CPD to develop new street stop protocol by 2020

In light of a new report from a retired federal judge, the Chicago Police Department has agreed to find new ways to make sure that investigatory street stops by officers adhere to the Fourth Amendment.

After reviewing paperwork on nearly 8,000 street stops conducted by CPD officers in 2017, retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys found that there was a “broad-based failure by Department members to accurately report all ISR [investigatory stop report] data.”

For example, if an officer failed to fully describe the Reasonable Articulable Suspicion — “RAS” — that prompted the street stop in their ISR, supervisors would return the report to the officer and allow them to make changes to it, “in contravention of Department Directives … and in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s articulation requirement,” Keys wrote.

Keys’ report was issued as part of a 2015 agreement between the CPD and American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois “to reform the practice of investigatory street stops known as ‘stop and frisks,’” according to the ACLU.

In a statement issued Thursday in response to Keys’ report, the CPD acknowledged the department’s shortcomings but noted its “significant investments” in officer training.

“While this data from 2017 indicates that more improvements can be made, Chicago Police officers are trained to only stop citizens based on reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is about to be committed and in response to calls for service,” the department said. “When stops are made, these facts have to be spelled out in an investigative stop report in accordance with department policy and state law. Given the significant investments in professional development, accountability and reinvigorated officer training, there is simply no place in this city or department for unconstitutional behavior or practices.”

By Jan. 1, the CPD has agreed to “identify improvements to the investigatory stop system though a process of research, focus groups, and consultation with the ACLU, [Keys], and [Keys’] independent police practices expert.”

By March, the department “will develop a project management plan” to implement those improvements.

Keys said that, though the CPD as a whole is not responsible for the problems he found, those shortcomings must be a concern for the entire department.

“Although the mistakes made may not reflect department-wide failures by multiple individuals, the Department as a whole must assume responsibility for each of its members and must work to correct the problems identified in this report,” Keys said.