CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago’s new police oversight commission has urged the Chicago Police Department to scrap its current plans for relaunching its heavily criticized gang database.
Back in 2019, Chicago police officials promised to overhaul the Criminal Enterprise Information System (CEIS) after a city inspector general’s audit showed it disproportionately targeted African Americans and Latinos and had few guidelines regulating who was on the list or how a person could get their name taken off of the CEIS.
CPD has outlined plans for a new CEIS, but Chicago’s new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has called for the whole plan to be stopped.
In a statement, the commission said questions remain about the proposed processes and procedures, the purpose and need for the database, the way information is collected, and who can access and use CEIS information.
Those were issues brought up about the old database.
The police department has issued a statement in response and said it looks forward to “continued collaboration” with the commission to “strengthen public safety for all.”
“For generations, communities across Chicago, especially marginalized communities, have been adversely impacted by gangs and criminal networks,” read CPD’s statement. “The Criminal Enterprise Information System is a tool designed to help combat this problem within the scope of fair and constitutional policing.”
Commission officials said they are working on a draft policy for how CPD collects and uses information.
This issue will likely test how much the commission can — and can’t — accomplish, regarding police policies.
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