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WASHINGTON – Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent five additional federal prosecutors to Chicago on Friday to help with gun investigations, while noting that the Justice Department would oppose an unresolved agreement to reorganize firearms. operations of the local police department.
The sessions indicated that the new prosecution unit would work with state and local authorities to "help ensure that Chicago's most dangerous criminals are charged … breaking the cycle of violence in the poorest neighborhoods."
At the same time, the Attorney General has kept his pledge to fight the police reform agreement pending before a court on Friday, saying the pact only served to "impose" unjustified restrictions on the police".
"Our goal should be to give the Chicago Police Department the means to perform their duties, not to restrict its operation or to unduly lower the department as a whole for the mistakes made by some", said Sessions in a written statement.
The extensive police reform plan, implemented following the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, would in part force officers to document whenever they unsheathe their weapons. This provision has aroused opposition from the police officers' union, which argues that such a requirement could put agents at risk.
Justice has taken steps to meet the Friday deadline for written comments on the plan, which will be reviewed by US District Judge Robert Dow. Public hearings on the proposal to maintain order are scheduled later this month.
This situation comes about a week after an Illinois jury said officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of second degree murder and 16 counts of beatings for Serious injury – one for every shot fired on McDonald's.
Earlier this week, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, mocked the opposition Sessions to the police agreement, saying the Trump administration was "out of step with the Chicago and out of touch with reality. "
Emanuel said the city was planning to follow through with the police proposal and other operational changes which he said contributed to a 30 percent reduction in gun violence over the next few years. last two years.
The Trump administration has, however, repeatedly criticized the city's violent crime strategy.
Last year, the administration deployed 20 additional officers from the Bureau of Firearms and explosives for alcoholic tobacco in the city to combat gun violence.
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