A “Historic Moment”: Urbana Police Review Board Holds Third Hearing in 12 Years

On January 29, 2020, the Urbana Civilian Review Board (CPRB) held a special appeals hearing meeting for Complaint 2019-06. The appeals hearing is part of the civilian police complaint process – the mechanism by which civilians can file complaints concerning Urbana police conduct.

The CPRB is tasked with hearing appeals on complaints in which the complainant is unsatisfied with the findings of the Chief of Police after an internal investigation.

According to Urbana City Ordinance, “if the complainant is not satisfied with the determination of the chief of police at the conclusion of an internal investigation, he or she may file an appeal to the CPRB within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of the notice of the findings.”

This is the third appeal that the CPRB has reviewed since the inception of the board in 2008.

All members of the board were present for the hearing – Grace Mitchell, Megan McGinty, Ricardo Diaz, Scott Dossett, Mikhail Lyubansky, Darius White, and Darrell Price. Urbana Community Specialist Preston James was also present.

The appeals hearing was conducted in closed session. In an appeals hearing, the complainant is provided the opportunity to make a statement to the CPRB which details the basis of the appeal. A representative of the Urbana Police Department (either the Chief or a designee) is also provided an opportunity to explain the basis for the police department’s findings and conclusions. In addition, a nonunion member of the police department command staff participates as an advisor to the board during the appeals hearing.

Urbana Deputy Chief of Police Richard H Surles and Lt. Jason D Norton represented the Urbana Police Department for this hearing.

Before proceeding with the appeals hearing, two residents addressed board members during the public participation session.

“I think tonight’s kind of a historic moment … tonight, in 11, 12 years you’re hearing only the 3^rd appeal,” says Champaign resident, Emily Klose.

According to Klose, the small number of complaint appeals that CPRB sees is a problem, an indication of the lack of trust by the community.

“I don’t think people feel they will be heard, like they will be taken seriously, they think it is a hassle, it’s just, it’s not worth it. It takes guts to file an appeal, and people just don’t want to go through it,” explains Klose.

Christopher Hansen, from Urbana, brought up an issue from the last CPRB meeting on January 22, 2020 (article here). In that meeting, Urbana Community Specialist Preston James summarized the seven citizen complaints received in that quarter. James reported to the board that according to Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin’s findings, Complaint 2019-06 (filed by Hansen, appeal hearing in this meeting) was unfounded.

According to Hansen, Chief Seraphin’s findings letter states two instances where there was “improper conduct” by police officers. Hansen asked if James’ false statement was deliberate or a mistake?

James explained that he had talked to Urbana Deputy Chief of Police, Richard H Surles about the complaint before summarizing it for the board. James then acknowledged that he had omitted the part of the findings where there was “improper conduct” by officers.

“I looked at part of it and I didn’t show the whole picture, so part of it was what you said, yes,” says James.

Hansen asked board members how often complaints were reported by City staff as “unfounded” when there was in fact a determination of “improper conduct” by the internal police investigation.

“Are you guys getting rounded down answers?” asked Hansen. He also encouraged the board to review Chief Seraphin’s findings letters for each complaint.

Hansen also wanted to know the reason for disparity in how long it takes for the Urbana Police Department to conclude their findings for each complaint. According to Hansen, some complaints are decided within 24 hours, whereas some complaints take the full 45 days before a conclusion is made by the Chief. Urbana City Ordinance states that “every reasonable effort shall be made to resolve the complaint within forty-five (45) working days.”

In two previous CPRB meetings, board member Darius White had requested for a way to see if certain officers are repeatedly mentioned in the complaints. Hansen confirmed that this was a concern, and that there were two complaints involving the same officer. However, according to Hansen, one of the complaints involving the same officer has been denied by Chief Seraphin, so the board would not have seen that complaint.

Residents also brought up issues they had communicating with City staff. Both Hansen and Klose asked why Urbana Human Relations Officer Vacellia Clark was not responding to their phone calls and emails regarding the complaint process. Clark is listed on Urbana’s website as the contact reference for filing a Citizen Police Complaint and as staff support for the CPRB. 

Klose also voiced her concern about the attendance of City staff and board members at CPRB meetings. According to Klose, both CPRB chairperson Grace Mitchell and CPRB support staff Vacellia Clark were absent from the last CPRB meeting on January 22, 2020. Klose noticed that there was no one taking minutes, and that there were no past meeting minutes approved even though it was on the agenda.

“I’m not sure what message that I was supposed to get from that, but I was really concerned … What you are doing here is very important work, and I would like for it to be treated as such,” says Klose.

The most recent minutes available for the CPRB meetings is from October 24, 2018.

Klose said that she feels like the Urbana Police Department, CPRB, and City staff are not working together. “I think there’s moving parts here that need to work together – police department, the board, and the support of City staff … I don’t think the communications there,” says Klose.

Chairperson Grace Mitchell responded to the public input about City staff, saying, “One of the things that we are not engaged in or involved in is the performance of employees.”

Hansen responded to Mitchell, saying that according to the City Ordinance, CPRB is tasked with making recommendations about the complaint process to City Council. Hansen said if residents cannot file their complaints because City employees are not doing their job, or because Urbana Police Department is violating FOIA laws, the board should bring up those concerns to City Council.

“I’m not going to argue with you about it, but that is not our job,” answers Mitchell.

The meeting then moved into closed session for the appeals hearing of Complaint 2019-06, submitted by Hansen. According to Hansen, his appeal is not just about the police officers’ actions (as in the initial complaint submitted) but also about the handling of the complaint investigation by the Urbana Police Department. Hansen urged board members to look into why the internal police investigation ignored and reframed some portions of the complaint.

“I hope you’re hearing the complaint, you’ll be asking, why did the officers do this, why did they do that, and second, why didn’t they actually address this in the complaint process?” urged Hansen.

During the hearing, Hansen addressed the board in private for 37 minutes, explaining the basis of his appeal. After Hansen left the room, UPD representative Lt. Jason D Norton explained Chief Seraphin’s findings to the board.

Board members are tasked with weighing the facts presented before them.

At the conclusion of each appeal, under Section 19-32 of the City Ordinance, the CPRB shall render one of the following outcomes based on the evidence presented:

• Not sustained: Where the members determine that the chief s finding is not supported by the evidence.
• Sustained: Where the members determine that the chief’s finding is supported by the evidence.
• Remanded for further investigation: Where the members find, by a majority vote, that there exists new, relevant evidence that was not presented to, or investigated by, the chief of police or his/her designee and that it is in the community’s best interests to do so, it may remand a matter back to the chief for further investigation or consideration.
• No finding: Where the complainant failed to produce information to further the investigation; the complainant withdrew the complaint; or the complainant is unavailable to clarify the complaint.
• Mediated: Where the complaint was successfully mediated pursuant to section 19-30.

The meeting resumed in open session after the 3.5-hour long hearing.

Board members Grace Mitchell, Megan McGinty, Scott Dossett, Mikhail Lyubansky, Darius White, and Darrell Price voted to sustain the findings of the Urbana Police Department. Board member Ricardo Diaz abstained from voting.