CHICAGO — City officials moved to allow the release of a video showing a police officer fatally shooting an unarmed teenager in 2013.
Steve Patton, the city's corporation counsel, said in a statement Wednesday that the decision to vacate a protective order that withheld the video showing the shooting of Cedrick Chatman was made in "an effort to be transparent."
“With respect to the release of videos of police incidents, the City of Chicago is working to find the right balance between the public’s interest in disclosure and the importance of protecting the integrity of investigations and the judicial process," Patton said.
Cedrick, 17, was shot dead in South Shore by police while he ran, unarmed, in the opposite direction of officers, lawyers for the slain teen's family said. The videos confirm that, they told DNAinfo Chicago.
Nearly three years after the shooting, the officer who pulled the trigger hasn't been disciplined, and Cedrick's family is battling the city in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Cedrick's case received more attention after the release of the video showing the fatal Laquan McDonald shooting in December, which showed that Laquan was moving away from officers when he was shot, contrary to police accounts.
"We're ecstatic that the videos are going to be released, and Mr. Chatman's story will be told to the public, but we are suspect about the timing," said Brian Coffman, the Chatman family attorney.
In December, city-appointed attorneys representing the officer filed a motion to delay the video's release. After admitting that the video is bound to be released eventually, city officials sought to keep it away from the public for now "to avoid any prejudice of the jury pool," according to the motion.
Coffman said he's curious about why the city changed its stance on the video's release.
In early 2014, the city successfully sought a protective order to keep the video from going public.
“In this case, the city sought a protective order consistent with its decadeslong policy," Patton said.
"We recognize the policy needs to be updated," he added in the statement, pointing to a police accountability task force that is examining the issue of misconduct after the release of Laquan's video.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman is expected to decide about the video's release Thursday.
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