{{no footnotes, date=December 2009 Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting, also known as CLEAR, is a system of

relational database A relational database is a (most commonly digital) database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system (RDBMS). Many relatio ...

s used by the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind ...

(CPD) in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. These databases allow

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

officials to easily cross-reference available information in investigations and to analyze crime patterns using a geographic information system (

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...

). CLEAR includes a network of remotely operated cameras that exhibit a small amount of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

, in that they can sense

gunshot A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a disch ...

loiterers Loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a prolonged amount of time without any apparent purpose. While the laws regarding loitering have been challenged and changed over time, loitering is still illegal in various j ...

, and suspicious activity, and alert the CPD.

Uses

The unified CLEAR system is used for a wide variety of tasks: *Checking driver's licenses *Checking names or addresses *Checking for outstanding

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a ...

s *Communication between police officers *Entering evidence into an electronic tracking database *Retrieving information for a mission *Checking investigative reports

Origins

In the 1990s, the Chicago Police Department developed the Criminal History Records Information System (CHRIS). This system was immediately unpopular with officers – so much so that a detective's newsletter warned that the IT employees who had developed the system had better "watch out" on the streets. The Police Department soon teamed with

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

to create CLEAR, a set of

web-based application A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serve ...

s to increase the functionality and usability of the CHRIS system. CHRIS remains as a backbone, but CLEAR serves as the

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

Criticisms

A number of groups have expressed concerns about CLEAR, particularly regarding

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and discrimination. Critics have charged that the system uses

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

, and that constant electronic monitoring evokes images of a

Big Brother Big Brother may refer to: * Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four''), a character from George Orwell's novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' ** Authoritarian personality, any omnipresent figure representing oppressive control ** Big Brother Awards, a s ...

–like world. Some individuals have raised concerns about the cameras used in the CLEAR system. Designed to be visible so as to deter criminal activities, the cameras sit in large checkered boxes with flashing blue lights. Neighbors have complained that these boxes flash light into their bedrooms at night, scare away customers from local businesses, and

stigmatize Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, r ...

the local community.

References

External links

CLEAR Program Evaluation
an
more hereGIS Description (WORD)
Government of Chicago