Chicago's FOP President Questions Impartiality Of Police Review Authority In Paul O'Neal Case

CHICAGO, Aug. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dean Angelo Sr., president of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, told Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson on Chicago AM 560's The Morning Answer that he wonders if the independent authority investigating the shooting of Paul O'Neal by police can conduct a fair investigation.

The chief administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority (IRPA) and other officials made critical comments about the shooting before all evidence was gathered, Angelo said.

"Those kind of comments coming from someone who is supposed to be doing a fair and impartial and unbiased investigation, right at the onset, is a little concerning," O'Neal said of statements attributed to officials soon after the shooting.

O'Neal was shot and killed after being chased by Chicago police officers after he allegedly stole a vehicle.

Angelo told Proft and Jacobson that there has been a rush to judgment against the police officers involved in the shooting and critics should wait for all of the evidence to surface before assuming any potential police wrongdoing.

"You have a civilian organization investigating police-involved incidents that don't have the wherewithal to do so," he said of the IRPA. "Any investigator involved in police work would never make statements about an investigation that is just beginning like the ones that were made the other day. That is completely unacceptable."

Angelo said anyone making a comment on the incident, including himself, needs to have a fuller understanding of the facts of the case before they come to any conclusion.

"It's very difficult to put yourself in those (police officers') shoes when these things come out and occur so quickly," he said. "We're waiting on further discussion and further discovery… There's a lot of aspects of this investigation that need to be put together."

Despite the heightened rhetoric, Angelo thinks the officers involved in the incident will be exonerated.

"It might not look good on camera, but you're taking actions that save your partner or that you perceive to be proper actions at the time," he said. "I don't think there was criminal intent in the mindset of any of these individuals. If it's investigated based on what occurred…I don't think there are any criminal charges that are available."

About Upstream Ideas

Upstream Ideas, under the leadership of Dan Proft – one of Illinois' sharpest political minds, provides expository content with new information and fresh perspectives meant to inform policy discussions, debunk faulty premises and challenge accepted orthodoxies. Proft is one of Chicago's most-respected talk radio personalities and a senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think tank. He is also a frequent editorial contributor to the Chicago Tribune.

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