17-year-old Laquan McDonald falls to the ground as he is shot 16 times by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.
When I watched the video I was completely shocked and filled with outrage. The more I researched just this one incident the more I seemed to uncover. Article upon article explaining a city wide cover-up, deleting video evidence, and a pay off were exposed in my hometown. How many more cases like this are out there? How many more do we not know about?
After all of the research, more evidence has been made public stating that the police tampered with the dashboard cameras. Almost 80 percent of the video was missing audio due to being "intentionally destroyed."
Before the Laquan shooting a report was submitted to the Independent Police Review Authority by a Sergeant who witnessed some police officers throwing their microphones onto a station roof demonstrating their apparent disapproval about having to be recorded.
Further investigation has shown that 80 percent of the CPD's dashboard cameras do not record audio and 12 percent don't even record video. Laquan's case, and others, deserve honest and accurate reporting.
Being a police officer in one of the most violent cities cannot be an easy task, but we need a system in place to ensure safety for everyone involved. Transparency and accountability with the Chicago Police is essential with our city's rapid increase in violence.
Police body cameras allow for further accountability due to their mobility. Police dashboard cameras are vital tools in gathering truthful evidence while providing the necessary measure of "checks and balances" for everyone involved in an altercation. The justice system will finally have access to tools that can distinguish hearsay from the truth. Functional cameras hold officers accountable, help prevent police abuse, and restore the public's relationship with the police.
Please sign to tell Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, to implement immediate independent audits and maintenance to ensure cameras and audio are working properly and cannot be tampered with.
