In mid-February the Urbana City Clerk, Phyllis Clark, released a video for her political campaign that was clearly produced within the Urbana City Building. The video includes numerous shots of Clark within the City Clerk’s Office and even utilized another City employee to participate in staging scenes. Any use of…
After nearly two months of complaints from residents about the Urbana Police Department, two weeks after the killing of George Floyd, and one week after marching in the streets with thousands of people concerned with police violence, Mayor Diane Marlin decided that Urbana’s public records requests would be best handled…
In an effort to manipulate the conversation on police misconduct, Urbana Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin violated the Illinois Open Meetings act by limiting the public input session of the June 8, 2020 City Council meeting. Among the items on the agenda for the June 8, 2020 City Council meeting was…
When the issue of submission requirements for police complaints arose during the June 3rd, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting, City staff demonstrated just how far they are willing to go to deceive the public and protect their friends. Wednesday’s meeting served as a “continuance” of Monday’s meeting. After nearly 3.5…
On June 3rd, 2020, the Chair of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) gave residents good reason to further question his ability to serve in his newly assigned position. When questioned about the board’s decision to stop reviewing all Taser usages, Chair Mikhail Lyubansky gave an incoherent explanation that,…
At the June 1st, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting, the Council and the public spent hours speaking about local police misconduct issues. Most commentary focused on the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis in April, and on the broken status of the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) which is…
At the May 18th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting, Bill Brown finally called for some governmental review of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) after more than a month of complaints from engaged residents. Criticisms of the CPRB have been nearly endless, but Brown focused in on the claim…
On May 27th, 2020, Assistant Illinois Attorney General Matt Hartman issued a letter to Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin requesting information about alleged Open Meetings Act violations that occurred on March 23rd (CU-Underground first covered this incident in an article here). Hartman determined that an investigation was warranted after an Urbana…
After concerned residents issued complaints and concerns about Urbana Police Department misconduct for the sixth City Council meeting in a row, Council members are finally show some movement, if only an inch. At the May 18th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting , Council member Bill Brown called for a review…
In the wake of public outrage over a recent violent arrest video, a group of Urbana residents have accomplished in a weekend what police oversight advocates and police review boards have failed to do for decades: public outreach. The website www.UrbanaPolice.com was launched on May 17, 2020 as a civilian…
In a remarkable determination letter issued on May 13th, 2020, Urbana City Attorney James Simon has declared that City employees are not bound by Urbana’s own anti-discrimination laws. Simon issued the letter in response to a complaint submitted to the Urbana Human Relations Commission which alleged that the a City…
At the May 4th, 2020 meeting of the Urbana City Council, residents showed up in force once again to voice their complaints about the Urbana Police Department following a violent arrest of an unarmed woman. Rather than being met with open arms by their elected officials, Shirese Hursey and others…
Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin issued an update at the May 11th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting regarding the Aleyah Lewis incident. Her update was the latest attempt by the city to appease outraged citizens. On April 10th, 2020, Urbana Police Officers carrying rifles physically attacked an unarmed Aleyah Lewis (article…
After months of residents criticizing the failures of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), and amidst a barrage of Urbana Police misconduct allegations following a violent arrest video which went viral on social media, a new Chair was quietly assigned to the CPRB. Previously chaired by Grace Mitchell, who…
Citizens were outraged, and at least one Urbana Council member left speechless, after Council member Shirese Hursey placed full blame for the violent arrest of Aleyah Lewis (original article here) squarely on Lewis herself. Hursey’s monologue was delivered at the May 4th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting, immediately after 20…
On May 5th, 2020, Mayor Diane Marlin announced that she will be accepting applications for a vacant seat on Urbana’s Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB). Grace Mitchell, the Chair of the CPRB, and a member of the group since its founding in 2007, has resigned her position after widespread criticism…
“I witnessed a poor review of police conduct at last week’s City Council meeting” A publicly presented “review” by Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and Lt. Jason Norton at the April 27th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting has begun to draw more public scrutiny than the violent arrest that prompted…
Citizens having been speaking in great numbers for the past several Urbana City Council meetings, and the May 4th, 2020 meeting was no exception. Residents returned to the virtual podium to issue further complaint about the Police Department’s arrest and beating of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis, which occurred on April…
“This was a carefully crafted one-sided puppet show designed to further embarrass and harass Lewis while straining to assign hero-status to her unscrupulous attackers” Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and his cohort have switched into full-offense mode after initial efforts to squelch public outcry about police misconduct backfired. It all…
On April 20th, 2020, dozens of citizens attended an electronic City Council meeting to voice their concerns about the recent arrest and beating of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. At the beginning of the meeting, at least 20 citizens had sent public input to be read at the meeting, and another dozen…
Sixty-six citizens attended the April 20th, 2020 Urbana City Council Meeting that was held electronically via Zoom. Attendance was unusually high as citizens voiced their concerns and outrage at the brutal beating of an unarmed woman by Urbana Police Officers. On April 10th, 2020, a video (article here) of Urbana…
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