Justice probe of Chicago Police to wrap up before Obama leaves

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's City Hall is bracing for the Justice Department to release - before President Barack Obama leaves office Jan. 20 - findings from its Chicago Police Department probe triggered by the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

No announcement is expected before Obama delivers his farewell address in McCormick Place on Tuesday night, a speech looking at his accomplishments, coming as homicides are soaring in the president's adopted hometown. The report is expected to be released later next week.

It is highly unlikely the probe will conclude with a signed-and-completed consent decree outlining mandated changes in police practices, sources told the Sun-Times. What is on the table, given the time constraints, is a deal for the city and Justice Department to sign an "agreement in principle." Such a pact, to be made with community input, would create a federal court-enforceable road forward addressing investigatory findings from the probe, launched in December 2015.

The sense of urgency was heightened Wednesday after Illinois Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin met with President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, who in the past has said he is skeptical of using consent decrees to change police practices.

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