Boston Police commissioner ‘disgusted’ by how Chicago handled police shooting
“Sometimes I wonder how stupid they think the public is,’’ William Evans said.
Boston Police commissioner William Evans harshly criticized the actions of Chicago authorities in the wake of a fatal shooting of a 17-year-old teenager by a police officer during an interview with WGBH Thursday morning.
“I’m disgusted by the video, I’m disgusted by the whole chain of events there,’’ he said.
Evans’s criticism comes amid a wave of protests in Chicago after the city released video showing Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald last October. The video appears to show a knife-wielding McDonald backing away from Van Dyke before the officer opened fire and shot McDonald 16 times.
Five other officers on scene told supervisors that McDonald had lunged at Van Dyke with his knife, The New York Times reports. That version of events was discredited by the video.
Chicago officials had refused to release video of that incident until November 24 of this year, when a court order forced them to do so. Van Dyke was charged with murder on the same day the video was released.
“There’s a larger issue there, the 13 months to come out with the video—the fact that six policemen, it looks like, wrote reports to show that—to back up the story that he was coming at the cop, and lunging at him,’’ Evans told WGBH. “The whole idea that on the day that the video is being released, that’s the day that they charge him? Sometimes I wonder how stupid they think the public is.’’
Evans also said he was “glad’’ the Justice Department was investigating the Chicago Police department.
“What happened in Chicago, and I don’t like to beat other law enforcement departments up, but it’s made us all look bad,’’ Evans said. “Sometimes when people get fearful of us, I understand why when you have departments like that.’’
In recent months, Boston authorities have shown video of officer shootings to community leaders and reporters shortly after their investigations.
In March, it took about two weeks for Boston Police to show video of officer John T. Moynihan being shot in the face by a suspect who was then killed by police. And in June, police released video of officers shooting of an approaching knife-wielding man outside a Roslindale CVS.
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said at the time that video helps put to rest rumors or innacurate information surrounding officer shootings.
“Releasing earlier reflects our intention to make best practices even better,’’ Conley said. “When it can inform the public … it’s in everyone’s best interests.’’
Gallery: Scenes from the Roslindale CVS shooting:
[bdc-gallery id=”146013″]
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com