[Imc] Octopus and Champaign "Riot"

[Zachary Miller]

OK this is just the kind of reporting that _really_ gets on my nerves
in the Octopus. This reads like a press release from the police
department.

http://www.cuoctopus.com/2000/oct27/NIB.html

Pepper spray and four arrests seems to warrent more details. Someone
has to justify to me that this kind of use of force was warrented (it
probably even was but I want more details so I can _know_). 

Who _was_ this group? Was it just bar patrons after a show? Why did
they get rowdy? Why is it called a "transition crowd"? What is that
code for? Why did this "used to happen in rural areas and its moved
into the city"? Is this a crowd of people who moves from place to
place causing trouble or just a phenomenon that moves from crowd to
crowd? 

They say it's a "socal problems with a long history." WHAT IS THE
HISTORY! Are we supposed to be psychic? Do they even know or did they
forget to ask the interviewees that question?

The business owners were upset about the continueing litter problem
but now that the police have responded with pepper spray and 4 arrests
they are happy.

This article doesn't have _any_ information from people who were in
the crowd, people who saw the crowd, people who patronize the bar,
people who shop at the affected local businesses. Just business owners
and cops.

I heard from a friend that there was some kind of "riot" at the Canopy
Club last night. I saw police cars near the Canopy tonight (but being
in a car with lots of other people who were in a hurry to get home I
didn't have the chance to stop and investigate). Are these incidents
related to the incident at Center Stage? 

A related and broader question is how do local police use force. Are
our local cops properly trained in minimal use of force? Are they
trained in cool headed crowd control? If there was ever a large scale
peaceful protest in this town would the cops be as brutal as the
St. Louis cops on o17? Research and story ideas abound. 

-- 
Zachary C. Miller - Go We Go - http://wolfgang.groogroo.com/ - @=
IMSA 1995 - UIUC 2000 - Just Another Leftist Muppet
  Social Justice, Community, Nonviolence, Decentralisation,
  Sustainability, Feminism, Responsibility, Diversity, Democracy,
  Ecology - http://www.greens.org - http://www.votenader.org