Get Connected
Search Public i
Public i
Get Connected
Archives
- January 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- September 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- July 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- November 2008
- October 2008
- August 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- June 2005
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- November 2002
- October 2002
- April 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
Category Archives: Policing
What Happened New Year’s Night? Black Youth Shot Twice In Back By University Police
On New Year’s night, a Black Lives Matter protest broke out in Savoy after two University of Illinois police officers fired bullets into a carload of African American youth, wounding two people, with one of them shot twice in the … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on What Happened New Year’s Night? Black Youth Shot Twice In Back By University Police
#BlackLivesMatter Protests Locally
Along with others across the nation, people of Champaign-Urbana have held protests, die-ins, and marches. Below are photos from some of the events. On Tuesday, November 25, CU Citizens for Peace and Justice held a demonstration outside of the county … Continue reading
Posted in Policing, Voices of Color
Comments Off on #BlackLivesMatter Protests Locally
New MRAP Soon To Be Rolling Down The Streets Of C-U
Earlier this summer, the News-Gazette ran a story that Sheriff Dan Walsh had acquired a Mine-Resistant Armor-Protected (MRAP) vehicle. Titled “Something Big Just Arrived,” the article touted the benefits of the new truck. Yet in the wake of Ferguson, a … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on New MRAP Soon To Be Rolling Down The Streets Of C-U
Chuco’s Justice Center in Los Angeles: Home of “College Prep, Not Prison Prep”
In August I travelled to California as part of my research into the use of electronic monitoring in the criminal justice system. My first stop was a converted factory along the border between South Central Los Angeles and Inglewood, Chuco’s … Continue reading
Posted in Policing, Voices of Color, Youth
Comments Off on Chuco’s Justice Center in Los Angeles: Home of “College Prep, Not Prison Prep”
Six Community Organizations Ask Urbana Council for a Study Session on Racial Disparities in Police Stops
October 7, 2013 The Urbana Police Department (UPD) has been reporting traffic stop data to the State of Illinois for nine years, 2004 through 2012. City data trends and patterns of traffic law enforcement can now be discerned and documented … Continue reading
Posted in Policing, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Six Community Organizations Ask Urbana Council for a Study Session on Racial Disparities in Police Stops
21st Century Slavery, Electronic Style
Somewhere in the middle of a November night in 2009 I got a phone call from my then 95 year old mother. She said she had chest pains, had already phoned 911 and thought she was having a heart attack. … Continue reading
Posted in Policing, Technology
Comments Off on 21st Century Slavery, Electronic Style
Angela Davis with CUCPJ at the IMC
Angela Davis gave a talk at the University YMCA’s Friday Forum on September 27, 2013 in its series “Beyond Mass Incarceration.” That morning, she spoke at the IMC and talked with members of CU Citizens for Peace and Justice, who … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on Angela Davis with CUCPJ at the IMC
How Privatization Destroyed Award-Winning Suicide Prevention Program in Champaign County Jail
Several years ago, while working at our local Books to Prisoners, I met a volunteer who had formerly worked as a mental health counselor in the local jail. This was just after there had been three jail suicides within a … Continue reading
Fight to Stop New Jail Coming to a Head
I’ve been involved in the No New Jails in Champaign County campaign for over a year. Likely sometime in June or July our efforts will come to a head. The County Board likely will take a vote on whether to … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on Fight to Stop New Jail Coming to a Head
The Negative Impact of the War on Drugs in Our Community
Two Community Dialogues Thursday, Feb. 28, Levis Faculty Center (919 W. Illinois St., Urbana) Friday night, March 1, Salem Baptist Church (500 E. Park St., Champaign) 5:30-8:30 p.m. both nights Keynote Speakers: Neill Franklin, former narcotics officer and executive director … Continue reading
Posted in Community Forum, Policing
Comments Off on The Negative Impact of the War on Drugs in Our Community
The New Jim Crow Comes to Champaign-Urbana
If there was one constant during my six-and-a-half years in prison (apart from bad food), it was being surrounded by thousands of mostly African-American and Latino men doing sentences like twenty, thirty or forty years for drug-related crimes. One friend … Continue reading
Posted in Policing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Comments Off on The New Jim Crow Comes to Champaign-Urbana
Her Name Was Hadiya, And She Was Killed By A Gun
More than 500 young children have died from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” (from an anti-gang violence PSA by Hadiya Pendleton and crew) “none among us should feel unsafe moving about/through the world, on the earth, … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Policing, Politics, Voices of Color
Comments Off on Her Name Was Hadiya, And She Was Killed By A Gun
Changes to Police Contract Come from “The Work of the Citizen”
Two out of three proposals presented two years ago by the grassroots organization, Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice (CUCPJ), were included in the police union contract approved by Champaign city council on Tuesday night, December 4, 2012. In April … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on Changes to Police Contract Come from “The Work of the Citizen”
A Tale of Two Cities: Public Access to Police Complaints in Champaign and Urbana
Backstory: Champaign Over the course of 2012, several pieces have been published in the Public i and the News Gazette regarding the city’s continued practice of ignoring Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding complaints against the police and its … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Policing, Politics
Comments Off on A Tale of Two Cities: Public Access to Police Complaints in Champaign and Urbana
Why Does Sheriff of Small Midwestern College Town Need a Drone?
Many have heard of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or “drones,” that the U.S. government has been flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan dropping bombs aimed at suspected militants and all too often killing innocent civilians. Increasingly, smaller versions of these planes … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on Why Does Sheriff of Small Midwestern College Town Need a Drone?
Outstanding Documents Obtained in Police Brutality Case
After months of stalling, the city of Champaign has finally released documents about the incident on June 5, 2011 when a 20 year-old African American man, Brandon Ward, was choked in the back of a squad car by white officer … Continue reading
Posted in Policing
Comments Off on Outstanding Documents Obtained in Police Brutality Case
Chris Drew Dies Day Before Eavesdropping Law Ruled Unconstitutional
(From Chicago Independent Media Center) – Chris Drew, Chicago artist, activist, and free speech advocate, passed away on May 7. Drew was noted among the community of Chicago political activists for being a consistent presence at political activist rallies and … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Policing, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Chris Drew Dies Day Before Eavesdropping Law Ruled Unconstitutional
A Bad Idea: The County Board’s Proposal to Spend $20 Million on Jail Construction
Over the last few months a classic political power struggle has been taking place at Champaign County Board meetings. At the center of it has been a Board proposal to spend $20 million on jail construction. People from Champaign-Urbana Citizens … Continue reading
CUCPJ Public Forum on New Jail Proposal
Champaign Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice Present A Public Forum on: The County Board’s Proposal to Spend $20 Million on a New Jail Speakers: Carol Ammons, County Board member who opposes the jail proposal Members of Decarcerate Monroe County, … Continue reading
Posted in African Americans, Community Forum, Policing, Politics, Prisoners, Voices of Color
Comments Off on CUCPJ Public Forum on New Jail Proposal
Dismantling Democracy
By Marya Burke The very first amendment of our constitution states: “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech… or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Policing, Politics
Comments Off on Dismantling Democracy