Statement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on New Transparency Policy

In February, I pledged to adopt a new transparency policy recommended by the Police Accountability Task Force to change the decades-old city practice of waiting to release videos and other evidence from police-involved incidents until the associated investigations concluded. Today, with the formal implementation of the new policy, we are acting boldly and thoughtfully.

The policy we are implementing today is a major step forward to promote transparency, and it makes us one of the leading cities in America to guarantee timely public access to this breadth of information involving sensitive police incidents. It is important to remember the thousands of hard-working men and women who quietly do dangerous and difficult work to keep us safe each and every day.

While I am pleased that Chicago is taking this important next step in our effort to be more transparent on these issues, we know there is a lot more work to do. This new policy is one piece of a much larger effort to restore trust and repair relationships between law enforcement and our communities.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will continue to take action on our road to reform. I am confident that Chicago will be better off because we are facing up to these difficult challenges and we are doing so together.

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