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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Witnesses arrested -- thoughts on the system. |
Current rating: 0 |
by Sehvilla Mann, Ben Emerick, Kathryn Matzen
Email: anlyzstrlz (nospam) advancenet.net (unverified!) |
06 May 2001
Modified: 02 Oct 2001 |
Call for action:
Three community members share their thoughts on the the arrests of Tim Gibbs and Laura Anderson for excercising their right to witness police actions against innocent civilians. Contact information to create a resource center for police witnesses is provided. |
Urbana, Il. Four days from today I will stand on the curb watching an officer of our peace and a Saudi Arabian migrant worker playfully distinguish among civil and human rights. Unarmed and alienated from post-industrial economic racism, the officer concedes that human rights exist, with or without the presence of nation-states. I'll stroll over to the jail and admire the recruitment clowns, offering the tired, sore, or bemused a socially sponsored night-off from society in a private room: free, with your own bed and urinal. But that can't happen, we'll just go on being conned.
Does racial profiling exist? What can we do about it? When will this utopian incarceration be our description of the "Justice" System? When can you be arrested for watching?
In a case of "old news", two students were arrested at 12:59 am Wednesday for watching a police interrogation. Laura Anderson, and Timothy Gibbs stopped to watch Urbana police frisk two black men in front of the Collin's gas station at University and Race. Gibbs and Anderson chose to play the role of witness, remembering recent volatile situations like Gregory Brown's death at the hands of Champaign police last fall. Gibbs explained that "there tends to be some abusive use of power in police hands. The participation of a witness role might diffuse some violence, or might be a helpful role for everyone involved."
A quick response from community members brought thirty-two people to watch the arraignment hearing, set for 1:30 PM, Wednesday. Their presence disturbed the routine courthouse activity, prompting the exclusion of twenty-seven citizens from the courtroom. Only five people were allowed inside to lend support, while the rest waited outside the courtroom to hear the results. Inside Courtroom F, Judge John Kennedy and the lawyers on duty mumbled their way through sixteen cases. In the face of routine proceedings, defendants' vocabularies were reduced to "yes" and "no".
No charges were pressed against Gibbs and Anderson. Instead the judge presented them with the option of participating in the Adult Diversion Program, a common legal solution to avoiding drawn-out legal proceedings. This program was started by civilians to give first-time offenders the option of community service instead of conviction. The judge threatened that charges might be pressed if they do not complete the Program. Anderson sees participation in this voluntary program as an admission of guilt, "Yeah, I did something wrong, and what can I do to make it right?" Neither consider their actions illegal or reprehensible and plan to attend an interview with the program coordinator before deciding whether or not to participate.
After the arraignment, Susan Parenti, an organizer at the School for Designing a Society, paraded along the courthouse sidewalks with signs asking, "Is This Justice?" and "2 students arrested for watching police arrest." Conversations with passersby revealed that police harassment of concerned witnesses in a common practice in Champaign and Urbana. Observing police activity ensures that witnesses are available to report and possibly prevent misconduct by police officers. Members of the Champaign/Urbana community are organizing monitor police activity and act as a resource center for police witnesses. For more information 217-384-5123 and visit http://clam.clamcenter.org/~bemerick/copwatch.html.
Citizens and some Urbana Alderpersons are advocating for a Citizen Review Board which would review complaints filed against the police. Currently, the police are self-auditing: they decide which complaints to pay attention to, said Danielle Chynoweth, Urbana Councilperson-elect, Ward 4. A citizen review board would settle complaints against officers, to reduce the power of a closed-police system. "Today when racial profiling could be considered common," Gibbs asks, "how do citizens prevent possible police brutality?" |
Comments
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Response to arrest of 2 citizens by UPD |
by Amy
illiniamy (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
08 May 2001
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In reference to the article about Tim Gibbs and Laura Anderson being arrested for obstructing a police officer - where are the other sides to the story? I didn't read anywhere the police officers side to the story. Nor did I read in the story that either of the two African American gentlemen asked for the assistance of Tim Gibbs and Laura Anderson or gave any indication that they needed their assistance. Officers have the right to protect their safety and the safety of citizens while conducting a stop. There is a big difference between asking someone to step back to a safe distance and being asked to leave. What story would you have written if Tim or Laura or anyone involved in the situtation was injured because the officers were unable to watch the individuals they had contact with in the first place. Do either Laura or Tim know the reason why these two African American gentlemen were stopped in the first place? I doubt it. Society needs to stop villafying the law enforcement profession and start respecting the difficult job that they do and working with the criminal justice system so that it works for everyone. Police officers have the right to their safety and rights, just as any citizen does. Last time I checked - they were part of the community also, not a separate entity. |
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What was dangerous? |
by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
08 May 2001
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With all due respect to the officers involved, how was the presence of Tim and Laura dangerous? And how does arresting them help create the kind of dialogue between the police and concerned citizens that would result in the kind of understanding and respect that you quite rightly call for?
Tim and Laura may not have understood the situation completely, and may have had unfounded suspicions and prejudices, but surely that doesn't make them criminals. |
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Exactly the Point |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 May 2001
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Amy,
You made the comment:
"There is a big difference between asking someone to step back to a safe distance and being asked to leave."
It is my understanding that the two people arrested WERE standing at a safe distance. But they were arrested anyway because the police wanted to carry on what they were up to without being observed by citizens in any fashion.
Furthermore, whatever the black citizens that were stopped were up to is basically irrelevant. It is my understanding that they were not arrested, but they were stopped, frisked and released, while it was the citizen observers who were arrested. This sort of action on the part of the police is indicative of a certain type of police behavior that sees citizens as "subjects" to be stopped and forced to prove their innocence before proceeding on their way.
This kind of unconstitutional behavior has been encouraged by the courts in recent years. Most infamously, the Supreme Court recently enacted a virtual repeal of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure by allowing police to make full custodial arrests and searches based on the slightest whim that an officer has that there may have been some sort of legal violation on the part of a "subject."
I don't know about you, Amy, but I prefer living in a city whcih thinks of their citizens as all enjoying equal rights under the law. That means effective legal rights, not rights that can be taken away at the slightest whim of an armed agent of the state.
Police behavior that indicates that they are dismissful of both a citizen's rights and the public's right to tranparency in the actions of those who act in our name needs to be addressed as the problem it is in our community. |
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you dont have to agree but please consider it |
by ConcernedCOP
concernedcop2001 (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
09 May 2001
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I can understand everyone's concern regarding this recent incident. Try and see this from my perspective.
Please understand that a Police Officer has to be on his/her most alert status every minute of their shift. I am not saying that every person that walks up to a Police Officer who is getting a cup of coffee at the local gas station is considered a threat (or "subject" for that matter). Maybe this person needs Police, Medical, or other types of assistance (i.e. "I need directions")
However, in this day an age where SEVERAL non-law abiding citizens carry weapons, WE (Police) have to use serious precautions. I'm not saying Tim and Laura were carrying UZI's with their Birkenstocks...but the Police are Trained to think Officer Safety First. Also COULD one of the individuals that were stopped have a weapon and wanted to hurt police? YES! COULD Tim and Laura have gotten hurt by distracting the Officers for a moment by the men that were stopped.(Regardless of their Safe distance?!?) YES! COULD they have gotten the Officers hurt. YES! But they didnt, THIS TIME.
WE dont know the intentions of everyone we come in contact with. Dont always believe what the media, TV/Movies, or your friend who was arrested for DUI understands us as. Do you drive to YOUR job and think...."I have a real good chance of NOT coming home tonight." No! YOU dont, but WE do! Would you question a Fireman who is putting out your house fire? Just to make sure he/she is doing their job correctly? I think not. None of the departments in this area are going to act like LAPD. You have OUR word on that. Please stick to what you know best. You now KNOW what Obstructing a Police Officer is dont you. If you want to know more, pick up an application at your respective COMMUNITY law enforcement agencies. Just food for thought folks.
Thanks
CC2001
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Why the Arrest? |
by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 May 2001
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I appreciate hearing the police perspective about safety concerns, but I cannot see how arresting Tim and Laura made the situation any safer. |
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What Goes Around, Comes Around |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 May 2001
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Dear Concerned Cop,
I think there is a definite communication problem present in this conversation. Or maybe it’s not really about having a conversation, but rather having citizens respond obediently, for you.
I guess I get this from your comment that "You now KNOW what Obstructing a Police Officer is dont you." It seems that you are the only determinant of what that might be and that a citizen making an inquiry is answered with cuffs, instead of a courteous reply.
I think we are supposed to have a different system than that, one where you can make your charge, the prosecutor is supposed to review it for accuracy and evidence, a judge fairly hears the case and a jury of the citizen’s peers determines guilt, not you in a fit of anger at being asked a simple question by a citizen.
Unfortunately, you know that the system is weighted against the citizen without means. You get away with this baseless nonsense every day and will likely get away with it again in this case. Have you considered that your actions may be the cause of what you seem to fear? Treating citizens as if you were in a free fire zone is not the way we have a right to expect from those who profess to uphold the standards that this country was founded on.
I do not speak these words in haste. I have relatives who have served honorably as peace officers. There was always the fear that bad things could keep you from coming home to your family, but there was always the recognition that how you treated the public could have a lot to do with that also.
If you expect the public to back you up, you better act like you merit the public’s respect. Just putting on the uniform won’t do it anymore. Citizens only have to look across the city line to Champaign, a lot closer than LA, to see cops who, in the minds of many, get away with murder. I think many would agree we don’t need that kind of attitude in Urbana. I hope you agree, because that may be a lot bigger factor in your survival than any single incident of abuse of your powers will ever be. Simply trying to be reasonable with people, instead of treating them like the enemy, goes a long way in determining how you are perceived and supported by the public.
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This is Not a War Zone, It's a Cornfield |
by Rabbits
rabbits (nospam) atomly.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
17 May 2001
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Concerned Cop Wrote:
"WE dont know the intentions of everyone we come in contact with. Dont always believe what the media, TV/Movies, or your friend who was arrested for DUI understands us as. Do you drive to YOUR job and think...."I have a real good chance of NOT coming home tonight." No! YOU dont, but WE do!"
First off, allow me to say "thank you" to ConcernedCop2001 for providing another side to this story. The insight is helpful and appreciated.
However, after reading the above quote, I simply thought, "Wait, this is Urbana-Champaign."
Now, to my knowledge, Urbana-Champaign is not a particlularly tough or crime ridden town. If course, crime exists here, without a doubt, but unless I picked the wrong place to live, Urbana is definately not a place were Police officers are constantly in fear of their lives. If I'm totally wrong here, someone, please let me know.
Did the officers feel physically threatened by the actions of Gibbs and Anderson? I believe the report said they were standing 15 feet away from the officers, but read nothing about them threatening them, or harassing the officers in any way, of course I may have missed the part about the two being drunk and threatening the officers with 40s of Olde Engligh.
The botton line here is, of course, the fact that the actions of the police in this matter were incredibly "shady" and could be indicative of a dangerous attitude within modern police culture, especially for a town as tame as C-U. Do Urbana cops really see me walking down the street and think, "Boy, I bet that citizen has a gun and a bag full of heroin on him"? I sure hope not. If so, this is a serious issue that demands immediate attention.
I once heard an old guy on TV talking about "Innocent until proven guilty", I think that might have some relevance here too. |
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This is Not a War Zone, It's a Cornfield |
by Rabbits
rabbits (nospam) atomly.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
17 May 2001
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Concerned Cop Wrote:
"WE dont know the intentions of everyone we come in contact with. Dont always believe what the media, TV/Movies, or your friend who was arrested for DUI understands us as. Do you drive to YOUR job and think...."I have a real good chance of NOT coming home tonight." No! YOU dont, but WE do!"
First off, allow me to say "thank you" to ConcernedCop2001 for providing another side to this story. The insight is helpful and appreciated.
However, after reading the above quote, I simply thought, "Wait, this is Urbana-Champaign."
Now, to my knowledge, Urbana-Champaign is not a particlularly tough or crime ridden town. If course, crime exists here, without a doubt, but unless I picked the wrong place to live, Urbana is definately not a place were Police officers are constantly in fear of their lives. If I'm totally wrong here, someone, please let me know.
Did the officers feel physically threatened by the actions of Gibbs and Anderson? I believe the report said they were standing 15 feet away from the officers, but read nothing about them threatening them, or harassing the officers in any way, of course I may have missed the part about the two being drunk and threatening the officers with 40s of Olde Engligh.
The botton line here is, of course, the fact that the actions of the police in this matter were incredibly "shady" and could be indicative of a dangerous attitude within modern police culture, especially for a town as tame as C-U. Do Urbana cops really see me walking down the street and think, "Boy, I bet that citizen has a gun and a bag full of heroin on him"? I sure hope not. If so, this is a serious issue that demands immediate attention.
I once heard an old guy on TV talking about "Innocent until proven guilty", I think that might have some relevance here too. |
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You have a right to observe the pigs... |
by Jesus
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
24 May 2001
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...as long as you don't interfere and you are standing a reasonable distance away. I'm not sure about Illinois, but according to the California State Supreme Court, a reasonable distance is 8 to 10 feet. This was done in the 60's by the Black Panthers, to great effect. Though back then the Panthers had (legal) weapons. When The Man saw black folks asserting their right to carry weapons, the laws were simply changed. Nowdays, instead of groups of people patroling the cops with weapons, we need groups of people with cameras FILMING the cops. That is, until they make that illegal, too.
Check out CopWatch: http://www.copwatch.com
and the Anarchist FAQ: http://www.infoshop.org/faq/
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Excellent Citizens |
by Maura
mekearney (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
07 Aug 2001
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Our scoiety need more people like Tim Gibbs and Laura Anderson. |
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News and viewsof current racial profiling needed |
by Fame Opal
FameOpal (nospam) aol.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
02 Oct 2001
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You need more articles concerning the year we're in. Ever since the September 11th attack, many Arabs, Asians, and anyone claimed to be suspicious are being arrested without real evidence and charges reported to them. The people want to hear the views of the victims of any racial profiling cases. That woukd make the reader truly understand the wrong in this act.
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Opal |
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