After being held in prison for nearly a year during a criminal trial for armed robbery charges, two men are suing Urbana Police for civil rights violations. Quintin Brown, 28, and Wayne Colson, 24, were a charged for an alleged holdup that occurred on January 21st, 2018 at a house…
We have obtained a copy of a letter from the Illinois Attorney General which indicates that the City of Urbana is in violation of public records laws. The letter, addressed to Urbana Human Resources Director Todd Edmund Rent, says that Rent improperly withheld records in a recent Freedom of Information…
City Council study session on January 28, 2020 covered two main topics- City of Champaign’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) (article here) and the review of Boards and Commissions. During the Champaign City Council meeting on October 15, 2019, council member Clarissa Nickerson Fourman announced that she had initiated a…
The September 25th, 2019 meeting of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) was unique in many ways. It was a “special meeting” called with the apparent goal of diluting the review powers of the CPRB. During this meeting, Urbana Police Lieutenant Richard H Surles attempted to persuade board members…
Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb was in the hot seat during a recent Citizen Review Subcommittee (CRS) Meeting. Board members were trying to get straight answers from him, but he evaded answering by saying it was above his paygrade. This prompted us to look into how much local government officials…
After several months of criticism from engaged residents, members of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) are finally beginning to realize what everyone else has been saying: the CPRB is broken. At the January 22nd, 2020 CPRB meeting, founding member Scott Dossett did not mince words. “We are negligent…
On January 22, 2020, the Urbana Civilian Review Board met to review a recent Taser discharge and continue the discussion initiated at the last meeting regarding the citizen complaint process. Ricardo Diaz, Scott Dossett, Mikhail Lyubansky, Darius White, and Darrell Price formed the quorum. Chairperson Grace Mitchell and Megan McGinty…
The January 21, 2020, City Council meeting kicked off with a special recognition session for two firefighters that were recently promoted. Greg Elliot, who has been with the Champaign Fire Department for 10 years was promoted to Fire Engineer. Jeff Jones, with 35 years of firefighting under his belt (21…
On January 14, 2020, City Council met for a study session regarding Champaign City Code, Chapter 24: Special Events Ordinance. Deputy City Manager, Matt Roeschley, walked City Council members through the proposed amendments to the ordinance initially discussed in April 2019. During the prior study session, council discussed city policy…
At the January 8th, 2020 Champaign Citizen Review Subcommittee (CRS) meeting, board members spent some time discussing the suggested changes to the police complaint process, a discussion that has been simmering for at least the past year. The ordinance which created the CRS in 2017 specifically tasks the 5 member…
