Rahm May Be Called To Testify On Police Department's Code Of Silence
By Carrie Eidson in News on May 23, 2016 2:32PM
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel may be called to take the witness stand even as city attorneys fight to prevent it.
City attorneys have offered to testify to the existence of a code of silence within the Chicago Police Department if it means Emanuel can avoid the witness stand. However, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman said Friday the mayor’s testimony will still be necessary to add “much more texture” to the case.
The lawsuit in question was brought by two whistleblower officers who are accusing the police department of retaliating against their involvement with an FBI investigation into a narcotics tactical team. Officers Shannon Spalding and Daniel Echeverria say they were called "rats" and were reassigned to duties farther from their homes and with less desirable hours. The lawsuit names the city as well as several high-ranking CPD officers.
The notion that a code of silence within CPD discourages officers from reporting misconduct has received increased attention following the shooting death of Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. While Emanuel acknowledged the code of silence in a speech to the city council last December, ABC News reported the city will likely settled this suit to prevent Emanuel from having to testify on the subject.
Emanuel’s communications director Adam Collins says the mayor’s testimony would add nothing to the whistleblower lawsuit and is unnecessary following Emanuel’s remarks from December.
"In December the mayor finally put voice to something we all know to be true," Collins said in a statement. "He stands by what he said then, and what he's said since, but we don't believe he can offer anything further of substance in this case."
However local civil rights attorney Flint Taylor told the Tribune that, while individual officers have already acknowledged the code of silence, having the mayor speak to its existence in a court of law would be “a big deal.”