Urbana City Administrator Continues to Push for Administrative Hurdles to Police Complaints

At the November 2nd, 2020 City Council Meeting, Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten pushed ahead with her plan to excluded certain types of complaints from the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) appeal process. A week prior, Mitten presented an update on the status of CPRB complaints and appeals. She focused…

Urbana City Administrator Pushes for Less Civilian Oversight of Police Complaints

At the October 26th, 2020 City Council Meeting, Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten presented an update on the status of Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) complaints and appeals. For months, numerous residents have voiced concerns about the shortcomings of the CPRB, and the lack of public trust in the complaints…

Urbana Police Review Board Hit by Wave of Resignations

There has been a wave of resignations by Mayor Diane Marlin’s appointees to the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) in the past few months. During the CPRB meeting on September 3rd, 2020, Chair Ricardo Diaz announced that board member Megan McGinty had resigned from the board. McGinty’s resignation came…

Director of U of I Police Training Institute Called “Public Relations Clown” at Urbana Police Review Board Meeting

On Tuesday September 3rd, 2020 the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) held another special meeting for training purposes. Dr. Michael Schlosser of the University of Illinois Police Training Institute returned to give a presentation on de-escalation. Schlosser was previously criticized by CPRB members and members of the public after…

Newly Appointed Urbana Police Review Board Chair Resigns After Fourth Meeting

After the removal of Grace Mitchell from the Chair position of the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), Urbana residents had high hopes that the new leader of the board, Professor Mikhail Lyubansky would be able to turn things around. The CPRB had fallen into a decade-long state of dysfunction and…

Urbana Residents Criticize CPRB Use of Force Training

On July 29th, 2020 the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) held a special meeting to undergo “use of force training”. The training was administered by Dr. Michael Schlosser from the University of Illinois Police Training Institute in the form of a slideshow presentation. CPRB members, as well as members…

Changes in the Urbana Police Review Board Amidst Public Scrutiny

In the past few months, the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) has been in the spotlight amidst discussions of police misconduct and police reform. Residents have criticized the failures of the CPRB, most notably the board failing to follow their mandates as written in the City Ordinance (article here).…

Urbana Staff Attempt to Hamper Efforts of Civilian Police Review Board

After more than two months of public criticism of the Urbana Police Department at weekly City Council meetings, another recipient of significant criticism, the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), finally hosted its first meeting in five months. On June 24th, 2020, the CPRB held a special meeting to discuss…

Urbana City Staff Directly Lie to Council about Police Complaint Notary Requirement

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…

Urbana Police Review Board Chair Still Confused about the Basics of Taser Review Ordinance

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,…

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