The Video Doesn’t Lie — Even If the Officer Did
In Laquan McDonald Case, Video Overrules Chicago Cop's Falsified Report
The guilty verdict for Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer who killed Laquan McDonald, demonstrates an all-too-common difference between a police officer’s testimony and the evidence depicted in a video recording. Being a retired police officer, I’m left wondering whether Van Dyke would have been charged with anything, let alone convicted, absent video evidence. Without it, Van Dyke’s case would have rested—as most police shooting cases do—on his word and the supporting voices of his fellow officers. Historically, that is all that has been needed to exonerate an officer.
Though it doesn’t answer every question or always tell the whole story,
