Justice Has Been Served: Five Officers Involved in the Laquan McDonald Shooting Are Set to Be Termin
Nearly one year after the public release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, five officers, including the perpetrating officer Jason Van Dyke, are officially being prepped to be released from the Chicago Police Department. Justice has been served...well not entirely...but this is certainly a giant step forward in making sure these rogue officers are being held accountable for their actions.
Chicago’s Top Cop, Eddie Johnson, has proven once again that he is prepared take charge of our city-wide police reform. After the city’s Office of Inspector General had recommended that 10 officers be terminated from the force, Johnson took it upon himself to look further into the matter. Of those 10 officers, four have since resigned, and one has been cleared after a police spokesman suggested that there was “insufficient evidence” to convict the officer.
Johnson, whom I have advocated for since the dismissal of former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, has made it a priority to rid the five remaining officers from the CPD. Van Dyke is being charged with first-degree murder, and the other four are being investigated for giving false statements regarding the investigation. These are most definitely not the type of officers that we want representing our blue brothers and sisters out there trying to make our communities safer.
I want to commend Superintendent Johnson on continuing to not only fight for the improvement of police and African-American community relations, but also being more transparent in the investigative process that has been going on for months now. Whether you like it or not, we need our good officers to continue doing what their doing; enforcing the law; spreading a positive message to the communities they’re serving; making sure that people feel safe where they live.
Knowing Eddie Johnson, I am confident that justice will ultimately be served when Van Dyke’s case is examined further, and I am confident that his policies will continue to push this city forward in the right direction.
