Chicago Police Department holds inaccurate gang database

A report released on Thursday, by the inspector general of Chicago, revealed that the gang suspect data of the Chicago Police Department is disorganized and inaccurate. This report has raised a lot of questions since then.

The Office of the Inspector General endorsed some key ways to right the inaccuracies in the database in the form of a 159-pages report. “The inaccurate database undermines the confidence of the public on the department”, report says.

The report contains some incomplete and contradictory information. The report also claimed that more than 50 agencies do not have the accountability and oversight mechanism in terms of the database.

Joseph Ferguson, Inspector General of Chicago, wrote that the individuals and communities have negative effect due to the lack of transparency in the gang database of Chicago PD. He recommended that the designations must be given to the gang members on the base of the evidence. The database must be reviewed on regular base for removing the inaccuracies. He recommended that the old and inaccurate data must be purged by the aid of a new mechanism.

Ferguson highlighted that the positive policy making cannot be achieved without storing the right information in the database of the PD of Chicago. The inaccuracies have the negative effects on the public and on the community as a whole. The spokesman of Chicago Police Department said, “The City Council and the mayor’s office have to bring reforms in the system for reducing the gang violence in the city”. The voice of the community must be included in these reforms as it is an important factor.

Gun and Gang violence are the key challenges for the law enforcement department of Chicago. The good news is that we have seen a reduction in the violent murders in the city over the past two years. The use of predictive analysis and better community relations are the reasons for the reduction in gun and gang violence, according to the Police Department.