Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago Law School professor and police accountability advocate, said the charges are at least as groundbreaking as the murder charges filed against Officer Jason Van Dyke. The indictments are believed to be the first time officers have faced criminal charges for covering up for a a fellow cop accused of misconduct, part of a long-running “code of silence” within the CPD, Futterman said.

“That was historic, and this is historic as well,” Futterman said Tuesday. “This is at least as important as prosecuting the individual officer in the fatal shooting for murder.

“If  we want that culture (of silence) to end, and police officers want it to end, we have to know that there are consequences when officers lie,” he said.

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