Chicago PD quickly released a lethal video of police shooting. This should be the norm, activists say.



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The clip that was released Sunday afternoon from the Augustus shooting showed about 40 seconds from the camera of an officer

Futterman said the Chicago police in this case and all others should release all videos within 48 hours. Exceptions can be made, he says, if officials provide the public with "clear and articulated circumstances" in which release would prevent an ongoing investigation.

Currently, the police have 60 days to stream video and audio. police force, although she may request a period of 30 days and other extensions from a court.

The Chicago police made it several times by refusing to broadcast a dashcam video in the deadly murder of black teenager Laquan McDonald in October 2014. A reporter sued the department for the video before && A judge ordered that it be published more than a year later. The agent of the case was charged with first degree murder the same day the video was broadcast.

McDonald's death sparked a wave of protests in Chicago and called for police reforms within the minority community.

While Futterman said he did not expect to release the bodycam video In Augustus shooting to set a new standard for the department, this can go very far.

"It's a policy of honesty and transparency, and it's the kind of thing that builds trust in the community." "The broadcast of all relevant videos shows that the police are open – whether it is good, bad or indifferent in a particular incident."

One could argue that the immediate broadcast of a video could allow agents to simply adapt their statements to the survey to what is seen on camera. But Futterman said the videos broadcast within 48 hours still leave investigators time to properly interview the officers and witnesses involved.

In the case of Augustus, bodycam footage confirmed that he had a revolver on his belt.

But the video does not have audio and only concerns one of the four officers present at the scene. We do not know why they arrested Augustus, a barber who is remembered in his South Shore neighborhood, who liked to bring his 5-year-old daughter to work. getting him away before he starts to run away. An officer then fires their weapon and Augustus turns around and seems to reach his waist before falling to the ground.

The video does not show Augustus firing his gun, and forensic scientists say that he died from multiple gunshot wounds. A police spokesman also said that Augustus was not a known gang member and had no recent arrest record.

The police did not immediately say if any other sequences of the shootings would be made public and if they would include audio. The shootings spread on social media, leading protesters to confront the police on Saturday night. Some protesters threw stones and bottles filled with urine. During a press conference Sunday, Chicago Police Commissioner Eddie Johnson said the community "needed answers and that they needed them" while imploring the audience: can not have another night like last night. "

Another demonstration was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Local activist William Calloway, who advocated the release of the dashcam police video on McDonald's death, said Monday Chicago police also Turn off the rest of the camera videos in the filming of Augustus.

"Up to here, it's a one-sided perspective," he said. The police are able to develop a story that, "Oh, he had a gun." But having a firearm was not even illegal. "

Augustus had a valid gun owner's identity card, Johnson said, although there was no documentation that he could carry a hidden weapon in public." 2013, Illinois lawmakers authorized hidden portering with a permit.)

"What we saw on these tapes yesterday, it showed how badly the Chicago police are trained," he said. said Calloway, "If you are shot at, your natural reaction is to protect yourself, which is why there is always a trauma about law enforcement in the black community."

Questions were also raised about why Augustus was arrested and whether the officers had a reasonable suspicion of believing that he was more than just armed, but also dangerous.

"This could be a totally shootout unjustifiable or it could also be a justified shooting, we do not do not know yet "Futterman said. "The bodycam videos published tell a part of the story, but not the whole story."

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