Chicago police set to revamp controversial gang database

The Chicago Police Department is set to unveil plans to upgrade and remodel its controversial gang database.

The Criminal Enterprise Information System will launch in the next six to 12 months and aims to ultimately replace the CPD's existing gang database, which has been criticized as ineffective, inaccurate and outdated.

"The vast majority of our shootings and homicides are either gang-involved or gang-related," Interim CPD Supt. Charlie Beck said in an interview Wednesday. "Having an information system that allows us to track and account for gang members, specific to the gangs that they're involved with is an indispensable investigative tool to deal with these issues."

In a blistering report issued last year, the city's Office of the Inspector General said the department's existing gang "database" - which includes more than 134,000 names - was a disorganized collection of outdated information stored in a host of different places.

"OIG found that CPD has captured, reported, and visualized gang-related data in at least 18 different forms, records, and systems of records in the past 10 years, although CPD was not able to definitively account for all such information in its possession and control," the 160-page audit read.

The report also said the CPD's gang data collection methods exacerbate the already strained relationship between law enforcement and people of color.

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