Mayor Says Chicago to Immediately Implement Some Police Bias Task Force Reforms

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that Chicago will immediately implement about one-third of the recommendations from a scathing police accountability task force report that charged the nation's second-largest police department was beset by systemic racism.

Emanuel, however, stopped well short of embracing all of the more than 100 recommendations offered by the task force last week. Emanuel impaneled the group in the midst of angry protests late last year following the court-ordered release of disturbing police video that showed a white officer gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on a city street. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, is awaiting first-degree murder charges in the incident.

In a statement, Emanuel said he and police leaders would “continue to work together to find additional ways to restore the fabric of trust in communities across Chicago.”

The reforms that will be implemented immediately include addressing bias and cultural differences through bolstered training for cops, speeding up the timeline for supervisors at the police department’s internal affairs bureau to review disciplinary recommendations, and new training for the city’s 911 call-takers and dispatchers.

Emanuel, however, sidestepped the task force’s call to replace the agency currently tasked with investigating major police misconduct with a new organization with greater power, reports USA Today .