The Public Safety section of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) works to improve the effectiveness, accountability, and transparency of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Chicago’s police accountability agencies, and to transform the critical relationship between CPD and the communities it serves. The Public Safety section does this by conducting independent and objective evaluations, inspections, and reviews of the operations of CPD, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), and the Police Board. These inquiries are designed to promote constitutional, community-based policing, as well as a transparent, accessible, and fair system for police accountability and discipline. Based on robust community and agency engagement, along with a focus on the appropriate use of data and technology, the Public Safety section identifies long-term, systemic reform opportunities, thereby improving the fairness and effectiveness with which public safety services are delivered and the safety of all of the City’s neighborhoods.
Potential Projects for 2023
The list of projects in the 2023 OIG Public Safety Outlook are under consideration for 2023. The list in the Outlook is intended to serve as a guiding document and is subject to change.
The Public Safety section may initiate other projects over the course of the year and the section may not undertake each of the listed projects in 2023. Circumstances may arise during the year which prompt the section to undertake new, higher priority projects, reduce the priority of a planned project, or terminate a project if OIG determines that further work will not bring substantial benefit to the City. Some projects may not appear because they would center around topics which OIG has addressed through other oversight channels, or which have changed in nature or priority. Additionally, some topics listed below may be deferred to following years.
Potential projects are developed from a variety of sources, including input from community members, CPD members, and OIG staff. A draft of the project plan is posted for public comment and submitted to the court appointed monitor for the consent decree, as required by Paragraph 563 of the consent decree.