OIG Finds Inconsistent Rules for and Underenforcement of CPD Members’ Duty to Report Misconduct; Failures Risk Perpetuation of Code of Silence

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published the results of its inquiry into the enforcement of the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) Rules 21 and 22, which require members to report any information concerning misconduct committed by other members. OIG’s inquiry was mandated by the consent decree entered in Illinois v. Chicago.

OIG found that, while both CPD policies and the consent decree recognize that CPD members may face retaliation for reporting misconduct and require the availability of anonymous reporting mechanisms to protect reporting members, those same sources of authority simultaneously provide that anonymous reports do not satisfy members’ duty to report. Consequently, CPD members are currently operating under two sets of policies at odds with one another—one that ostensibly allows them to report misconduct in a myriad of ways, and another that invalidates any reporting done outside CPD’s chain of command.

An anonymous but verified reporting system created by OIG in 2017 permits members to make anonymous complaints for which they receive a tracking number, permitting them to prove their compliance with the duty to report if necessary. Despite recognition by the Independent Monitoring Team that such a system may suffice to permit anonymous complaints to satisfy members’ duties pursuant to Rules 21 and 22, CPD has done little to support or promote use of this tool or any like it.

“The so-called ‘code of silence’ which has, historically, protected CPD members from appropriate accountability for misconduct has no place in the CPD of today or tomorrow. That there is a duty to report misconduct on CPD’s books has been insufficient to prevent or eliminate the code of silence; to leave it behind us, the rules setting out the duty to report misconduct must be meaningfully, thoroughly, and thoughtfully enforced,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “Critically, we must provide a mechanism to allow CPD members to fulfill their duty while protecting them from risk of retaliation for doing so.”

OIG’s inquiry further found that while new CPD members are informed of their duty to report misconduct during recruit training, they receive little ongoing training or messaging about it once on the job. Additionally, OIG found that the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) and the Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA) do not consistently review or allege violations of Rules 21 and 22 in their investigations where appropriate, leading to underenforcement of the rules and inhibiting any thorough analysis of failures to report—on the part of individual CPD members or agency-wide.

OIG recommends that CPD—working with other entities as necessary—resolve inconsistencies in its rules regarding the availability of anonymous reporting mechanisms and clarify members’ ability to discharge their duty to report by making provable anonymous reports, in line with other major police departments and best practices. OIG further recommends that CPD incorporate duty to report requirements into its in-service training program and issue periodic reminders to members about their duty to report and the mechanisms available to them to do so, including anonymous options.  Finally, OIG recommends that BIA and COPA consistently pursue potential violations of Rules 21 and 22 where appropriate.

Read the Report

Read the full report released on August 3, 2023.

Join the Live Q & A with Inspector General Deborah Witzburg Inspector General Witzburg will host a Live Q & A at noon on Thursday, August 3, on @ChicagoOIG on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Watch and ask questions in real-time in the comments. Watch the replay now.

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