i did a lot of meetings, so i want to answer in the full effort. and you re right in one of the things i just said, craig, while this work is going down, i also said to the leadership, and i said to all the officers, people are going to rely on you to provide that public safety and you need to continue to do that. the most important thing you need to do is do your job well. and do it professionally, as you have been trained to do. and i m not saying just policing community policing. go to this side. two questions about credibility. the document dump friday night raised more questions than answers about what had gone on in the mcdonald investigation. do you and the superintendent
disparities among race and how they use force and whether it s excessive. you ll see that unfold, along with interviews, not just of police officers, but also of people in the community, of prosecutors and other law enforcement experts and you ll see a real top to bottom scrubbing of the chicago police department. not looking at any one incident, but looking at whether there are broad patterns of discrimination and excessive use of force by that department and if so, what changes need to be made to reform it. how long can this process take? we remember the ferguson example. i don t know the last time we had a major urban city investigated by doj. yeah, this is much different from ferguson, which is a very small police department. chicago is one of the biggest police departments in the country. it s going to make months, if not up to a year, even a little over a year to look into this kind of thing. and there s another question. you know, once the department makes its initial findin
action, early interdiction, and policies associated with transparency and giving the information to the public that they need. each of those are part of a set of policies and personnel changes that are necessary to build the trust that is essential between the police department and community relations. as i said a week ago, this is not the end of the problem, but the beginning of solution. a task force will look at a series of things that have a long history in the city of chicago, top to bottom. and they will make a set of recommendations that are essential for us to implement, because while the problem has a long history, it will take a lot of work over the years to make known the policy and practices and personnel changes necessary to re-establish the trust that is also essential for the city of chicago. we know most officers conduct themselves in a professional and positive way.