The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published the results of its inquiry into the completeness of the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) 911 call response data, as recorded by CPD and the City’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC). OIG originally set out to evaluate geographic equity in CPD’s response times, but was unable to do so because of the frequency with which the data necessary to do so is missing. During the period of OIG’s inquiry, information on when CPD units arrived at the scene of an emergency call was missing more than half of the time.
In the course of planning and conducting this inquiry, OIG spoke with members of Chicago’s communities and representatives of 12 community-based organizations to gather data on public perceptions of CPD’s 911 responses. Several South and West Side organizations reported to OIG that they believe there to be geographic disparities in CPD’s response to 911 calls and that they have experienced slow or no response to 911 calls in their communities, leading to distrust of CPD members and the City’s emergency response apparatus. Neither OIG nor CPD, however, can meaningfully evaluate the efficiency or equity of 911 police responses because of inadequate data—despite a CPD policy which requires members to capture the relevant data.
“Effective emergency response is at the very core of CPD’s public safety function. The City and the Department are ill-equipped to evaluate and improve response times, simply because, more often than not, we have no information on when the police arrive to respond to an emergency,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “Without this basic information, we can’t assess whether City services are provided equitably or efficiently—and we can’t improve what we can’t measure.”
A new information system procured by the City—though not yet implemented—promises some but not adequate improvement. OIG recommended that CPD provide training and appropriate technology to all members to reinforce and facilitate their responsibility to accurately report milestones throughout emergency events. OIG also recommended that CPD collaborate with OEMC to analyze and evaluate data for each time interval in the dispatch process and assess best practices for improving police responses to 911 calls.
Read the Report
Read the full report, released on, September 6, 2023.
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The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government. If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you. For more information, visit our website at igchicago.org.
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About the Office of Inspector General
The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.
If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for the latest information on how OIG continues to fight fraud, abuse, and inefficiency in Chicago government.