(CHICAGO) Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says mandatory de-escalating training of city’s police officers is designed to teach them how to deal with tense situations “without the use of deadly force whenever possible.”
Johnson on Monday discussed the training at the city’s police academy. It is among several department reforms following the fatal shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by police. McDonald, a black 17-year-old, was fatally shot in 2014 by a white police officer, who’s since been charged with murder.
Johnson says the de-escalation training shows the public the department is doing everything it can to resolve conflicts peacefully.
Sgt. Larry Snelling, a lead instructor in de-escalation, said trainers will draw on real-life examples from days or weeks before of police who ended up using force. He says if Monday morning quarterbacking isn’t taking place, “we’re not getting better.”
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