Tag Archives: policing

Invest in Humanity, Not Handguns: Reject the Public Safety Sales Tax

 Champaign County government placed a question on this November’s general election ballot requesting a tax increase. The so-called public safety sales tax, a proposal that would double the current 0.25-percent sales tax levied on purchases in the county, would generate … Continue reading

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IMC Holds a Second Public Safety Forum

On March 24, the UCIMC hosted a second public safety forum focused on alternative responses to traditional law enforcement. The forum was organized in accordance with calls from Urbana residents and elected officials for a study of alternatives to traditional … Continue reading

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As Police Budget Swells, Safety Forum Articulates a Different Vision

Crime is going down in Urbana, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at Urbana’s police budget. After a $2.25 million increase in the police budget in the last two years—largely for salary increases and bonuses—Urbana leadership is pushing to … Continue reading

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Champaign Police Investigate “Agency Culture” of Not Following Domestic Violence Reporting Laws — Print Version

A longer version of this article originally appeared on IPM Newsroom on October 9, 2023. It has been edited for space and style. See the full version here. This story is part of a partnership between the Invisible Institute’s Champaign-Urbana … Continue reading

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Champaign Police Investigate “Agency Culture” of Not Following Domestic Violence Reporting Laws — Original (Long) Version

This story was originally published by IPM Newsroom on October 9, 2023. It has been edited for style. See the shorter, print version here. This story is part of a partnership focusing on police misconduct in Champaign County between the … Continue reading

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FirstFollowers: Using Participatory Action Research to Make Change in Our Community

FirstFollowers has a tradition of doing participatory action research at Champaign-Urbana Days, the premier outdoor summer event aimed primarily at the Black community. Participatory Action Research (often called PAR) aims to gather data and information, not just for publication but … Continue reading

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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

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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

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