The Chicago Police Department is probing whether members misused their access to a system owned by an outside law-enforcement agency that automatically reads drivers’ license plates, officials announced late Friday afternoon.
CPD is also performing an “audit of prior searches conducted by members” using systems not controlled by CPD to determine if “there are additional instances of potential misuse,” according to a statement from the department.
A CPD spokesperson did not respond to a request from WTTW News for details about the probe or the audit, which officials said was being conducted by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs.
Police brass also announced the department had limited the number of officers who have access to the license plate reader systems not controlled by CPD to only those whose “position and job duties” require access.
In addition, each of CPD’s five bureaus will be required to designate one person to oversee the use of license plate reader systems, both those controlled by the department and those operated by outside agencies, according to officials’ statements.
The systems, which read license plate data and record a vehicle’s make, model and color while pinpointing its location, have come under intense fire from those concerned about government surveillance. Officers across the country have repeatedly been accused of misusing the license plate readers systems to track individuals for improper reasons.
The systems play a “vital role in crime investigations, shooting investigations and homicide investigations,” the department said in a statement. “These systems also assist in high-risk missing persons investigations.”
Much of the criticism of the systems has been directed at cameras operated by Flock Safety, which does not operate in Chicago. However, CPD members can search data gathered by Flock cameras as part of agreements with law enforcement agencies that use the systems, including more than 500 law enforcement agencies in Illinois.
Chicago has used automated license plate readers for more than a decade. The Chicago City Council voted earlier this month unanimously to expand a program to use the systems to catch drivers who block bicycle and bus lanes. That information is prohibited from being shared with outside agencies or used for other purposes, officials said.
A revised policy, released in draft form on Friday, would add “additional guardrails” on how the systems controlled by other law enforcement agencies are used by CPD “to ensure the appropriate and effective use” of the systems by CPD members, according to the department’s statement.
Members of the public have until Nov. 12 to weigh in on that policy, officials said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to comment on the internal probe or CPD’s decision to update its policy governing the use of license plate reader systems not controlled by Chicago officials.
Johnson’s spokesperson told WTTW News the internal probe was not prompted by a report in Wired magazine that at least one member of CPD participated in a probe last spring conducted by a taskforce that included federal immigration agents into Minneapolis mutual aid networks that sought to counter aggressive deportation raids in the Minnesota city.
CPD has been under a federal court order for seven and a half years that requires it to stop routinely violating the civil rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans and hold officers accountable for misconduct. CPD has fully compiled with 32% of that consent decree.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | hcherone@wttw.com
