JOSEPH M FERGUSON INSPECTOR GENERAL
CITY OF Cl IICAGO OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 740 NORTH SEDGWICK STREET, SUITE 200 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60654 TELEPHONE (773)478-7799 FAX (773) 478-3949
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL,
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot
121 North LaSalle Street, 4th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Dear Mayor Lightfoot:
We write to bring to your attention concerns regarding the Chicago Fire Department's (CFD) and Chicago Police Department's (CPD) failure to utilize the biometric component ofthe City's timekeeping system. Specifically, an OIG investigation found that neither CFD nor CPD enroll their employees in the City's biometric timekeeping system. The biometric component ofthe respective electronic timekeeping systems helps ensure that an employee is physically present when he or she clocks in for work, thus reducing the risk of time falsification and absenteeism.
In contrast to CFD and CPD, the vast majority of City departments require a new employee, at or around the time of their hiring, to have their hand scanned at City Hall to enroll in the biometric timekeeping system. A three-dimensional image ofthe hand is then converted to an electronic template which is stored with the user's ID number in a database.1 Thereafter, in.order to clock in or out for a given day, an employee must swipe their ID card at a biometric hand scanner time clock ("Time Clock") or punch in their ID number on the Time Clock's numeric keypad and then place their hand on the Time Clock's hand scanner. According to the Time Clock user manual, the Time Clock compares the scanned hand "with the stored user's unique template. If the images match, the [Time Clock] records the transaction for processing." Thus, the requirement of a hand scan prevents City employees from improperly clocking in or out for each other.
Although both CFD and CPD have rules regarding timekeeping that direct their employees to place their hands on the Time Clock's hand scanner after swiping their ID cards, see C...
Click here for full text