A major law regulating police will take effect January first. Illinois' Legislative Black Caucus says more changes could be on the way.
Representative Elgie Sims, a Democrat from Chicago, says the new law forbids choke-holds. It requires police to receive cultural competency training. And it sets standards for use of body cameras.
"At the end of the day, what we're trying to do is improve the quality of policing statewide. It's not just the city of Chicago. It's the quality of policing services in Danville and in Champaign and in Peoria. So we're trying to improve the quality of policing services everywhere."
The Black Caucus says it pressed for these changes even before recent attention on the shooting of Chicago teen Laquan McDonald. Now members are also eyeing further changes to state law like licensing police, making body cameras mandatory, and requiring more police videos be made public.
A Chicago police officer was taped shooting McDonald 16 times. He wasn't charged for more than a year, and not until a judge ordered the video be released.
The Caucus today says a federal investigation into the Chicago Police should expand to include the Cook County state's attorney's office.
