Chicago Police Department Evidence and Recovered Property Section Audit

Executive Summary

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (IGO) has completed an audit of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) Evidence and Recovered Property Section (ERPS).

The IGO audit found that ERPS personnel could not locate a significant number of evidence and property held in CPD custody. While conducting the audit, we determined that CPD had weaknesses in several areas that may have contributed to the shortfalls found in the audit. These included:

• A lack of written policies and procedures for day-to-day operation of the ERPS;
• No documented response to recommendations made to remedy operational deficiencies in the ERPS found in a 2005 internal audit conducted by CPD’s Auditing and Internal Control Division;
• Present operations address only one of the eight recommendations advanced in the 2005 report; and
• A CPD directive designed to promote accurate recording and timely transfer of inventory to ERPS facilities was not being followed.

In the aggregate, the audit findings reflect that current CPD management inherited an evidence and property control system that for many years has operated with substandard controls and error rates substantially greater than the prevailing “zero tolerance” standard in the law enforcement community. This is a serious concern for a number of reasons, including:

• The potential for compromising of court proceedings—criminal and civil litigation—and administrative hearings due to inventoried evidence items that cannot be located;
• Possible challenges to the admission of and risk of suppression of even those evidence items that can be located as a result of the absence of formal written policies and procedures governing their handling and administration;
• Risk of potential litigation and damages awards against the City for property owners who are unable to recover lost or misplaced property held and maintained in CPD ERPS custody.
• Risk to the public safety and welfare posed by the loss, (including the possible theft), of dangerous items in ERPS custody.

We also found that ventilation of narcotics storage areas had not been tested for compliance with industry standards notwithstanding complaints made to CPD management of physical symptomology by ERPS personnel working in close proximity to large amounts of stored narcotics substances. (The IGO referred this information to Illinois OSHA.)

This audit report is intended to assist CPD management in managing and improving operations. As reflected in CPD’s management responses to the IGO audit recommendations, it is planning to take corrective action on many of the deficiencies found during the audit and has convened a task force to improve the electronic inventory records system. We note that CPD’ s ultimate success in bringing its evidence and property controls up to national standards may require additional resources and the cooperation and assistance of other components of the criminal justice community in the Chicago area including, among others, the Cook County States Attorney’s Office.