OIG Public Safety Section 2022 Annual Report

Executive Summary

The Public Safety section aims to enhance the effectiveness of the Chicago Police Department (CPD or “the Department”), the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), and the Police Board with the mission of increasing public safety, protecting civil liberties and civil rights, and ensuring the accountability of the police force, building stronger police-community relations. Providing dedicated oversight, transparency, and accountability into and across Chicago’s complex public safety system is at the heart of the Public Safety section’s work, as well as contributing to the City’s ongoing reform effort. By doing so, we strive to create a safer, fairer, and more transparent public safety system for residents and officers committed to serving and protecting.

This work has brought issues within policing and police accountability into view and has created opportunities for improvement. These opportunities, however, will go unrealized if officials do not cooperate or respond with the appropriate sense of urgency. Chicago is not faced with a choice between police reform and keeping people safe; rather, the City is faced with the pressing reality that it can best keep people—in uniform and out—safe only by implementing long-term, systemic reform of its police and police accountability systems. All stakeholders must work together to accomplish the shared goal of improving public safety. To achieve this, the Public Safety section will continue to facilitate a culture of productive relationships among communities, the Chicago Police Department, Chicago’s police accountability agencies, and other entities in the public safety landscape.

Correction

In the OIG Public Safety Section 2022 Annual Report, Public Safety reported that the number of members with 11 to 15 years of experience decreased by 1,392, -63.6%, between December 2018 and December 2022. However, in the key takeaways section on sworn CPD members, the report states that percentage as -9.7%. The key takeaways percentage should match the text of -63.6%.

The report states every district outside of CPD’s 11th District saw 3,240 arrests or fewer per “100,00” individuals. The number should be per 100,000 individuals.