A year after Laquan McDonald video, Chicago’s reforms uneven

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2014 frame from dash-cam video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being fatally shot by CPD officer Jason Van Dyke sixteen times in Chicago. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the release of the video. (Chicago Police Department via AP File) FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2014 frame from dash-cam video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being fatally shot by CPD officer Jason Van Dyke sixteen times in Chicago. This week marks the one-year anniversary of the release of the video. (Chicago Police Department via AP File)

By Associated Press November 23, 2016 1 min read

CHICAGO (AP) – A year after Chicago released video showing a policeman shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times, the city’s response has been uneven.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired the police superintendent, and the prosecutor who delayed charging officer Jason Van Dyke was voted out of office. Van Dyke was the first Chicago officer in nearly 35 years charged with first-degree murder for an on-duty fatality.

A new agency was created to investigate police shootings. Police are getting more training and being outfitted with body cameras.

The number of arrests has fallen, perhaps because police worry about being the next “viral video.”

Chicago is expected to finish 2016 with the largest number of murders since 1998. And the election of Donald Trump as president has cast doubt over a Justice Department investigation of Chicago police.