CHICAGO — The Independent Police Review Authority released 101 sets of files related to open police use of force and misconduct cases Friday.
The files include dozens of hours of cellphone, surveillance and police dashcam videos as well as police reports, 911 audio and scanner chatter.
We're still looking through the trove of information, but an early look at the files adds little understanding about these cases.
RELATED: Here's Where To Watch The Chicago Police Alleged Brutality Videos
At a news conference Friday, IPRA boss Sharon Fairley stressed that the videos do not paint a complete picture of what happened in each incident, and many lack context.
“It's really important for you to keep in mind that these materials may not convey all of the facts and considerations that are relevant [to an officer's conduct]," she said.
Few of the videos — taken before, during and after the relevant events — show the actual incidents in question.
One example is the Dec. 26, 2015 fatal shooting of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones, which occurred just weeks after the release of the Laquan McDonald police shooting video.
While police released 911 tapes related to the case in January, 73 video clips associated with the case were only released Friday. Few of them were actually filmed during the event and none of them show the actual incident.
IPRA also released files from the October 2014 police shooting of Ronald Johnson. (The officer involved in the incident was not charged.) After a video was already released in December, a total of 16 were released Friday. None of them offered additional context to the shooting.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions put out by the agency explained, “The varied quality and clarity of the videos on the website reflect the varying quality and clarity of the recording devices and systems from which the videos are obtained, including dashcams, bodycams, blue-light street cameras, private security cameras and footage shot by witnesses on cellphones."
Many of the files also includes several types of reports, including case incident reports, battery reports (describing injuries to the officers) and tactical response reports (describing what the officers did in response.)
The review authority and the Law Department singled out six "heater cases" with "particularly sensitive video." They included these cases:
• David Strong was shot by police along with two accomplices, who were wounded, during a robbery at an electronics store at 62nd Street and California Avenue on April 3, 2012. Video shows them bursting through a garage door in a stolen van and into a crowd of officers waiting outside, at which point police open fire.
• Ismael Jamison was charged with assaulting passengers on a CTA bus on Nov. 22, 2012. Shirtless and hulking, he charges an officer and is shot in the stomach and foot, yet continues to resist arrest.
• Michael Cote was the driver of an SUV who went on a "rampage" hitting parked cars on North Hoyne Avenue on June 11, 2014. Cellphone video taken by two witnesses, who offer profanity-laced commentary from an apartment above, shows Cote surrounded by squad cars, driving into a storefront below, then backing out, at which point police shoot and he is wounded in the stomach. Just before shooting breaks out, one of the witnesses says, "Seriously, watch the ---- out!"
• Zainul Hussein was shot in the midst of fight with baseball bats at North and Clybourn avenues on July 20, 2015. Dashcam video shows the aftermath, with Hussein shot in the leg crouching in the street as two other suspects have their hands behind their heads in the background after being arrested.
• Lisa Simmons and Jeremiah Smith were arrested in the midst of a rowdy block party on West 15th Street on July 12, 2014. Cellphone video shows Simmons arrested and hurled across the hood of a police cruiser. Smith is cracked in the face with a police baton by an officer shortly after the cop warned bystanders, "Get out of the street or you're going to jail."
• Terrence Clarke was a Canadian hockey fan arrested at the Portillo's at Clark and Ontario streets on June 16, 2015, apparently after midnight following the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory. Clarke allegedly tossed a cup of cheese at off-duty Chicago officer Khaled Shaar, working security at the restaurant. Video shows the officer trying to arrest and handcuff Clarke, then socking him in the face while still holding the cuffs. Clarke was reportedly treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for an eye injury.
• In December of 2015, Giovanni Valle, 20, was accused of trying to strike an officer with a vehicle in Lakeview. A video released shows an officer opening fire on Valle's vehicle, but it's unclear if there was any officer near the moving car.
• In October of 2015, Albert Payne was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana. A video released Friday shows Payne making a phone call at the police district, then putting his hands in his pockets. As he says something to the officer (audio is not available), the officer grabs him by the throat, pushes him into a door and wrestles him to the ground.
• Another video shows police officers pursuing men who were later arrested for the armed robbery of a West Side beauty store in 2012. The March 2012 case became well known because the three officers shot store owner Bassil Abdelal multiple times after Abdelal walked out of his store and picked up a handgun that was dropped by one of the robbers.
That shooting cannot be seen in the video. Abdelal claimed that he did not see the police and he was trying to protect himself after his store was robbed. The police said that Abdelal did not put the gun down despite being ordered to do so several times.
• Another video shows the aftermath of a shooting that left three officers wounded and suspect Lamar Harris dead on March 14.
The release comes after Mayor Rahm Emanuel's appointed Police Accountability Task Force called on the Chicago Police Department to acknowledge racism and fight the "code of silence" that keeps officers from being held accountable.
That task force also called for videos to be more readily released to the public, within 60 to 90 days.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
