Plan would allow release of reports on police conduct

For years, Inspector General Joe Ferguson's reports on the police shooting of Laquan McDonald and the death of David Koschman have been kept under wraps because city laws required confidentiality.

That's about to change in Mayor Lori Lightfoot's continued quest to deliver on her signature campaign promise to root out corruption and "shine the light" on wrongdoing.

The City Council's Ethics Committee on Wednesday approved a Lightfoot-championed ordinance that empowers Chicago's corporation counsel to release Ferguson's reports whenever they involve "sustained findings regarding conduct that either is associated with a death or is, or may be, a felony as defined in the Illinois Criminal Code and is of a compelling public interest."

The ordinance widened the rift between the new mayor and the Fraternal Order of Police and may well have opened the door to a court challenge.

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