CHICAGO — Critics remain concerned by the Chicago Police Department’s impending relaunch of its much-criticized “gang database,” a tool intended to identify people with connections to street gangs, even after the process to revamp it was paused last fall at the behest of the city’s new police oversight committee.
The department’s prior version of the database was widely criticized by community groups, the city’s inspector general and targeted in a federal lawsuit for allegedly being unconstitutional and racially biased, with Blacks and Latinos making up the majority of those on the list.
The new tracking system, known as the Criminal Enterprise Information System or CEIS is meant to “collect and manage information on criminal enterprises and street gangs to prevent, detect and investigate criminal activity,” according to a draft of the police policy on it. The oversight committee requested and received a delay in its implementation last year to gather public comment, which concluded last month.
