[Cprb] Last week's CPRB meeting...

[Danielle Schumacher]

On Thursday, November 4, 2004, the Coalition for a Citizens Police Review Board met at the Douglass Center in Champaign. The small but committed group of citizens who attended produced a campaign plan. The campaign is already in the works and can very realistically succeed, as long as the Champaign-Urbana community helps the Coalition show their City Council members that we want and need a Citizens Police Review Board! Please read on to hear what happened at the meeting and how you can help.

First of all, if you are not exactly sure what the Coalition for a Citizens Police Review Board is all about, see the website at www.prairienet.org/cprb. The Coalition has already collected at least a thousand signatures from people who support establishing a CPRB in Champaign and Urbana. If we want the City Council of each city to pass an ordinance to mandate a CPRB, we must quickly gather and be prepared to show citizen support for such a Board. At the same time, we must also start the process of creating the Board and gathering complaints for the Board to review.

Those present at the Nov. 4 meeting came up with a preliminary plan...

In conjunction with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and other Black History Month events in February, we will hold a Town Hall meeting/ public forum in Urbana City Chambers. The event will feature speakers about civil rights and the need for a CPRB. Citizens will testify about their problems with the police, and the Coalition will present their petition to City Council members. This forum is also in time for the February primary, after which we will focus on which City Council candidates will support legislation creating the CPRB. We will distribute a voting guide that includes how each local candidate stands on this one issue. The goal is to connect voting in the local election in Spring with voting for a CPRB. 

In order to accomplish our goal of establishing a CPRB in Champaign and Urbana, we will need help with every step of the process. If you would like to help, attend our next meeting (which will be announced on this list), or email Danielle Schumacher at danielle at illinoisnorml.org to discuss your involvement.

1. Fundraising: this week, we will be sending a request for funding to all of our cosponsors and other supporters. We may also hold a benefit show. We will use the funds for publicity, copying, and mailing.

2. Gathering testimony and complaints- we have already begun formulating an outreach plan to spread the word about the Board so people know how and where to turn, but we need funds and volunteers!

3. Gathering signatures for the petition- at the February forum, we must present a petition to City Council members demonstrating large-scale support for a CPRB. Until then, we will need help gathering signatures around town at events and meetings.

4. Planning the forum- it needs a title, a date, speakers, a publicity plan, and more.

5. Creating and distributing yard signs and candidate guides- we want to tie the CPRB in with voting in the local election in the Spring, because the newly elected City Council members will be the ones who decide whether or not a CPRB will be recognized by the City.

6. Getting people to vote! It will be extremely important to do our part in getting people out to vote in the local elections.

7. Constructing the Board- we must always be working to establish a group of people who citizens can turn to when they have complaints about police behavior. We should learn more about how other cities do it, and must think about how it will be put into effect in Champaign and Urbana.




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