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FOX 32 / AP - The head of the Fraternal Order of Police says the Chicago Police Department is violating the due process of seven officers who could lose their jobs for allegedly covering up the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.
A report by Chicago's inspector general following the release of the video of the 2014 shooting of McDonald prompted Superintendent Eddie Johnson to move last week to fire the officers.
Inspector General Joe Ferguson recommended the firing of 10. Johnson rejected the recommendation for one officer, and two others have retired.
Dean Angelo says the FOP will represent the seven officers before the Chicago Police Board, which will decide their fate. He said their defense is being hampered by the union's inability to get its hands on the inspector general's report.
Angelo suggests politics may be taking precedence over fairness.
Several of the fired officers gave statements saying McDonald lunged or move toward officer Jason Van Dyke moments before the shooting, which is testimony that is contradicted by the police dash-cam video. But Angelo says perception is a tricky thing, especially in the heat of the moment.
"The general population has no idea. These are over in seconds. These decisions are made in heartbeats. So it's easy to play armchair quarterback when you see it over and over again,” Angelo said.
In his first public comments about the police firings, Mayor Rahm Emanuel Monday backed up the superintendent's decision.
"I think the Superintendent took the right actions, gave him the latitude to take the right actions that he thinks was appropriate, and he made clear the ultimate goal here is to restore trust in the police department and also to restore trust with the community,” Mayor Emanuel said.
But the union believes politics is what's now driving the department's response, and worries the fired officers won't get a fair hearing when the police board determines their fate.
"We're very concerned at this time. We're looking for fair and impartial investigations just like anybody else. And it seems to me there's a lot of cards stacked against these officers going in,” said Angelo.
Angelo says he has talked to six of the seven fired officers. The union will be providing them with lawyers, and he says the firings have had a devastating impact on the rest of the rank and file, driving morale even lower.
The termination hearings before the police board have not yet been scheduled.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the department will provide the officers a breakdown of their alleged rule violations.