the front-runner in the race, tweeted -- "today's ruling is the latest disappointment in the jason van dyke sentencing, and a sad reminder of the work we must do to create a system that is free of institutional racism and truly holds police accountable for their misconduct, including criminal acts. we cannot build trust between police and the communities they serve if officers who commit crimes are not held to the same standards as other defendants." lightfoot and her opponent, cook county board president toni preckwinkle, both have vowed to reform chicago's police department.

supreme court has let stand and less than seven-year prison sentence for former police officer jason van dykewho was found guilty last year of second-degree murder decided tuesday to deny a request by the state's attorney general to re-sentence former police officer jason van dyke. van dyke, who is white, was found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at mcdonald. illinois attorney general kwame raoul petitioned the state supreme court to vacate van dyke's second degree murder sentence, and instead impose a sesentence on each of the 16 counts.. if the petition had been granted, van dyke could have faced to up 96 years in prison. the news has sparked criticism throughout chicago. chicago's mayoral candidates, who are both african-american women, have spoken out against the decision. lori lightfoot, the front-runner in the race, tweeted -- "today's ruling is the latest disappointment in the jason van dyke sentencing, and a sad reminder of the work we must do to create a system that is free of institutional racism and truly holds police account

but just to give you some background, you know, jason van dyke was found guilty of shooting 17-year-old black teen laquan mcdonald and there was an extensive coverup. that officer was sentenced to only three years in prison. other chicago police officers were charged with covering up details related to the shooting. interestingly enough, they were found not guilty. that was the backdrop during the entire time the jussie smollett case came out. here you have a police department known for lying and covering up and yet they were outraged at the fact that jussie smollett may have lied and covered something up, so the irony was there. i think it sort of underscored the lack of faith and lack of trust that people have in a police department when they engage in this kind of behavior. >> people especially that are familiar with the chicago police department and everything that's taken place there. >> i'm sorry, say this again? >> i say, also for people who may be familiar with what's taken place with the chicago police department and are following development there. >> that's right. and it's im