[CPRB] media assault on Champaign PRB underway

[Brian Dolinar]

You might want to talk to Martel Miller
about his recent attempt to file a complaint.
He and a friend went to file a complaint
at Champ police station
and were turned away
refused the right to file a complaint.

All the police reps say the complaint process
works smoothly
hence no need for a CPRB.

This is why its important not to just talk to
accepted leaders in black community
but also the grassroots.

BD

On 10/12/06, Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:
> I had to resend this because it bounced at first, so where I say "today", it
> really means yesterday (Wednesday).
> R
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
> To: <cprb at lists.cu.groogroo.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 4:10 PM
> Subject: media assault on Champaign PRB underway
>
>
> : Witness today's editorial in the News Gazette, followed by a letter to the
> : editor that
> : sounds like it's from a vested interest (anyone know who Michael Cook is?). On
> : the letter to the editor - the ironic thing is that Finney actually is *not*
> OK
> : with the proposed PRB bubbling up from the Champaign Police Community
> Relations
> : Committee (the NG's story was a bit off the mark on that).
> :
> : R
> :
> : Police review board plan raises problems
> : Wednesday October 11, 2006
> : The city of Urbana has been considering for months and is expected to pass
> soon
> : a proposal to create a citizens review board to oversee its police department.
> : So perhaps it's no surprise that the city of Champaign is in the early stages
> of
> : doing the same thing.
> : A subcommittee of the city's Police Community Relations Committee recently
> : issued a report outlining the process by which a review board would operate,
> and
> : the matter appears certain to go to the city council for consideration.
> : The idea of a police review board is not necessarily a negative. But the
> : creation of a review board could be a huge negative. It all depends on how the
> : board is run and, most importantly, who sits on the board.
> : The idea is born of a desire to reassure members of the minority community
> that
> : the city's goal is honest, fair-minded law enforcement with members of no
> group
> : receiving any better or any worse treatment than members of any other group.
> : That, unfortunately, is a tough sell to people who have long viewed police
> : either with suspicion or fear. Equally unfortunate is that there's no
> guarantee
> : that creating a police review board, operating under strict confidentiality
> : guidelines, will help much.
> : There is a huge practical problem involving boards of this nature, and it
> : involves taking people who have no real knowledge or understanding of police
> : work and putting them in a position to review what individual officers did or
> : should have done in tense, time-pressured situations.
> : How would they know? How should they know? Why ask them to judge?
> : The last question is the easiest to answer.
> : They're asked to judge because some people don't trust the current complaint
> and
> : discipline process, which is overseen by Police Chief R.T. Finney and City
> : Manager Steve Carter. But those two or their successors also would be involved
> : in a review board process, so how would it be any better?
> : The best way for police to build bridges to any group is to maintain open
> : communications, to visit, to answer questions, to explain and to listen. A
> : police review board would do nothing except duplicate an existing discipline
> : process that already is viewed in some quarters with skepticism.
> :
> : *******************
> : letter to the editor:
> : Police chief masters the art of surrender
> : Wednesday October 11, 2006
> : When local, vocal self-serving factions that do not represent the majority of
> : Champaign citizens and the valid interests of the city target the police
> : department with unreasonable demands and unfounded accusations, the immediate
> : conduct that I have come to expect from Police Chief R.T. Finney is for him to
> : promptly become a quasi-lackey for these groups.
> : It is obvious that he has a self-preservation predisposition that limits his
> : ability to represent and support the legitimate interests of the city, the
> : police department and the community majority.
> : Chief Finney's premature sanctioning of a civilian police review board before
> : the city leaders have researched the matter and have reached a decision is
> : inappropriate and self-serving.
> : A review board comprised of citizens who, most likely, will not have the
> : essential knowledge to enable them to comprehend the often overwhelming
> : complexity of law enforcement, and competently evaluate a police-related
> : judgment and action, will accomplish nothing but add a dysfunctional layer of
> : bureaucracy to the city.
> : Eventually, it will complicate and corrupt an ethical investigative and
> : disciplinary system that already has an effective complaint process and
> several
> : layers of oversight, including the criminal and civil courts.
> : When the demand for civilian oversight is not reasonably justified, beware of
> a
> : veiled desire to engage in personal ax grinding, politically coercive
> practices
> : and prejudice.
> : Each time the handcuffs on a law enforcement agency are tightened, the
> security
> : of the community diminishes.
> : MICHAEL COOK
> :
>
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>


-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com