The needless, tragic murder of Laquan McDonald, a Black teen, by a white Chicago police officer in 2014 put the city’s Police Department, and the need to reform it, in the national spotlight. McDonald’s death was a driving force behind the federally mandated consent decree that requires the Chicago Police Department to overhaul its training, supervision and accountability.
Since then, however, that national spotlight has faded. Unfortunately, also fading fast is the city’s drive to earnestly and expeditiously carry out the consent decree’s reforms, said Joe Ferguson, the city’s former inspector general.
The Tribune reports that in a June 5 letter appearing in a federal court filing, Ferguson painted a bleak portrait of the city’s commitment to bringing meaningful, lasting change to a department that has seen trust from the communities it serves ebb year after year.
