[Peace] Man fined for breaking window/Lt. Gallo conversation

[Kranich, Kimberlie]

The man who smashed in the window of a car on April 19 at our demonstrations
on N. Prospect has been fined $175, has to appear in court, and will pay to
fix the window. I found this out this morning after talking to Lt. Gallo of
the Champaign Police Department.

If you remember, AWARE spoke to Lt. Gallo back in November 2002.  Our goal
was to get officer support of our Constitutional rights to demonstrate and
leaflet.  Our meeting with him went very well and Ricky and I have contacted
him more than once since then whenever we have had concerns.

I called  Lt. Gallo because I was concerned over verbal violence and
physical violence (to the vehicle) on April 19 by some pro-war demonstrators
and the response by the officers on duty.

It was a very productive conversation.  Lt. Gallo, as always, was very
receptive.  "I work for you," he said.  He appreciates knowing about any
concerns we have about his officers so that he can talk to them about
improving their behavior. Some of his officers have never dealt with
demonstrators and counter demonstrators before.  We both agreed that the
police have done a very good job for the most part.  I relate my
conversation with Lt. Gallo to encourage people to report any concerns about
police behavior immediately.  

According to Lt. Gallo, if you are dissatisfied with the officer's behavior
at a demonstration, you should ask to speak to the sergeant immediately.
The Champaign Police have dedicated two officers and a sergeant for our
demonstrations.  If you are dissatisfied with the sergeant's response, then
please contact Lt. Gallo on Monday at 403-7030.  He has always returned my
calls promptly. 

I called about the car incident and he had read the report so he was able to
give me the update that I just now reported.

I also discussed an incident on April 19 involving a journalism student who
was verbally harassed by pro-war demonstrators while trying to do a story
about both demonstrations.  Pro-war demonstrators talked to Officer Beach
who came up to the student and told her to leave  the pro-war side or face a
fine.  Lt. Gallo had not heard about this incident  but agreed that the
student had a right to do her job and cover the story from both sides of the
line and said he would talk to Officer Beach about protecting her right to
do so.  The journalism student might have filed an informal complaint, I'm
not sure, but Lt. Gallo had not yet heard about this incident.

According to Lt. Gallo, verbal violence such as "I'm gonna kick your ass,"
is not to be tolerated. Please contact a police officer immediately is
someone threatens you or follows you.  

I think its also a good idea to thank the officers who are doing a great
job.  It's pretty amazing really that we have been demonstrating for months
and for additional months with pro-war demonstrators on the same side and
things have gone mostly well. How many cities can you say that about?

Kimberlie