Watch Ed Krayewski Talk Garry McCarthy and Chicago's Police Problem on HuffPost Live at 2pm
I'll be on Huffington Post Live today in just a few minutes (in the 2pm ET hour) to talk about Rahm Emanuel firing Garry McCarthy, the killing of Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer who has now been charged in relation to the incident.
Here's what I wrote yesterday:
It's unclear how McCarthy's firing will either improve police accountability or lower crime. McCarthy was the police superintendent throughout Emanuel's first term, and the chief of police he held on to through his ultimately successful re-election campaign. Now, Emanuel says, McCarthy "has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue."
Yet, nothing's changed about the situation in Chicago other than the optics. Police were just as brutal and unaccountable before video of the Laquan McDonald killing was released, and gang violence was a major problem in Chicago before and after the Tyshawn Lee killing.
And, on police accountability at least, McCarthy has been consistently resistant to it since first coming on board for Emanuel. Earlier this year, he argued criminally charging cops for fatal shootings created a "safety hazard" for them. The comments came after Dante Servin, a Chicago police officer, had been charged in relation to an incident where Servin shot his gun while it was over his shoulder at a crowd of people behind him while driving the wrong way down a one way street.
McCarthy is the man Emanuel put his trust and confidence in to lead the Chicago Police Department, for nearly five years. The city spends an average of $1 million a week resolving lawsuits against police officers. Nearly 18,000 complaints were filed against police officers in the last four years.
"Our goal is to build the trust and confidence with the public," Emanuel said this morning. If McCarthy's failed, then surely so has Emanuel. He should be resigning as well.
And read Scott Shackford on the Laquan McDonald killing here and here.