Emanuel now 'welcomes' federal probe of Chicago police

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel now says he "welcomes" a possible U.S. Department of Justice probe into operations of the Chicago Police Department — an apparent complete reversal of what he said just 24 hours ago.

In a statement released this morning by his office, Emanuel said he wants to "clarify" what he said yesterday at a forum hosted by Politico, when he said a DOJ probe now would be "misguided."

Says today's statement, "Many things must happen to restore trust in the Chicago Police Department and I welcome efforts and ideas that can help us achieve that important goal." He adds, "I want to clarify my comments from yesterday, and I want to be clear that the city welcomes engagement by DOJ when it comes to looking at systemic issues embedded in CPD."

U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon "first" should complete his review of the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Laquan McDonald, the statement continues. But, after that, "I am open to anything that will give us answers and restore the trust that is critical to our public safety efforts."

No word yet on this story from Bill Hanhardt , the former Chief of Detectives of the Chicago Police Department.