Deval Patrick to Serve on Chicago Police Taskforce

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is heading back to his hometown to help improve police accountability in Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has assigned high-profile members for the newly created Task Force on Police Accountability, including Patrick, WHDH, 7 News reports.

The former Massachusetts governor will serve as a senior adviser to the panel, along with former Director of the Illinois State Police Hiram Grau and Chicago Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, Emanuel’s officer announced Tuesday.

The new panel comes after a video release showing Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting an African-American teen, Laquan McDonald, to death on a lonely stretch of Pulaski Road in October 2014. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was relieved of his duties Tuesday, following several days of protests. Black leaders and editorial writers in the city had called for the superintendent’s firing.

Emanuel said the task force is necessary after the video showed Van Dyke, who is white, shooting the 17-year-old 16 times. Emanuel says McDonald’s death “requires more than just words.”

The panel will be tasked with studying police accountability, oversight and training, and recommending how to release videos of police-involved incidents.