[Peace] My letter to City Council re: Tasers

[Kranich, Kimberlie]

Here is the letter I will mail tomorrow to all of the Champaign City Council
members.  If so moved, feel free to steal from what I have written.

If AWARE decides as a group to take this issue on, I am happy to be part of
the working group.

Kimberlie

J.W. Pirtle, Deputy Mayor
1205 Carver Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

March 1, 2004

Dear Alderman Pirtle:

I am writing to express my solidarity with Tracy Parsons of the Urban League
and ask you to vote against authorizing the purchase of Tasers by the
Champaign Police Department.  

I believe that the potential of police officers to overuse and misuse Tasers
against minorities as well as political protestors outweighs any potential
benefits. 

I do not believe, as was quoted in the News Gazette, that Tasers will just
reduce harm to officers and "suspects."  They will also be used against
innocent people. I do not trust the ability of individual police officers to
show restraint.  

The example that the Mayor likes to use to promote Tasers is that of the
death of Mr.Greg Brown by "heart failure" in 2000. It took 17 officers to
subdue and arrest Mr. Brown and when they did, he was dead.  The question
for me isn't, would a Taser have saved Mr. Brown's life, but how did the
officer approach Mr. Brown as he walked down a Champaign Street and why did
theh officer want to stop him in the first place?  Mr. Brown was afraid of
the police, had a history of mental health issues, and was obese.  It seems
to me more money should be spent on officer training, not on officer
weaponry.  

I have had my own experiences with Champaign Police.  I have demonstrated
peacefully with AWARE on North Prospect Ave. against the US invasion of
Iraq.  When I saw that officers were denying our rights to leaflet drivers
and were threatening us with arrest, I and others met with Lt. Gallo to
discuss how we could work together.  This was one of several meetings
between AWARE and the police department.  Despite Lt. Gallo's efforts to
educate his officers on their duties with respect to peaceful protests,
several officers subjectively upheld the law and denied us our rights.  One
officer tackled my friend from behind while she was having an altercation
with a pro-war demonstrator.  She was slammed to the ground and handcuffed.
When the woman she had the altercation with didn't want to press charges,
police charged her with resisting arrest (one of the "reasons" a Taser might
be used).  My friend did not resist arrest. The officer never identified
himself nor did she see him until she was on the ground, face down and
handcuffed.  I was at her trial and watched as officers lied on the stand.
She was found guilty.  When you watch as officers lie on the stand, you lose
your faith in them.


Since 911, there has been an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in this
country.  Our local police force is not immune to the fear and repression
embodied in these new so-called terrorism laws. National firms who stand to
make a profit off these weapons are marketing them to police forces across
the country.  Hospitals and prisons are being privatized to make the largest
profits, not to serve the public good.  Our local police force is subject to
these same forces.  

For some national context, I am enclosing a 20-minute news segment from the
program, "NOW with Bill Moyers." The segment examines the trend of police
forces across the nation to crack down on dissent and uses what happened in
Miami last November as an example of this trend. Tasers and beanbags filled
with lead pellets are some of the tools these officers are using. 

The NOW March 5 show will look more closely at this issue.  I hope that you
will have time to watch it or tape it yourself. It airs Friday, March 5 at
8pm on WILL-TV.

I want a safe community. I want officers to have the tools they need to
protect the community. I also want officers to be professional and to uphold
the law despite their own personal opinions.  I want racist officers out of
the police force. I have heard white officers, who think I am as racist as
they are, say that they like working the north end because they get to
"crack some heads."  This kind of aggressive mentality among our police
force exacerbates the problem.  

If the Champaign Police Department spent more time working on community
policing and community relationships, perhaps the distrust that many of us
in the community feel would be absent?  If there were a citizens review
panel of the police department, perhaps the trust would be there? 

I urge the city council to turn the issues of Tasers on its head and to
examine the real underlying issue of citizen mistrust of the police and
police abuse in this community. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Kimberlie Kranich