Aldermen Call For Federal Investigators To Probe The Mayor's Office

By Kate Shepherd in News on Dec 8, 2015 9:08PM

Photo credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Several local elected officials want the Department of Justice's investigation into the Chicago Police Department to expand into the Emanuel administration, as well as Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and the city's Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).

Aldermen David Moore and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who were both elected this year, are demanding the federal probe expand to City Hall's 5th floor, the Office of the Mayor, according to ABC7.

"The buck stops at the mayor's office," Ramirez-Rosa told ABC7. "And that's why we as a city council need to own our responsibility to question the mayor and his administration and find out exactly what occurred during the last 13 months."

They also want the mayor to answer questions about the Laquan McDonald case during a City Council hearing.

A group of African-American state legislators are calling for an investigation into two other offices. Illinois State Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Chicago), chairman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, called for the federal investigation to "extend the investigation" to "systematic violations" by Alvarez and the IPRA, according to DNAinfo.

Chicago police officers rarely face consequences for excessive use of force, according to Lightford.

"The citizens of Chicago have lost their confidence in their Police Department's ability and desire to serve and protect every citizen," she said.

Chicago and Cook County are the "the false-confession capital of the world" because of police abuse, state Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) said.

"We're gonna have to change the culture," state Rep. Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) said.