Police review authority boss ousted

CHICAGO (STMW) - Mayor Rahm Emanuel is replacing the head of the agency that investigates police-involved shootings in Chicago with former federal prosecutor Sharon Fairley, the city announced Sunday.

Scott Ando, the former head of the Independent Police Review Authority, has “resigned effective immediately,” according to the mayor’s office, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

“In his four years at IPRA, Scott has taken important steps to move IPRA forward and reduce its backlog of cases,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Yet it has become clear that new leadership is required as we rededicate ourselves to dramatically improving our system of police accountability and rebuilding trust in that process.”

Ando’s replacement comes amid the drumbeat of protests that began with the release of video footage of a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Lorenzo Davis, a veteran IPRA investigator, claimed he was fired earlier this year for refusing Ando’s orders to officially justify police shootings he felt were unwarranted.