Category Archives: Policing

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

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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

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Coming Soon to a Police Department Near You: Unmanned Aerial Drones

Raven. Predator. Reaper. Over the last decade, we’ve heard the news reports about the Pentagon’s cutting-edge unmanned aerial platforms flying missions over Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Iran, and Somalia. Used for reconnaissance as well as search-and-destroy missions, the United … Continue reading

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Champaign: the City Above the Law

Take one: an individual asserts his rights under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act In 2009, dentist G. Mark Gekas lodged a complaint with the Sangamon County sheriff’s office that he had been brutally mistreated by deputy sheriff John Gillette … Continue reading

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A Residency Requirement Might Help Police Situation

A Residency Requirement Might Help Police Situation   Dannel McCollum, a former Champaign mayor and a Democratic candidate for the state Senate in 2002, is a historian and a freelance writer.   This piece originally appeared in the News-Gazette on … Continue reading

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Cartoon on June 5th Incident

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Police Violence in Champaign: City Manager Holds a Not Very Newsy Press Conference

    Belden Fields   After the Sunday November 20 issue of the News-Gazette published a front page article on excessive violence against a black youth by the Champaign police near campus on June 5, Champaign City Manager Steve Carter … Continue reading

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Community Members, City Leaders Search for Answers in June 5 Arrest

Jerehme Bamberger   A squad car video of a confrontation between a Champaign city police officer and a local African American youth has raised serious concerns about the relationship between the CPD and high-ranking city officials in the last week.  … Continue reading

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Black Youth Beaten by Champaign Police

It has been two years since Kiwane Carrington was killed by a Champaign police officer, but 18-year-old black youth, Calvin Miller, is still afraid of the police. So when a Champaign cop attempted to pull him over for no apparent … Continue reading

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Emails Leaked at IMC Web Site Detailing the Internal Struggles of the Champaign Police Department

Operating for more than a decade, the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center website has become known as a local source for exposing police misconduct. For perhaps the first time at any IMC site, somebody from behind the “blue line” leaked information … Continue reading

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Urbana Adopts a Soliciting Ordinance

Urbana Adopts a Soliciting Ordinance Belden Fields   After several meetings with active public participation, on August 1, the Urbana City Council adopted an ordinance banning “ aggressive solicitation of money or other thing of value, including a request to … Continue reading

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Public i addendum (to article on $50,000 award for FBI and St. Paul police actions)

(291 words) The Public i’s addendum to article on $50,000 settlement from FBI and St. Paul Police In the November 2008 issue of the Public i, we published an article on the “preemptive” raids made by the FBI and local … Continue reading

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The Border Thickens: In-Securing Communities in C-U and Beyond

The despotic policing apparatus found at the U.S.-Mexico border now reaches into Champaign County and across much of the United States. Under federal initiatives “Secure Communities” and related police-ICE collaborations, local law enforcement agencies in communities across the United States … Continue reading

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