Demonstrators rally at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Dec. 6 to protest the death of Laquan McDonald.Scott Olson/Getty Images
The Justice Department will investigate patterns of racial disparity in the use of force by Chicago police officers as part of a wide-ranging probe that could lead to calls for sweeping changes at one of the country's largest police departments, the U.S. attorney general announced Monday.
The investigation comes nearly two weeks after the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times and the same day prosecutors declined to charge another officer in the shooting death of a 25-year-old black man who authorities said was armed with a gun as he ran away from officers. It follows other Justice Department investigations recently in Baltimore and in Ferguson, Missouri.
Police killings of African-American men over the past year have shaken several U.S. cities and given rise to the "Black Lives Matter" protest movement.
The Chicago investigation, which is separate from an existing federal investigation into last year's shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, also will review how the department disciplines officers and handles misconduct accusations.
Justice Department officials say they use such patterns-and-practices investigations to identify systemic failings in troubled police departments and to improve trust between police and the communities they serve.
"This mistrust from members of the community makes it more difficult to gain help within investigations, to encourage the victims and the witnesses of crime to speak up and to fulfil the most basic responsibilities of public safety officials," Lynch said. "And when suspicion and hostility is allowed to fester, it can erupt into unrest."
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the police department are under intense scrutiny over their handling of McDonald's 2014 death. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder Nov. 24.
Emanuel initially said a federal civil rights probe would be "misguided" but later reversed course. In a news release after Lynch's announcement, the mayor said his goal is to create a stronger and better police force "that keeps the community safe while respecting the civil rights of every Chicagoan."
Also Monday, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said there would be no charges against Officer George Hernandez in the shooting of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson, whom authorities say pointed a gun at police before he was killed on Oct. 12, 2014.
Alvarez and Assistant State's Attorney Lynn McCarthy spent more than 30 minutes detailing evidence before showing the video, which similarly to the McDonald case has no dashcam audio; the state's attorney's office overlaid police radio communications.
The video showed Johnson running from police across a street with several officers in pursuit, and then one officer shooting. Johnson is not on screen when he was struck by two bullets. The video was also slowed down to show what McCarthy said was a gun in Johnson's hand. She also said Johnson "ignored" officers' commands to stop and drop his weapon and had been in a physical altercation with at least one other officer before he was shot.
Alvarez has been criticized for not filing charges earlier in the McDonald case, in which the video shows the teen veering away from officers on a four-lane street when Van Dyke, seconds after exiting his squad car, opens fire from close range. The officer continues shooting after McDonald crumples to the ground and is barely moving. The video does not include sound, which authorities have not explained.
The Chicago City Council signed off on a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family even before the family filed a lawsuit, and city officials fought in court for months to keep the video from being released publicly. The city's early efforts to suppress its release coincided with Emanuel's re-election campaign, when the mayor was seeking African-American votes in a tight race.
Since the video was made public, Emanuel forced Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to resign and formed a task force to examine the police department. But the calls for the mayor to resign — something he said he won't do — have grown louder from protesters.
If the Justice Department finds systemic civil rights violations, the investigations typically result in court-enforceable agreements between the federal government and the local community that serve as blueprints for change and are overseen by an independent monitor.