Chicago PD Announces Use-of-Force Policy Changes

Chicago Police officials on Wednesday announced policy changes intended to reduce use of force, particularly deadly force.

The changes, made after months of debate and back-and-forth revisions, will tighten many of the department rules that experts and advocates have criticized as too permissive.

In a key change, the policy tightens the rules on shooting fleeing people. The new rules hold that officers can't shoot a fleeing person unless he presents an imminent threat to police or others. Previously, an officer could shoot any person who was fleeing after committing or trying to commit a felony using force, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The new policy also calls on officers to use their new de-escalation training to try to defuse incidents. The adopted language is less strict than the first proposal, though. Officers only have to try de-escalation "when it is safe and feasible to do so," it reads.