Alderman Dennis Roberts Remarkably out of Touch Regarding Urbana’s Police Review Board

Urbana City Council meetings ran long on November 25^th and December 2^nd of 2019 as a result of discussion on one particular agenda item: armed “school resource officers” in Urbana schools. At both meetings, members of the public, Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin, and Council members spoke at length. The vast majority of people providing public input were opposed to posting police officers within the schools.

After hours of discussion, it was during the last minutes of Council input that Alderman Dennis Roberts issued the most remarkable claim:

“I feel that the Urbana Police Department has kind of exceeded the expectations of the general community as far its ability, its training, and its sensitivity. And I’m hoping that if there’s any problem, we do have a police review board. Citizens police review board is a place to bring any questions you have about our police department that needs to be addressed in a public manner. And having known some of the members that sit on that board, they haven’t had a case in a couple years, and they almost never meet. Why? Because these issues do not ever come to them because they never arise to that severity. So there is public redress for disagreement for the police department’s activities within the community.”

What makes this statement remarkable is that the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) fails to receive complaints not because of public confidence in the Urbana Police Department, but because of public distrust in the CPRB complaint process. If Roberts had paid attention to the most recent meeting of the CPRB on October 23^rd (full article here), he would have seen multiple citizens describing how disastrously broken the CPRB complaint process is for Urbana residents.

If Roberts had been paying attention, he’d have realized that the CPRB also rarely receives complaints because the obstacles for submitting a complaint are so significant that it simply is not worth doing, and the Urbana Police Department has a habit of denying properly submitted complaints such that they never reach the CPRB. Even Deputy Chief Robert Fitzgerald once issued a letter of denial to a for a complaint wherein Fitzgerald was named as one of the involved officers by the complainant.

If Roberts had been paying attention, he’d have known that the CPRB’s history of “almost never meet[ing]” has been a result of the CPRB violating their own ordinance, which requires them to, at a minimum, meet quarterly. Perhaps Roberts can explain to Urbana residents how they are supposed to “bring any questions [they] have about our police department that needs to be addressed in a public manner” to the CPRB, when the board fails to hold required meetings.

Perhaps Roberts could ask some of the members of the CPRB, whom he claims to know personally, why they haven’t submitted their required annual reports in over 5 years.

The failures of the Urbana Police Review Board are not evidence that “the Urbana Police Department has kind of exceeded the expectations of the general community”. Conversely, the current state of the CPRB is evidence for what happens when you allow members of the police to infiltrate and co-opt what is supposed to be a civilian board.

Recent articles on the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board:

Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) Meets to Review Police Department Taser Usage

Founding Member of Urbana Police Review Board Scott Dossett Claims the CPRB is not Tasked with Community Outreach

Urbana Police to Discontinue Taser Camera Use, Despite Law Mandating Taser Video Review

Urbana Civilian Police Review Board Votes to End Mandatory Taser Camera Reviews of All Taser Displays

Urbana Civilian Police Review Board Chair Wants to See Fewer Taser Usage Videos Because They’re Boring

Scott Dossett Calls for Special Meeting of the CPRB, then Fails to Attend

Citizens Voice Concerns About Complaint and Appeal Process at Urbana Citizen Police Review Board Meeting

Todd Rent Shirks Criticism at Urbana Police Review Board Meeting Urbana City Staff Dispense Lies to Civilian Board Members Regarding Police Complaints

Urbana Police Hide Citizen Complaints, Violate Police Review Ordinance