The Chicago Police Department, pressured by a U.S. Justice Department investigation and public outrage over police misconduct, has unveiled proposed policy changes aimed at cutting down on the kinds of controversial uses of force that have plagued the city.
The draft policies released Friday would further limit when officers can shoot fleeing people, restrict the number of times officers can Taser arrestees and compel officers to use the lightest force possible in any situation. The draft rules would expand on guidelines now in effect, some of which are comparatively vague.
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The policies would tighten the rules on shooting fleeing people, holding that officers can’t shoot unless that person poses an “immediate threat.” The current rules allow an officer to fire on anyone who has committed or attempted a felony using force, and experts said the new rules would go beyond U.S. Supreme Court case law.
The department also would ban officers from using their Taser more than three times.
The department set up a website for officers and the public to comment on the draft rules at policy.chicagopolice.org. After 45 days, police officials will review the feedback, Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference.
The department hopes to adopt the rules by the end of the year and then train the city’s roughly 12,000 sworn officers by spring, a potential change for a department that has sometimes shifted policy with little fanfare and has previously provided scant training to officers after the academy.
