with a justice department probe into the chicago police department unlikely to result in binding change before president-elect donald trump takes office, it will be up to mayor rahm emanuel to continue pushing for reforms. people familiar with the justice department investigation into the chicago police department <u+2014>prompted by the release of a video showing a white officer shooting a young black man 16 times <u+2014>say it is unlikely that the probe will result in what is known as a consent decree before the obama administration ends. this judge-ordered decree after similar police department investigations in other cities, including cleveland and ferguson, mo., has prompted major change in those places. the tool has been used repeatedly under the obama administration. mr. trump has selected alabama sen. jeff sessions as his pick for attorney general , and both men have strongly backed the police. mr. trump has advocated a return to stop-and-frisk methods of policing<u+2014>a tactic that police reformers condemn<u+2014>and has singled out chicago as a city he thinks could benefit. sen. sessions in a 2008 paper specifically singled out the consent-decree method as an abuse of federal power. this leaves mr. emanuel to decide how strongly and how far to push for police reform in his city, including how to move forward on the report from the justice department, which has yet to be released. mr. emanuel<u+2019>s <u+201c>political realities are such that he has really significant incentive to be a change agent,<u+201d> said jamie kalven, founder of the invisible institute, a nonprofit group that has advocated for transparency within the police department. the mayor has <u+201c>responded to public pressure [and] to citizen pressure,<u+201d> he added. mr. emanuel at first dismissed the probe as misguided. but he later embraced the investigation and has admitted to a systemic <u+201c>code of silence<u+201d> in the department, replaced its police chief and launched his own task force of local experts to investigate problems in the department, arguing he couldn<u+2019>t wait for the lengthy justice department investigation before acting. in response to that task force<u+2019>s report, he moved to overhaul the agency that investigates police misconduct in chicago, taking on board public feedback, and pushed for other changes including a new use-of-force policy for police officers. the steps were taken <u+201c>without a justice department report, because we believe collectively that they are in our self-interest,<u+201d> mr. emanuel said tuesday. <u+201c>the administration will change, but our commitment to reform will not.<u+201d> others worry, however, that political pressure might stymie mr. emanuel<u+2019>s ability to enforce the changes and overhaul the department<u+2019>s culture, particularly from chicago<u+2019>s police unions, which have pushed back against what they see as political meddling in law enforcement. the city <u+201c>will only push forward on what they are made to push forward,<u+201d> said richard wooten, a retired police officer who was part of mr. emanuel<u+2019>s task force. officers themselves, he says, have to <u+201c>be the reform that they want to see.<u+201d> write to shibani mahtani at shibani.mahtani@wsj.com
after donald trump<u+2019>s election, chicago mayor faces pressure to continue police overhaul  - wsj
shibani mahtani