Top Cop Says Beaten Officer Was Afraid To Shoot Due To Media Attention

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 6, 2016 7:50PM

Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the past has attributed the rises in violent crime in Chicago to the so-called Ferguson effect—the idea that police officers shy away from confrontation and/or use of force for fear of media reprisal. Supt. Eddie Johnson furthered that narrative on Thursday, specifically in relation to a recent, grisly attack on a Chicago police officer.

The altercation happened on Wednesday near Cicero Avenue and Roosevelt Road, on the city’s West Side after three officers approached a man who had been involved in car accident. According to police, the man attacked the officers, seriously injuring one by hitting her head into the ground “until she was rendered unconscious.”

Johnson told attendees at the annual police and fire awards on Thursday that the officer said she didn’t fire her weapon at the offender, who he said was under the influence of PCP, because “she didn’t want her family or the department to have to go through the scrutiny the next day on national news.”

“We have to change the narrative for law enforcement across this country,” he added, according to the Sun-Times.

At the same time, the Ferguson-effect—or YouTube effect—narrative has come under its own wave of backlash over the last year or so. As the Atlantic pointed out, criminologists remain skeptical of the claim, as illustrated by the fact that murder rates were on the rise prior to media attention and activist demonstrations. The U.S. Attorney General’s Office has also said “there’s no data to support it.” On the other hand, there's evidence to suggest that, given CPD's demonstrated reluctance to deliver sanctions against officers for wrongdoing in the recent past, increased media attention is a net positive.

But even when analysis does find some corollary (FiveThirtyEight found that Chicago’s arrest rate appears to have plunged after the release of the Laquan McDonald video), activists have argued that explanation does not equate to an excuse. Johnson’s predecessor, Garry McCarthy, for instance, faced criticism last month after saying he would not have released the McDonald tapes, even though they illustrate serious potential misconduct.

In essence, Johnson walked a similar line as McCarthy today—which means, in ways perhaps the superintendent may not have meant, the narrative will need to change.