Amid intensifying criticism of his administration, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged to fix what is broken in the city of Chicago.
Emanuel said during an appearance on “Chicago Tonight” Tuesday evening that the road to recovery will not be easy.
“No bones about this,” Emanuel said. “This is going to be a long painful road with a lot of ups and downs and a lot of turns because we're going to touch on a lot of sacred cows and third rail politics.”
The appearance the same day the Acting Chief Administrator for the Independent Police Review Authority Sharon Fairley renewed probes into both the Laquan McDonald shooting as well as allegations of police physical abuse involving Phillip Coleman, a Chicago man who died in police custody in 2012.
“There are serious questions about the nature of the investigations related to the statements of several officers in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald and the actions of several officers in the incident involving Phillip Coleman,” Fairley said in a statement.
Regarding the Coleman case, the mayor said Tuesday evening: “he is a human being not a piece of meat and that has to be changed."
Emanuel was also asked if the Chicago police have a so-called “code of silence.”
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"The short answer is yes and one of the subjects I will address tomorrow to the city council,” Emanuel said.
He said there will be consequences for officers who break the rules.
"If you obviously lie and falsify a report, you’re fired,” Emanuel said.
