[Peace-discuss] Urbana City Council Sends Police Review Board Back To Committee

[John W.]

Beat out of the starting gate by Mr. Dolinar this time.  :-)  Thanks for 
the excellent reportage, Brian.


At 05:36 PM 7/10/2007, Brian Dolinar wrote:

>After many concerned community members spoke before the Urbana City 
>Council on Monday night, July 9, 2007,

Yes...many, many thanks to all who spoke in support of the Urbana CPRB, and 
to those who lent support by their presence last night.  A few speakers 
used the forum to express general displeasure with the police, but many 
comments were expressly targeted to the Urbana draft ordinance.


>the proposal for a Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB) was sent back to 
>committee. They will meet with City Attorney Ronald O'Neal and Human 
>Relations Officer Todd Rent in two weeks to discuss concerns over the lack 
>of subpoena power in the current proposal.

A number of other concerns will be addressed, beyond merely the lack of 
subpoena power.  The draft language will be gone over in detail.  But the 
issue of subpoena power or lack thereof was a major concern.

After the subcommittee of the Urbana City Council has gone over the draft 
language, there'll be another public hearing.


>During public input, 12-15 individuals spoke in support of a review board, 
>but said that the existing proposal fell short of their expectations. Only 
>one individual spoke in opposition to any police review board.
>
>John Wason, one of the longest standing advocates for a CPRB and member of 
>the task force in Urbana, said that the current proposal included 
>virtually none of the original powers of the Mayor's task force.

Not quite accurate.  I'm a founding member of the Coalition for Citizen 
Police Review, but I was never a member of the Urbana task force, 
presumably because I'm not an Urbana resident.


>Tracy Parsons, President of the Urbana-Champaign Urban League and member 
>of the Mayor's task force, acknowledged he was willing to negotiate in the 
>decision, but said the current proposal was "watered down."

And he pointed out, accurately, as did Brandon Bowersox, that the Urbana 
Civilian Review Board will be a "work in progress".  It won't be perfect at 
the outset; we'll have to learn from experience and alter the ordinance 
accordingly.  A couple of key things that he did NOT point out, though, are 
that (a) if the CPRB is so weak that it's perceived as a failure from the 
beginning, it may get no second chance; and (b) this "work in progress" 
idea presumes the continuing good will and good faith efforts of the mayor, 
the city council members, and the police chief, all of which cannot be 
taken as a given.


>Aaron Ammons of CU Citizens for Peace and Justice, criticized the proposal 
>for excluding ex-felons like himself from serving on the CPRB committee, 
>despite Urbana's human rights ordinance prohibiting such discrimination.
>
>City Attorney Ronald O'Neal assured the community that the CPRB proposal 
>had been fine-tuned to meet all legal limitations and the concessions made 
>to the police union. He warned against giving subpoena powers to the CPRB, 
>saying it could lead to contempt of court charges and the jailing of 
>individuals who would not testify before the board.

Or conversely, that there would be no viable way of enforcing any subpoena 
power granted to the CPRB, since the CPRB is an administrative body and not 
a court of law.

It was a very informative discussion.  I'm not sure I agree with Mr. 
O'Neal's legal positions, but he had done a considerable amount of 
research, and seemed well-informed, sincere, and personable.  He didn't 
seem to have an axe to grind one way or the other.


>Documents that were subpoenaed would be relatively easy, he said, just 
>like any other court documents. But again, the attorney said the city 
>council would have to decide what the penalties would be if documents were 
>not forthcoming. The city attorney appeared to be arguing against subpoena 
>powers of individuals or documents.
>
>The highlight of the evening was the impassioned speech made by city 
>council member Danielle Chynoweth.

"Impassioned" is precisely the right word.  Danielle's speech at the end 
was the highlight of the evening, and well worth waiting for.  If you're 
reading this, Danielle, thanks so much for your passionate and principled 
advocacy of the CPRB and of the "little guy" in general.  To say that we 
appreciate you would be a gross understatement.


>She cited her failure in the past to get information from the previous 
>police chief, even as a city council member. She said that in the past 
>city officials have not been able to get its own employees to speak.
>
>Chynoweth pointed to the recent decision of State's Attorney Julia Rietz 
>to enforce an old Illinois Supreme Court ruling to refuse the public and 
>even defendants of the right to see copies of court documents.

(Parenthetically, it absolutely blows my mind that defendants can't get 
copies of their own police reports.  I'd like to see the ruling on 
that.  What was the Illinois Supreme Court thinking???  This alone would 
make a good public i article, if it hasn't been done already.  They won't 
let me write for the public i, or else I'd think about doing it.)


>The alderwoman cited numerous examples of police misconduct and brutality 
>in Urbana-Champaign. She told anecdotes of individuals who were 
>intimidated and discouraged from filing police complaints.
>
>Bringing up other CPRBs throughout the country - Santa Cruz, Portland, San 
>Diego, Iowa City - which have subpoena powers, Chynoweth suggested the 
>committee look at these examples for ideas. Echoing the concerns of the 
>community, Chynoweth said that the current proposal had no "teeth." She 
>proposed to send it back to committee and the city council agreed to do 
>so. City council members Charlie Smyth and Brandon Bowersox also went on 
>record saying that the proposal had been significantly undermined.
>
>Talking later to Aaron Ammons, who is also a poet, he told me he was 
>pleased with the decision and "glad it went back to the dentist so it can 
>get some teeth."

And it just doesn't get any more poetic than that.  :-)  Thanks again to 
all who came out in support, as well as to those of you who couldn't be 
there last night but who have been supportive throughout the years.  I'm 
thinking here of the long-term hard work put in by Esther Patt, Ricky 
Baldwin, and Jen Walling, but there have been a number of others probably 
too numerous to mention.

Now we can look forward to the CPRB discussion at the City of Champaign on 
July 31, and then to another public hearing on the Urbana ordinance.  This 
CPRB campaign has been long and arduous, but I'm beginning to see some 
light at the end of the tunnel.  Of course, once a CPRB is formed it's just 
the beginning.  To be successful any CPRB will need the ongoing support of 
the police, of the city government, and of an INFORMED public.


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


John Wason, Person, and Institutional Memory of the Coalition for Citizen 
Police Review

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