[CPRB] Letter to Editor from Marti

[Brian Dolinar]

[image: The News-Gazette.com]   Need police review board in community Friday
August 24, 2007

I've read letters to the editor from individuals who do not wish to see
Champaign or Urbana create police review boards. One common theme in these
objections is the perception that officers will be at the mercy of
volunteers who have no clue regarding what police officers have to deal with
on a daily basis. Based on some of the research I've done, this is not the
case.

The August 2000 edition of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin addresses the
relationship between police departments and citizen review
boards.Theauthor, Peter Finn, shows how communities have set up
training programs for
volunteers so that review boards can effectively address complaints in a
manner that is fair to all parties. Finn notes that review boards often have
a positive effect on the community by building trust between the police
department and the public.

An article from the International Journal of Police Science and Management
states that one act of police misconduct can destroy years of good
relationships between police and the community.

This has been the case in Champaign-Urbana where inmates were, in my
opinion, tortured with Tasers by former Sgt. Alan Myers. In Urbana, a former
police officer was accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a woman. More
recently, a residence in Garden Hills was shot into by police while innocent
children were in the house.

In my opinion, these are examples of what a well-trained board can review
before making appropriate recommendations. This effectively restores trust.

MARTHA MARTI WILKINSON

Champaign


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