Chicago Protesters Target Independent Police Review Agency

CHICAGO— Protesters who have been calling for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation also have another target: a much-criticized, quasi-independent agency that was created to investigate complaints against police officers but has rarely ruled again...

Dozens of medical students from various Chicago student associations stage a "die in" outside the county building, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, to protest the killing of Laquan McDonald by a police officer in Chicago. Many activists and analysts say the steps Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking to hold Chicago police officers accountable for abuses are way too timid. It's tinkering at the edges of deeply flawed structures or merely switching around managers, they argue, when what's needed is to scrap the entire system and start all over.Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO— Protesters who have been calling for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation also have another target: a much-criticized, quasi-independent agency that was created to investigate complaints against police officers but has rarely ruled against them.

The mayor’s critics complain that his pledge to reform the Independent Police Review Authority is too limited because he seeks to improve an existing system rather than scrapping it and starting over.

In the outrage that erupted over the video showing an officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald, Emanuel sacked his police chief and set up a task force to recommend changes. He also replaced the head of the authority known as IPRA.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy (R) speaks about first-degree murder charges against police officer Jason Van Dyke in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel (L) looks, on Nov. 24, 2015. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast