Review of the Chicago Police Department’s Management and Production of Records

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a review of the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD or the Department) processes for managing and producing its records for criminal prosecution and civil litigation arising out of law enforcement activities. CPD is involved in both criminal and civil litigation, since its investigations and corresponding records are used as evidence in both types of proceedings. CPD, both directly and as an entity acting on the government’s behalf in a criminal case, is required by law and the United States Constitution to disclose evidence in its possession, with certain exceptions; those obligations include but are not limited to those enumerated in Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States and their progeny, Illinois state law, and Court-promulgated rules of civil procedure. OIG concluded that CPD’s records management and production processes are inadequate to meet its constitutional and legal obligations.