officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder on Friday for the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald, touching off celebratory street demonstrations in a case that had laid bare tensions between the black community and police.

Van Dyke, 40, was also convicted of 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each of the shots fired. McDonald, 17, was killed while armed with a knife as he walked down the centre of a street in the third-largest U.S. city.

Jurors said they faulted Van Dyke for escalating the conflict when he could have waited for more police assistance, such as an officer with a non-lethal Taser weapon.


http://www.yahoo.com/news/jury-reaches-verdict-murder-trial-chicago-police-officer-181457534.html



de escalation, I am glad it is being considered in this case, and hope it will be considered in others as well.

I heard this on the local radio station this morning. So sad for the victim's family. However, I did like that the jury was very diverse. So I think they passed down a right decision.

They also said it was all on video. And the family settled for 5million in a law suit against Police Dept. Before any trial .

Yes. that was an interesting agreement to keep the peace by agreeing to keep the video under wraps, especially since the family never did file a lawsuit against the city.

Its an interesting system that lets people have recourse by hitting someones pockets (civil) or their freedom (criminal).

It's a given that Van Dike made mistakes in that situation. Mistakes that he was held accountable for.

Another one I know of, was a drug user that got arrested, while under the influence of the drug he was on. He was restrained, and later died because he choked on his vomit. The deputy on duty had not checked on him for several hours, so he was at fault.

The family decided to sue the county, and the deputy, even though the deputy was acquitted of charges, and it was ruled an accidental death. The family had hired a lot of high visibility lawyers, and one independent coroner.

The family won, to the tune of 63 million dollars. The highest award ever given out in this situation. The county got off scott free, but the deputy got put on to pay the award. The deputy was fired once that was decided.

Now, one major thing bothers me about this. The victim wasn't worth a durned thing. His step father tried to give the guy a leg up in the world, but the kid didn't want that. He wanted a free ride in life.

How do I know this? I worked for the step father. He put me in charge of him. He wouldn't do one thing for me. He was tripping out on something when he showed up to work with me. After an hour, I left him sleeping on my lumber pile, and worked by myself. I wouldn't trust him with anything. The idiot probably would have cut off a couple fingers with my power saw, or fell off a ladder. I wouldn't have trusted him with two rocks. Needless to say, he wasn't in my charge once I saw his step father.

They award that 63 million????

Van Dike made 16 mistakes

Nobody needs to be shot 16 times ...nobody. that person was murdered. And Van Dike needed to be and was held accountable
There are over 760,000 police officers in the U.S and overwhelming majority of them are good. But when you have that amount of people in ANY profession, They all are not going to be good
We have a excellent military...bar none. Staffed by outstanding individuals swore to serve and protect. But take a look in the brigs on the larger bases. They are filled with military personnel who ... Did the wrong things .
Going back to shear numbers

Bad aople off the force and in prison.

Wonder if they have a special prison for ex cops.

In watching the police car video this teen seemed to be walking at a perpendicular angle to the officer, not directly at him. Whether this kid had a knife or not it didn't look like he was threatening the officer.

Shooting him 16 times is what caused me to take notice. If an officer has to use force two or three is enough to stop or at least subdue an assailant. Unless the news clip I saw said it wrong 16 rounds is using EXCESSIVE force.

TASER use: we had some guy arrested (last week) for breaking and entering. The officer first used his taser (according to the news) and it didn't stop the guy. The officer shot once in his arm and stopped him immediately. Not sure whether the taser didn't hit the right spot or the guy was high on drugs. Either way it doesn't always seem to work,but if possible, should be used first.

From what I saw the cop shot once and the guy swung around abit..stunned. but not moving towards the cop. then the cop kept firing.
That is murder

I know a cop who got caught keeping the drugs from busts. He went to a regular prison upstate NY for a few years.