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News :: Crime & Police |
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Coming out on Civilian Police Review |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ricky Baldwin
Email: baldwinricky (nospam) yahoo.com (verified)
Phone: 217-328-3037
Address: 801 E California Ave, Urbana IL 61801 |
05 Feb 2005
Modified: 11:01:42 PM |
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On Tuesday February 8 at 8 pm the Champaign County Coalition for Citizen Police Review will host an open "Forum on Community-Police Relations" in the Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine, Urbana. The event will be filmed for broadcast on Urbana Public Television. The group will also release the results of a municipal candidate survey on citizen police review. |
(Urbana) At a recent event hosted jointly by the Urbana firefighters and police unions, candidates for municipal office in the City of Urbana faced tough questioning on a number of issues. The News-Gazette article the next day (B-1, 2/1/05) zeroed in on one: creation of a citizen police review board.
And, surprisingly, almost every candidate expressed some measure of support for the idea, a fact not reported in the News-Gazette article. Even city candidates who have in the past expressed hostility to the concept, seemed somewhat amenable.
What this campaign rhetoric means in practice, of course, remains to be seen. But a significant milestone was reached this week. A fresh progressive idea that has been germinating in the minds and meeting rooms of our community for years, pretty quietly, now suddenly seized the spotlight.
And it was none of the activists who have been planning for it who took it there.
Laying the groundwork
The Champaign County Coalition for Citizen Police Review was born after a local man died in police custody and many community members felt the circumstances were suspicious.
Leaders in the local NAACP chapter first took the initiative. Progressive leaders in the Democratic and Green Parties pitched in. And over the months that followed the coalition grew to include a variety of other groups ranging from the local American Association of Univeristy Women (AAUW) to the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE), from the Ministerial Alliance to the ACLU.
The group researched what other communities had tried, what worked, what didn't work, the importance of clear neutrality in such boards. They put up a website with resources, frequently asked questions and a proposed resolution for city councils to pass.
They circulated a petition that accumulated hundreds of signatures.
The effort gained new life in the wake of local controversies over a request for Tasers by the Champign Police Department and eavesdropping charges against two local men who were videotaping police activities in the Champaign-Urbana area. Both incidents provoked public outcry and led to victories for community activists.
Now over the past few months the Coalition has been planning a community forum to try to put the issue of citizen police review on the agenda in the current election cycle in the City of Urbana. The police union just beat them to it.
Now it's up to the Coalition to make hay while the sun shines.
Making hay
Billed as "a live discussion on community-police relations in the city of Urbana", the forum is scheduled for the night of Tuesday February 8 in the Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St. from 8:00 to 9:30 pm.
Everyone is welcome to attend, and attendees are encouraged to share their stories and comments. To get the ball rolling there will be a few speakers, covering a range of topics from citizen police review boards, to recent deaths in police custody, to alternatives to incarceration.
Speakers are expected to include:
- Rev. Zernial Bogan
- Carol Ammons and Sandra Ahten, C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice
- Mark Krug, Director of Court Diversion Service
The Coalition will also release the results of a survey of city council and mayoral candidates on their view on citizen police review boards.
Mayoral candidate Laurel Prussing and several city council candidates are expected to attend.
The event will be filmed for broadcast on Urbana Public Television.
The forum will also be an opportunity to volunteer to be a part of this historic movement whose time has come. |
See also:
http://www.prairienet.org/cprb
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This work is in the public domain |
