December 14, 2007 9:59AM # Chicago Police Scandal By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE The *Chicago Tribune* [shines a light](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-071205cops-htmlstory,1,5301758.htmlstory?ctrack=1&cset=true) on the Chicago Police Department and how it handles police shootings: > Law enforcement officials at all levels, from the detectives who investigate cases to the superintendent, as well as the state’s attorney’s office, have failed to properly police the police. > > > Promises to improve the system also haven’t touched another fundamental flaw: the hasty meetings, known as roundtables, led by police commanders in the charged hours after a Chicago officer shoots a civilian. Witnesses are not sworn. The discussions are not recorded. When the sessions conclude, officials nearly always decide the officer was justified in pulling the trigger. > > > And if evidence eventually contradicts the officers’ versions of events, the Tribune found that cases aren’t reopened and the officers escape serious punishment. > > > Chicago police shoot a civilian on average once every 10 days. More than 100 people have been killed in the last decade; 250 others have been injured. But only a tiny fraction of shootings are ruled unjustified — less than 1 percent, police records and court testimony indicate. I strongly suspect that similar findings would be found in [many other cities](https://www.cato.org/2007/04/27/corruption-in-atlanta-police-dept-widespread/). Kudos to the *Tribune* for this reporting. Hat tip: [Radley Balko](http://www.theagitator.com/2007/12/13/want-to-get-away-with-murder-in-chicago/). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).