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Posted: Wednesday, 29 July 2009 9:04PM
Not So Fast On New Fleeing Policy
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- Chicago aldermen -- not Police Supt. Jody Weis -- would decide whether police officers can fire their weapons at felony suspects fleeing in motor vehicles, under an ordinance introduced Wednesday amid conflicting statements about an impending policy change.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported the new deadly force policy scheduled to take effect Aug. 3. It was confirmed to her by Police Department spokesman Roderick Drew, who did a subsequent radio interview discussing the new policy.
But, the change was apparently not cleared with the powers that be at City Hall, a no-no for any Chicago police superintendent.
By mid-day Wednesday, Mayor Daley was telling reporters Weis' policy group had "not changed anything" -- that they are simply attempting to reconcile conflicting general orders.
"That's what they're trying to figure out. Nothing more. They're just looking at it. If you have general orders that conflict with one another, you should look at it," the mayor said.
Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said Weis is "reviewing language of existing general orders and just beginning that review. ... There has been no policy change. It is inaccurate to say anything has been issued or anything is going into effect."
Either way, aldermen are not taking any chances.
At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th) introduced an ordinance that would require Council approval before any change in general orders concerning the use of deadly force.
Carothers pointed to a pair of 1999 police shootings over a 24-hour period that killed two unarmed civilians in motor vehicles.
"Let's not forget what happened in the LaTanya Haggerty case, which cost the city a lot of money [$18 million], and the [Robert] Russ case, which cost an awful lot of money [$9.6 million] with police officers firing their weapons," Carothers said.
"They already have a right to fire weapons in their own self-defense and in the defense of others. To go further than that -- the liability could be tremendous."
Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th), a former Chicago Police officer, agreed that City Hall should have the final say.
"There's rarely a Finance [Committee] meeting that goes by without a settlement of a police case due to excessive force, wrongful imprisonment, false arrest. There's a plethora of these cases out there," he said.
"The corporate authorities -- certainly the corporation counsel -- ought to be consulted before there's any change in the policy."
A 26-year-old computer analyst, LaTanya Haggerty was shot to death on June 4, 1999, after her companion, Raymond Smith, led police on a 31-block chase through the South Side -- a chase that was not authorized by police officials.
Russ, a 22-year-old Northwestern University football player just 10 days short of his college graduation, was shot to death hours later during a traffic stop. He did not stop for three miles -- even after police ordered him to do so.
The back-to-back police shootings touched off a tension-filled summer of protests about alleged police brutality.
Also at Wednesday's Council meeting:
* After a dramatic increase in gun violence and 15 shooting victims overnight, Carothers and three other aldermen proposed increased fines and mandatory jail terms for anyone caught carrying an illegal gun.
* Burke introduced an ordinance that would allow private ambulance services to transport dead bodies to the county morgue to reduce exorbitant fees the city is paying to a private contractor.
* Daley said he was open to the idea of establishing contract set-asides for businesses owned by lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered residents, if the LGBT community can prove its members were frozen out of city contracts because of past discrimination.
"I think it's good. ... It helps small businesses. It helps businesses grow in the city -- and that's what you want," the mayor said.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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