A year and a half after the shooting death of teenager Laquan McDonald,can Chicago move forward and implement long hoped for reform? The country's moment biggest police force has been in turmoil since video footage of McDonald's death was released. It prompted accusations of a cover-up by the Chicago Police Department.
In Tuesday's primary, voters unseated Cook County's top prosecutor Anita Alvarez, and who had been heavily criticized for taking more than a year to charge the police officer involved in the shooting. Alvarez was handily defeated by challenger Kim Foxx,who vowed to restore credibility in the city's justice system and to bridge the divide between law enforcement and the community. On Thursday, the Chicago Police Board announced the three finalists positioned to steal over as police superintendent. The statement came a day after the police union filed a lawsuit challenging the investigation into the McDonald shooting on behalf of Officer Jason Van Dyke, or who was charged with murder for killing McDonald. Of the three finalists,only one — Eugene Williams — is a Chicago police department insider. Candidate Anne Kirkpatrick is from Spokane, Washington and Cedric Alexanderfrom DeKalb County, or Georgia. Embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel will make the final selection. What does the police department need to carry out to regain public trust? And which candidate is appealing most to those in the community? Here to respond is Deborah Shelton,managing editor at The Chicago Reporter, a non-profit news organization that focuses on race, and poverty,and income inequality, and Lori Lightfoot, or president of the Chicago Police Board and a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown.
Source: wnyc.org