3 COPS FIRED IN SHOOTING

The Chicago Police Board fired three officers and suspended a fourth Friday
for their roles in the fatal shooting of unarmed motorist LaTanya Haggerty.

In a case that sparked weeks of protests and forced a major training
overhaul at the Chicago Police Department, the board unanimously decided to
dismiss officer Serena Daniels, who fired the bullet that killed Haggerty
after a June 4 car chase.

Officers Michael Williams and Stafford Wilson, who also fired their
weapons, were dismissed by narrower margins. The board decided to continue
the unpaid suspension of the fourth officer, Carl Carter, through June 12.

"The primary issue was the firing of the weapon," said Demetrius Carney,
president of the nine-member board. "Carl Carter did not discharge his
weapon."

Haggerty's family praised the board's decision on the officers, saying
positive changes have come from her death, including the use of video
cameras to record police stops on a pilot basis.

"That's a good thing they were fired," said her brother, Maurice Haggerty.
"It gives a little bit of closure to the whole thing."

Daniels, Williams and Wilson were found guilty of improper use of deadly
force.

All of them, including Carter, were found guilty of violating supervisors'
orders to stop the chase, failing to report that shots were fired and
giving police investigators false information.

The board reviewed more than 1,000 pages of testimony from 37 witnesses and
60 pieces of evidence, including maps and photos, that were part of the
six-day hearing in late January and early February.

They reached their decision Tuesday night after several meetings at
Carney's law office.

Joseph Roddy, the lawyer for the officers, criticized the release of the
findings at 6:30 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day, when many people might not pay
attention to the news.

"That shows the same lack of courage (when) they failed to show up at
hearings where these four officers' careers were at stake," he said.

The board did not attend the hearings, but relied on transcripts and the
advice of a hearing officer, a practice that Carney defended Friday.

"The process is very fair," he said. "It's been upheld by the courts."

Roddy said he would appeal the ruling.

Bill Nolan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he thought
that the board would have spared the careers of at least three of the
officers.

"It is because of political pressure and public outcry" that Daniels,
Wilson and Williams were fired, Nolan said.

Haggerty, 26, a computer analyst for Encyclopaedia Britannica, was riding
with Raymond Smith when partners Williams and Daniels stopped Smith's car
on the South Side after he double-parked to talk to friends.

Smith suddenly drove off, and the chase paused at 95th and Cottage Grove,
where Daniels, Williams and Wilson fired at Smith's Oldsmobile Cutlass. The
chase ended at 64th and King Drive, where Haggerty died after a bullet
pierced her heart, lungs and liver.

Daniels told the police board she was standing on the side of the car when
she saw a "silvery object" rise slowly as Haggerty talked on a cell phone.
Smith already was out of the car and Daniels said she yelled at Haggerty to
exit.

Daniels said she fired when she saw Haggerty turn toward her. A
padlock--the silvery object--was found on the floor.

The 26-page opinion said Smith was "principally responsible" for Haggerty's
death because he fled, fearing an arrest for drugs in his car.

But Daniels was unjustified in firing at Haggerty, and the officers share
blame for failing to stop the chase when ordered, the board wrote, adding,
"Had the officers obeyed the order, Ms. Haggerty would be alive today."

Contributing: Dave Newbart