Board Releases Video Involving Police Shootings, Other Complaints
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Independent Police Review Authority on Friday released video and audio recordings--all related to shootings and other incidents involving Chicago Police officers.
In an unprecedented move to regain public trust in law enforcement, IPRA made public information in about 100 cases.
Sharon Fairley, head of the Independent Police Review Authority, said that the release of video and other materials is not an indication that the officers involved have done anything wrong.
There was no indication any of this footage will be as explosive as the October 2014 dash cam video that shows officer Jason Van Dyke shooting teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
Van Dyke has been changed with first-degree murder.
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Not all of the video and audio being released today are of police shootings.
Some of the cases involve allegations of excessive use of force.
The cases released today include allegations that an officer struck a man at a block party.
Another involves an off duty officer who punched a patron at Portillo's while working as a security guard. The altercation happened as the officer was trying to get people to leave the restaurant after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2015.
Another case involves a Michigan man who was shot by officers after he allegedly drove his car at them after crashing into several vehicles.
On Thanksgiving, 2012, a man was shot by an officer after a confrontation on a CTA bus. Jamison had beaten a bus driver on the South Side when police arrived. according to published reports at the time.
The video of that incident is graphic:
A criminology and psychology professor at Loyola University weighed in on what all this means.
"It's an important step forward in an effort to restore trust between minority community and police," said Arthur Lurigio, adding that the biggest problem was a lack of transparency with the public on officers' actions in these cases.
Previously, the documentation was kept under wraps.
In the future, the city will post evidence online with 60 days of the incident.
Attorney Matt Topic, who represents several independent journalists and activists who have sued the city to gain access to IPRA records, said he was pleased to hear the city was making the records public—but noted the city still has not informed him as to whether video and recordings sought by his clients were among those slated for release Friday.
"This is long overdue. I'm glad they're releasing the information but they should be doing it when it is requested by the public, and not on their own time and circumstance," Topic told the Sun-Times.
Allowing the public to see video evidence will add a layer of accountability to IPRA investigations, Topic said, noting that IPRA investigations have frequently adopted a version of events written in police reports that doesn't jibe with what is seen on video.
"For years, IPRA has said letting this kind of information out will harm the ongoing investigations, but the video is going to be the same no matter when it's released," Topic said.
"Meanwhile, CPD has routinely put out their version of events when an officers shoots someone, whether through the (police) union, or just through the press. Then at the same time, they deny the importance of putting out these objective videos."
In some cities, such as Seattle, nearly all police video is posted online almost immediately. But elsewhere around the country, the public often must wait months or years to gain access to the videos. In some places, the video is never released.
