Chicago police officers vote in new union president

CHICAGO (AP) — Rank-and-file Chicago police officers have voted for a new leader of their union as the department is under scrutiny for its practices.

The Fraternal Order of Police announced Wednesday that Officer Kevin Graham captured 56.2 percent of the vote to defeat incumbent Dean Angelo’s 43.7 percent. There were 9,730 ballots cast in the election.

Graham and Angelo faced each other in a runoff vote because none of six candidates in the first round of the election received a majority of votes cast.

The vote came as the Chicago Police Department is under intense scrutiny due to the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke. The shooting of the black teenager resulted in first-degree murder charges against the white officer.

Graham criticized Angelo for cooperating with a U.S. Justice Department investigation into Chicago police practices.

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