Press Release

Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and the Chicago Police Department Commit to Enhancing Transparency in Police Disciplinary Cases

Date:

May 30, 2024

CHICAGO- The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and the Chicago Police Department have collaborated on additional transparency measures related to investigations of alleged police misconduct conducted by CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA). CPD currently posts Administrative Summary Reports (ASRs) for all closed investigations and has committed to improve its search engine so that all ASRs can be searched by not only Log number, but also officer name and star number. Additionally, CPD is working to obtain the resources needed to publicly post the full closing summary reports for all investigations. These reports will include information about the evidence BIA reviewed in a case, an overview of BIA’s analysis of the evidence, and a summary of BIA’s findings and recommendations. Once these resources are obtained, CPD commits to publicly post these full summary reports.

Commission President Anthony Driver Jr. said, “This is a huge step forward for transparency. BIA handles some of the most serious cases of alleged police misconduct and for decades, we’ve been kept in the dark about those cases. CPD has issued short reports a few times a year, with no information about individual cases, and the Administrative Summary Reports which are difficult to find if you do not have the Log number. But going forward, we’ll have much more information about BIA’s decisions in individual cases, and that will allow us to better understand the accountability system and assess how well it is working.”

The Bureau of Internal Affairs handles most complaints of police misconduct in Chicago. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) serves as the initial intake point for all police misconduct complaints, but COPA’s jurisdiction is limited by law. In 2023, COPA logged 5,281 complaints and 3,007 of those complaints—57%—were referred to BIA. BIA handles a wide range of important cases, including those related to: alleged criminal activity by Chicago police officers, civil lawsuits against police officers, alleged corruption involving police officers, and alleged civil rights violations. BIA investigates those complaints and makes recommendations about whether and how the police officers should be disciplined.

Given BIA’s critical role in the police accountability system, there must be greater transparency in BIA’s investigations.

Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, “Since my first day in this job, I’ve been committed to greater transparency and accountability. We need to explain what good, constitutional policing looks like. We need to be clear and open when we get it right and when we get it wrong. And when someone makes a complaint about one of our officers, they deserve to know how that case got resolved. Transparency benefits everyone and makes us a better department. If we want to earn people’s trust, we need to be transparent.”

In the coming weeks, the Commission and CPD will work to develop policy that will facilitate the release of BIA’s summary reports. Commission President Driver said, “This isn’t about being transparent when someone thinks it helps them. This is about making systemic change to require greater transparency all the time. Our whole police accountability system only works if it works in the light of day.”