[Peace-discuss] Despite the title (and slant) N-G editorial makes some interesting points............

[Ricky Baldwin]

It's frankly amazing, coming from a newspaper that has
been so critical of local efforts toward civilian
oversight of law enforcement.

It's an opportunity for some letters from Champaign
residents demanding a "citizen police review board"
along the lines of what Urbana will likely be
discussing in July ... (Urbana's board is severely
hampered by restrictions in the police union contract,
but it promises to be a helluva lot better than what
Champaign has, which is described in the NG editorial
pretty well.)

Ricky


--- Jan & Durl Kruse <jandurl at insightbb.com> wrote:

> Sounds like Brain is not the only one looking for
> some answers to what  
> happened in West Side Park:
> Maybe a N-G reporter noticed what happened at the
> press conference and  
> is also concerned about the lack of forthcoming
> information.
> Also thanks to the N-G we now know where the
> "trouble  
> lies".........."local social agencies should better
> serve the  
> homeless"......... and so it goes............
> Thankfully our community has the public-i to provide
> the investigative  
> journalism missing elsewhere!
> 
> Today in the News-Gazette......................
> Grateful community needs answers after shootout at
> park
> 
> Tuesday June 12, 2007
> 
> We and others in the community, we are sure, are
> elated that the  
> shootings last Thursday night at Champaign's West
> Side Park had a  
> relatively positive ending. All three Champaign
> police officers wounded  
> in the gunfight apparently will survive, although
> Officer Shannon  
> Bridges remains hospitalized and obviously faces a
> difficult physical  
> and emotional rehabilitation. We wish her and her
> wounded colleagues,  
> Officer Jack Armstrong and Deputy Chief John Murphy,
> full and speedy  
> recoveries.
> 
> We also hope for the best for the apparent shooter
> in the incident,  
> Donnell Clemons, a homeless man who at last report
> was still in  
> critical condition at a local hospital.
> 
> That said, there are many serious unanswered
> questions about this  
> incident, issues that need to be addressed
> expeditiously, thoroughly  
> and with great transparency. And we urge the
> Champaign Police and the  
> local Serious Use of Force Team, an investigative
> group made up of  
> officers from several area police forces, to answer
> all of those  
> questions and to fully disclose its findings to the
> public.
> 
> We have long been troubled by a growing trend among
> local police  
> agencies to manage the flow of information and to
> release as little  
> information as possible about crime incidents, and
> that goes doubly in  
> cases like this one.
> 
> So far, there has been a disappointing lack of
> information about this  
> incident, from the failure of police to make full
> written reports  
> available about the shootout, to how Clemons, a
> repeat weapons offender  
> with obvious mental health issues, was able to
> obtain a gun and make a  
> car parked on a busy city street his home. It is
> frightening to  
> consider the level of potential catastrophe had the
> gunfight occurred  
> earlier in the day when preschoolers were at a
> nearby playground or at  
> some other time when students from Champaign Central
> High School  
> frequently are in the park.
> 
> Furthermore, the incident raises other concerns,
> including whether  
> Clemons was receiving any mental health assistance,
> whether he was  
> enough of a risk to himself and others that he
> required  
> institutionalization, and how many other troubled
> and potentially  
> dangerous people are living on the streets of
> Champaign-Urbana,  
> Danville or other Illinois cities, instead of
> receiving adequate mental  
> health care.
> 
> We are grateful for the police officers who serve
> and protect us, and  
> we are thankful that last week's incidents did not
> have a more tragic  
> ending. Meanwhile, the police agencies involved in
> the investigation  
> should conduct a swift, fair and thorough assessment
> of what may have  
> gone wrong. Furthermore, local social service
> agencies should conduct a  
> similar review to see how they might be better able
> to serve people  
> living on the streets with mental illnesses, and to
> assure citizens  
> that parks and other public places are as safe as
> possible.
>   Find this article at:
>    
>
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/opinions/editorials/2007/06/12/
> 
> grateful_community_needs_answers_after
> 
> JAN Kruse>
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>
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> 



 
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