City Inspector General Audit Reveals Police Evidence Improperly Protected

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 21, 2012 2:20PM

City Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's office released the results of a seven-month audit of the Chicago Police Department's Evidence and Recovered Property Section (ERPS) Thursday and the results are dour.

Ferguson's office noted numerous problems with the way police inventory and handle evidence, part of what he said is "not a new problem."

“CPD has, for years, struggled to manage its evidence and recovered property inventory. We hope CPD is able to use our audit in their efforts to remedy an area of longstanding institutional and operational neglect that carries the potential to compromise court proceedings in a number of ways.”

The IGO found, among many issues in the report:

• A lack of written policies and procedures for day-to-day operation of the ERPS
• No documented response to recommendations made to remedy operational deficiencies in the ERPS found in a 2005 internal audit conducted by CPD’s Auditing and Internal Control Division
• Present operations address only one of the eight recommendations advanced in the 2005 report
• A CPD directive designed to promote accurate recording and timely transfer of inventory to ERPS facilities was not being followed.

More troubling: Ferguson's audit found that police couldn't locate 2.8 percent of items sampled from inventory records and 3.8 percent of the physical inventory that was sampled. If anything requires a "zero tolerance" policy, it should be losing track of police evidence. This is how cases like the David Koschman investigation happen.

The Police Department agreed with Ferguson's findings and said they've started taking action to correct the findings. They've set up a task force that will, in addition to other ERPS improvement duties, update the current “e Track” inventory system, which will ensure an accurate accounting of all inventoried property is maintained within the “e Track” system; implementing recommendations from the CPD 2005 Internal Audit Report;
enact new processes within the overall inventorying process to ensure proper categorization of evidence and recovered property; tighten supervisory responsibilities and increasing training for those who handle evidence and recovered property; work with the offices of Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County Tim Evans and Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez to ensure formal release of inventoried property for disposal; and cut the number of steps required for property turn-over so that “e Track” better match the new role structure as it exists at police districts.

Read the complete report here. (PDF)