How Have CPD Investigations Changed Since Laquan McDonald Shooting?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When Laquan McDonald was shot and killed in October 2014, it took a year for the video to be released. The question now is how have Chicago police investigations changed since then? Are they now more transparent?
CBS 2 Investigator Dorothy Tucker digs deep to find out.
The release of the Laquan McDonald video sparked outrage. Protesters demanded then Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and Mayor Rahm Emanuel lose their jobs.
The mayor later fired McCarthy, and Alvarez lost her bid for re-election. Emanuel is now facing at least 11 challengers in the 2019 election.
"If you would have told me that McCarthy would have been ousted, Anita Alvarez would have been ousted, Rahm would be this politically weak, I would have never believed you," said community activist William Calloway.
Calloway joined forces with freelance journalist Brandon Smith, who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for all video from the night McDonald was killed.
When the FOIA request was denied, they filed a lawsuit.
A Cook County judge later ordered the video released, more than a year after the shooting. The video also led to a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department.
"The city is totally different because of this case," Smith said.
One major change since the video's release was the establishment of a public portal where anyone can view videos from cases under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
CBS 2 Investigators found, out of 124 cases with video available now on the portal, only one appears to have been released to the public before the McDonald tape.
The release of the McDonald video sparked changes. The department now has body cameras for patrol officers, and a policy mandating release of videos "within 60 days of their occurrence."
"Two months is a long time to wait before knowing what happened," Smith said.
Smith also argued even when police do release tapes, many times the audio is missing, or – like in the recent case of Harith Augustus – initially they only released 30 seconds.
What some hope is a lasting impact of the McDonald video release is a 230-page draft consent decree negotiated between the city and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. It recommends sweeping reforms aimed at addressing police misconduct.
Calloway said he'd like to see the Police Department also release videos of police shootings immediately.
