Local activists have been voicing their concerns about the inadequate investigations into the violent arrest of an Urbana resident. The City of Urbana has maintained a silent stance as these faults have been brought to light (Public i article here).
On April 10th, 2020, Urbana Police officers violently arrested Aleyah Lewis (video and original article here). Following the incident, numerous residents brought up concerns about Officer Eric L Ruff’s haphazard handling of his rifle while straddling, sitting on, punching, and kneeing Lewis in the ribs.
A former member of the US Navy described the alarming situation to council members, “At one point in time in the video, one of the officers is sitting on the woman’s back with the muzzle of his rifle against the woman’s back. There is no reason… That exposes the officer to greater risk, that exposes everyone in the public to greater risk to have an officer with an assault weapon engaging in hand to hand essentially restraint with a victim.”
An internal review conducted by the Urbana Police Department (UPD) concluded that the actions of the officers involved in the arrest were within UPD policy and procedure (article here). A review by Chicago-based law enforcement firm Hillard Heintz, contracted by the City, also cleared the officers involved of all misconduct (article here).
Local community watchdog Christopher Hansen, a co-author of the Public i article that brought to light the problems with the Hillard Heintz review, followed-up on the concerns of the public. Based on body worn camera footage, Hansen reviewed how Officer Ruff handled his rifle during the arrest. In his analysis, The Safety of Wrestling with Your Rifle on CheckCU, Hansen pointed out that the safety mechanism of Ruff’s rifle was set to “FIRE” during the entire struggle with Lewis.
According to Hansen, “… the Lewis arrest was incredibly dangerous. Ruff’s rifle was all over the place, and was pointed at almost everyone at various times with the safety off. A discharge could have hit Lewis, a bystander, or the officers on scene.”
Notably, neither the UPD nor the Hillard Heintze review mentioned that the safety mechanism of Officer Ruff’s rifle was in the “FIRE” position during the arrest.
During Hillard Heintze’s presentation of their review to City Council on September 9th, 2020 (article here), Council member Jared Miller brought up the issue.
“… Officer Ruff’s weapon remained in the “fire” position throughout the arrest … that’s doubly concerning, it’s concerning enough that a rifle is there, so I’m just interested in your professional opinions as to the presence of a rifle, and did you notice the “fire” position remain in the rifle during the arrest, and if you did, why was it not mentioned in the report?” asked Miller.
Debra Kirby, Hillard Heintze Senior Vice President (and former Deputy Chief of Police, Chicago Police Department) responded “I am not aware that the firearm position was “on”, and I’m not sure that came up as part of the review, but based on your concern and your note, we will go back and access whether or not that was a violation of policy, and if it was, if it was noted by the board.”
The City and UPD were silent for over a month, while residents pushed for follow-up at each City Council meeting.
At the City Council meeting on October 12th, Chief Bryant Seraphin updated Council, saying that Hillard Heintze had kicked the review of Officer Ruff’s rifle safety mechanism back to UPD since it was beyond the scope of their contracted work. Seraphin has since then assigned UPD firearm staff to review the issue.
According to Seraphin, “They actually kicked it back to us, as we believe this is a training issue, so I’ve assigned that to firearm staff for review and/or remedial training, so that, I just wanted to touch base with Council on where that particular issue stood.” Seraphin quickly moved on from that subject.
Time will tell if UPD will follow through with the review and if there will be any meaningful conclusion. CU-Underground will be watching closely.