U.S.
Frank Polich / Reuters
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under pressure following a series of fatal police shootings in the city, unveiled on Wednesday new law enforcement strategies that include doubling the number of Tasers available to officers by June of next year.
Emanuel ended a vacation early this week to deal with fallout from the police shootings of a 55-year-old mother and a 19-year-old college student. Chicago police, under a federal civil rights investigation over the use of deadly force and other issues, have admitted the woman's death was an accident.
On Wednesday, he announced changes in Chicago police training and the use of force. He also says the department will double the number of Tasers available to officers, from 700 to 1,400.
The mayor also said that any officer involved in a shooting will now be placed on desk duty for a period of 30 days, instead of the current three days, to allow more time for an investigation.
Emanuel says the new policies are just the latest step as he works to restore public trust in the department and his administration.
"Our police officers have a very difficult and dangerous job. They put their lives on the line so the rest of us can be safe. And like all of us, they are human and they make mistakes," the mayor said. "Our job is to reduce the chances of mistakes. That requires us to give them the right guidance, the right training, and the right culture, to prevent abuses."
He said: "Willful misconduct and abuse cannot and will not be tolerated."
Emanuel said he wanted to see "improved communication" between law enforcement and citizens and wanted interactions between the two to be "less confrontational" and "more conversational."
Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante said the city looked at 15 police departments, including New York, Seattle, Portland, Cincinnati and Cleveland as it developed its new policies.
Meanwhile, more protests were planned in Cleveland on Wednesday, two days after a grand jury decided not to charge two white police officers in the 2014 shooting death of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy who was playing in a park with a toy gun that shoots plastic pellets.
Cleveland officials said on Tuesday they will review Rice's shooting to determine if the officers involved or others should face disciplinary action.
Tensions over race and policing in Chicago and Cleveland come amid intense scrutiny of police killings in the United States over the past 18 months, especially of black men. Protests have taken place around the country.
Not all Chicago police officers are currently equipped with Tasers, which are electroshock weapons that fire dart-like electrodes that incapacitate but are non-lethal.
In Chicago, protesters have called for Emanuel's resignationafter a video was released last month showing Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shooting Laquan McDonald, 17, in 2014. Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The ensuing turmoil led Emanuel to fire the police superintendent and create a task force to review police accountability.
While Emanuel was vacationing in Cuba, Bettie Jones, 55, and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, were killed on Dec. 26 by an officer responding to a call that LeGrier was threatening his father with a baseball bat.
Activists were skeptical Wednesday that the changes would reverse decades of problems and mistrust between Chicago residents and police.
Ted Pearson, one of the leaders of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, noted that Emanuel made leadership changes after the release of the McDonald video and gave a speech before the City Council in which he apologized, appearing at times to be near tears. Yet that didn't stop the latest shooting.
Pearson's organization believes the only way to bring true change is for Chicago to have a civilian police accountability council that isn't appointed by the mayor.
"The people have no trust in the police. They have no trust in the mayor," Pearson said. "The people in charge are continuing to give (some officers) a pass. It happens over and over and over again."
Al Jazeera and wire services
Relatives and friends of the two people killed by Chicago police on a domestic call speak out
Investigation follows killing of black teen Laquan McDonald by white officer, delays in dashcam video release
Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murder last month in 2014 shooting death of 17-year old teen Laquan McDonald
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