Craig Futterman on Laquan McDonald and the Police Code of Silence (Video)
A Closer Look at Push to Fire Officers in Laquan McDonald Shooting
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson last week recommended seven officers be fired for allegedly covering up the circumstances of the shooting of Laquan McDonald.
McDonald was shot and killed by a Chicago officer who's been charged with his murder. The move comes on the heels of two police higher-ups tied to the case retiring and after news of a harsh report by the city's inspector general that hasn't been publicly released.
Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor and founder of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, says the case is "a picture-perfect example of what the code of silence looks like in practice."
"From the very beginning it was a cover-up," he said. "A cover-up that didn’t just start with the line officers, a cover-up that not just the supervisors were complicit in, but a cover-up that wound up being directed by higher-ups."
Futterman believes that for reform to occur within the police department, those higher-ups should be prosecuted as well.
"Let’s not just blame the rank-and-file officers," he said. "Let's do something systemically and actually hold accountable some of the leaders who directed the code of silence."
Read more at Chicago Tonight