Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who helped push for the release of the McDonald video, noted that New York was forced to drastically curtail stop-and-frisk policies yet violence has remained at record low levels there.

Like many criminologists, Futterman chalked up the surge in Chicago's violence to a combination of cutbacks in human services, public school closures, the aftereffects of the teardowns of public housing complexes and easy access to illegal guns.

He applauded the efforts to reform the Police Department but acknowledged that forcing officers to adapt to the changes isn't easy.

"I certainly credit and sympathize that there are rank-and-file officers who are bewildered at this time," Futterman said. "This is part of the cost of maintaining a system that has allowed decades of unchecked police abuse."

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