Garry McCarthy served as Chicago police superintendent from 2011 to Dec. 1, 2015.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was removed from his duties Tuesday as Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the formation of a police accountability task force.

McCarthy’s firing comes after widespread criticism for the department’s handling of the shooting death of a black teenager by a white police officer that occurred in October 2014.

Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times on the city’s Southwest Side and the shooting was captured on video by the dashboard camera of a responding police officer’s car.

That video was only released by the Chicago Police Department last week, which sparked several days of protest throughout the city, most notably along Michigan Avenue during the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend.

In announcing McCarthy’s firing and the formation of the task force, Emanuel praised said the former superintendent for his efforts on many fronts but said after conversations the two held on Sunday it was clear “the public trust in the leadership of the department has been shaken.”

Cook County prosecutors last week charged Officer Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder and he was released on bond on Monday.

Meanwhile, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Tuesday requested the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to initiate an investigation to determine whether practices by the Chicago Police Department violate the Constitution and federal law.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Madigan asked for an investigation into the department’s use of force, including deadly force; the adequacy of its review and investigation of officers’ use of force and investigation of allegations of misconduct; its provision of training, equipment and supervision of officers to allow them to do their job safely and effectively; and whether there exists a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing.

An investigation by the DOJ Civil Rights Division also ensures there is an outside, independent review of CPD practices, according to Madigan’s office.

McCarthy held the superintendent post for four-and-a-half years and his tenure was marked by a big increase in homicides including the murders of young children caught in gang wars that have garnered national attention.

— McCarthy out as Chicago police superintendent —