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Category Archives: Police
A “Pattern of Problematic Conduct”: Urbana Officer Tests Police Accountability (Shortened Print Version)
This article originally appeared at WILL/Illinois Public Media on July 5, 2023. Reprinted with permission. It has been edited for space and style. See the full version here. “I had a big goose egg on my forehead,” Tianna Morrow recalled, … Continue reading
227 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African American Women in Champaign-Urbana, African Americans, BLM, Justice, Police, police accountability, Police Brutality, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Section, Violence
Tagged police accountability, police brutality, police review boards, racism, Urbana police
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A “Pattern of Problematic Conduct”: Urbana Officer Tests Police Accountability (Full Version)
This story is part of a partnership, focusing on police misconduct in Champaign County, between the Champaign-Urbana Civic Police Data Project of the Invisible Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit public accountability journalism organization, and Illinois Public Media. This investigation was supported … Continue reading
92 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African American Women in CU, African Americans, BLM, Justice, Police, police accountability, Police Brutality, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Section, Violence
Tagged police accountability, police brutality, police review boards, racism, Urbana police
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Code Blue: Suffering through DWB in Rantoul
This essay, submitted to the Rantoul Press in 2009, was never published. The author shares it now to give context to community concerns with policing in Rantoul in the wake of recent police shootings of young Black men. “You were … Continue reading
830 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Champaign County, Justice, Police, police accountability, Police Brutality, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Section, Voices
Tagged African Americans, Driving While Black, local community, police harassment, policing
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No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail
On October 13, 2022, Tillie Deitz, a mother of three young children, died in the Champaign County jail. As I found in my own review of publicly available documents, Deitz admitted to being a drug user upon entering the jail … Continue reading
256 total views
Posted in Drug policy, incarceration, Police
Tagged drug policy, incarceration, policing, prison health care
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Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Print Version
Tisha Bryson has been shackled, hospitalized, and shoved to the ground by Champaign-area police while experiencing a mental health crisis more times than she can count. “I try not to hold grudges,” said Bryson, of Hammond. “But some of the … Continue reading
304 total views, 1 views today
Posted in health care, Mental Health, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing, Racism
Tagged mental health, police training
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Central Illinois Police Training for Mental Health Cases Questioned — Full Version
Tisha Bryson has been shackled, hospitalized and shoved to the ground by central Illinois law enforcement officers while experiencing a mental health crisis more times than she can count. “I try not to hold grudges,” Bryson said, a resident of … Continue reading
276 total views
Posted in health, Mental Health, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Section
Tagged mental health, police training
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“It’s a Money Grab”: Billions in COVID Relief Going to Fund Police and Prisons
If you’re from inner-city Birmingham, Alabama, there’s a “99-percent chance” you have a family member or friend who has been incarcerated, according to Veronica Johnson, deputy director for the Alabama Justice Initiative, which has been fighting against a proposal to … Continue reading
397 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African Americans, COVID-19, incarceration, Justice, Police, police accountability, Policing
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Urbana’s Long Search for Traffic-Stop Equity
In 2004 the State of Illinois required all law enforcement agencies to report their annual traffic stop data to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The Urbana Police Department’s (UPD) data shows they have enforced traffic laws inequitably every year … Continue reading
536 total views
Posted in African Americans, Champaign County, Justice, Police, Policing, Racism
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There’s Something Happening Here
Gun violence in Champaign-Urbana has certainly dominated public discourse of late. As a city council member, I hear a lot of it. Here are some common myths being thrown around about local gun violence and law enforcement: “The libs on … Continue reading
638 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Crime, Gun violence, Police, Policing, Violence
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Debt Peonage in the 21st Century: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
On August 19, Shamar Betts was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison (minus 12 for time served) for authoring a Facebook post. The sentencing also made Betts personally responsible for repaying $1.5 million for damage committed by others at … Continue reading
1,187 total views, 2 views today
Posted in African American, Justice, Police
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Police Brutality is Not Uniquely American: Try France
While we are rightly preoccupied with abuse by the police in the United States, almost no Americans know anything about policing and justice in other countries. France offers a particularly interesting case. In January, six nongovernmental organizations, including Amnesty International … Continue reading
720 total views, 1 views today
Posted in 1968 Revolt, France, International, Justice, Police, Police Brutality, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Students
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Scapegoating and the 2020 Marketplace Mall Riots
I watched the legal machinery eat further into the life of a young man this past month. On June 14, I joined others at the sentencing hearing for Shamar Betts at the federal courthouse in Urbana. Betts is accused of … Continue reading
2,271 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African Americans, Justice, Police
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The 2021 Illinois Police and Criminal Justice Reform Bill
On February 22, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3653. This bill, rather a composite omnibus of many bills, was sponsored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in both the Illinois House and Senate. Several of the individual bills were sponsored … Continue reading
Posted in Court System, IL, Justice, Police, Police Brutality, Policing
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The Haters Among Them
The number is thirty so far, thirty police officers charged with the act of participating in the Capitol insurrection last January. Many, many Americans felt shock, and media analysts expressed particular outrage, to find men in blue—perhaps even waving blue-line, … Continue reading
Posted in bigotry, National, Police, police accountability, Racism, White Nationalism, Women
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Urbana Police Chief Finally Admits Misconduct in Aleyah Lewis Arrest
It has been more than seven months since the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. Tens of thousands of people have watched the videos of Urbana Police Officers throwing Lewis to the ground, pinning her, punching her in the … Continue reading
Posted in Justice, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing
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What Educational Values and Beliefs Underpin a Decision to have Armed School Resource Officers?
This article was previously published in Smile Politely, On December 17, 2019, the Urbana Board of Education (BOE) signed an intergovernmental agreement to approve funding of two full-time armed police officers (called School Resource Officers, or SROs)—one at the middle … Continue reading
Posted in African American, Education, Education, Police, Policing, Urbana, Voices of Color
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Urbana Civilian Police Review Board Under the Spotlight After Violent Arrest
For the past eleven Urbana City Council meetings, residents have lined up to deliver what has amounted to more than a dozen hours of criticism and a seemingly endless stream of misconduct allegations against the Urbana Police Department. Initially sparked … Continue reading
Posted in Police, police accountability
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Is the Addition of a Larger Police Presence to Urbana Schools a Human Rights Violation?
On February 4, 2019, I was in class at Urbana High School when a student came in and said there were students fighting in the hall and a teacher had been knocked out. My teacher quickly locked the door and … Continue reading
1,646 total views
Urbana Civilian Police Review Board Under the Spotlight After Violent Arrest
For the past seven Urbana City Council meetings, residents have lined up to deliver what has amounted to several hours of criticism and dozens of misconduct allegations against the Urbana Police Department. Sparked by the violent arrest of an Urbana … Continue reading
3,207 total views
Posted in Court System, Police
Tagged police brutality, racism
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Public Speaks Out About Use of Force by Urbana Police–Council Reviews Police Investigation
On April 10, Urbana police responded to a call on East Colorado Avenue about an armed man and possible shot fired. Police arrived, frisked an uninvolved youth, and then focused on a man and woman they suspected were involved. … Continue reading
14,425 total views
Posted in Police, Policing, Uncategorized
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