Leid Stories – 12.08.15

Justice Department Probes Chicago Police, But for ‘Reform,’ Not Justice

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch yesterday announced a Justice Department probe of the Chicago Police Department’s “patterns and practices,” especially regarding its police officers’ use of force, use of lethal force and racial disparities in both. The DOJ investigation comes almost two weeks after Officer Jason Van Dyke was indicted on first-degree-murder charges for killing Laquan McDonald, 17, in a hail of 16 bullets on Oct. 20, 2014, and on the same day that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced that there will be no indictment of Officer George Hernandez, who shot and killed Ronald Johnson, 25, eight days prior to the McDonald shooting. Leid Stories discusses the DOJ investigation.