Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Eddie Johnson today announced that Chicago Lawn on the southwest side is the latest district to deploy the Department’s smart policing strategy, doubling the number of districts utilizing predictive strategies in 2018. In the 8th (Chicago Lawn) police district, a station-based strategic nerve centers, district-wide gunshot detection, crime cameras and mobile phone technology have been deployed to assist in district-level crime strategies and investigations.

“These new tools and technologies compliment and support the work that the men and women of the Police Department do to keep communities safe and reduce violent crime,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This new district-based nerve centers and data analysis will help officers in Chicago Lawn get ahead of crime trends, make smarter deployment decisions and support more effective investigations, while strengthening proactive, professional policing.”

In 2017, CPD implemented smart policing strategies in six police districts: 6 (Gresham), 7 (Englewood), 9 (Deering), 10(Ogden), 11 (Harrison) and 15 (Austin). The implementation of these strategies has supported an average 25% reduction in shootings last year, which outpaced the 21% citywide reduction. In District 7 (Englewood), which implemented the strategy in February of 2017, led Chicago’s gun violence reductions and saw a 43% reduction in shootings and a 44% reduction in homicides compared to 2016.

“When we set off on our strategy over a year ago to integrate technology at the district level, it was with the intention to make CPD better and to make Chicago safer. As a result of that strategy, we have seen fourteen straight months in a row of sustained gun violence reductions,” said CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson. “Despite the progress we have made, which could not have been done without the brave work of our officers, our mission remains to be completed. We will continue to make investments so that every Chicagoan can have a safer neighborhood and a CPD they can be proud to call their hometown police department.”

With this announcement, CPD has doubled the number of districts implementing smart policing strategies. This year, CPD has launched in police districts: 3 (Grand Crossing), 4 (South Chicago), 5 (Calumet), 8 (Chicago Lawn), 12 (Near West) and 25 (Grand Central).

The new strategic nerve center continues a series of investments in the crime fight. On Sunday, Mayor Emanuel and CPD announced five new patrol vehicles have been equipped with License Plate Reader technology to stop carjackings, and 108 new police officers have hit the street as part of the plan to grow CPD by nearly 1,000 officers. Earlier this month, Mayor Emanuel, CPD Superintendent Johnson and the University of Chicago Crime Lab joined philanthropist and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin to announce a $10 million grant that will support CPD’s continued efforts to leverage data analysis, community input and technology resources throughout the Department to support a safer Chicago in every neighborhood.

Today’s announcement includes the following technologies:

Gunshot Detection and POD Crime Cameras Expansion

The City has installed gunshot detection systems to cover the entire 8th District on the city's south side, as well as increase the number of crime cameras. The crime camera footprint will be increased to allow for better integration between the two technologies.

Gunshot detection deployed by CPD uses electronic monitoring to detect gun shots. It detects the fullest range of gunfire, collects data that helps CPD define the scope of illegal gunfire, and with this expansion now covers exponentially more geographic area. On average, the technology gives police a five-minute lead on incidents of gun violence when compared to traditional 911 calls. The real-time monitoring also serves as a force multiplier because it provides critical information for better, more timely resource allocation.

Strategic Decision Support Centers

A Strategic Decision Support Center (SDSC) has been installed in the 8th District that will utilize existing data sources within CPD, such as offender criminal history databases and past crime data. The new SDSC places all this information it into a single, usable platform to help district command staff and officers plan for patrol deployments or prepare to respond to a call for service. The new centers will each be staffed with a civilian University of Chicago data analyst who will collect and analyze data trends, and who partners with a district Intelligence Officer to coordinate the information directly with patrol units in the field. This is the first time in CPD’s history that civilian analysts have been deployed to police districts.

Mobile Technology

CPD will also issue mobile phones equipped with gunshot detection notification and intelligence-driven deployment strategies to every beat officer who responds to a service call in the 8th District. These devices will give officers real-time access to district intelligence information and gunshot detection notifications to police officers in the field. This mobile technology will allow for smarter, data driven patrols and significantly decreased response times to potential service calls. This combination of in-district and in-the-field technologies help prepare officers whether they are planning their daily assignment, or on the street responding to an emergency call for service.

###