[Peace] Urgent: Tasers on Council Agenda for 3/9

Mon Mar 1 10:21:55 CST 2004

Dear All,

I just had a great conversation with Tracy Parsons from the Urban League.
He is supportive of our letters and phone calls to the Champaign City
Council members regarding the issue of Tasers.  The more we can get involved
in this issue, the better the chances are of the Council NOT approving the
purchase of Tasers.

Tracy believes the issue is poised to be on the March 9 study session.
That's one week from tomorrow.  Remember, it is at the study session, not
the regular council meeting, where we can have an impact.  

If you are concerned about how Tasers will be used against minorities and
politcal protestors, please call, snail mail or regular mail ALL of the
Champaign City Council members.

And PLEASE consider these tips when contacting the City Council:

1) Mr. Pirtle, Mr. LaDue and Ms. Ennen do not use their email accounts

2) A phone call or snail mail letter are much more meaningful ways of
influencing your city council person. But if you will only send an email,
then send an email! 

3)Speak to te City Council members in a persuasive and respectful manner,
not a combative manner.  Remember, you are trying to influence their vote,
not cut them down. They are only human. They work long hours for little pay
or recogition. They can't possibly know all of the reasons why Tasers could
be bad, so it's our job to tell them.  Use your own personal stories, do
research and present them with statistics.  This ISN'T a done deal. We can
make a difference here. Please echo the reasons Mr. PArsons from the Urban
League has given, too, to show our solidarity.  If a message is repeated
over and over again, it sometimes sticks!

4) Please come to the Champaign City Council Meeting on March 9 with your
well-thought out and respectful arguments.

5) Please forward this email wisely to potential allies

Thank you!

A list of the Champaign City Council Members contact information follows and
then my letter for those of you who might not have seen it.

The News Gazette story by Mike Monson on tasers can be found at the 
following link: 
http://208.5.125.166/ngsearch/index.cfm?&page=displyStory.cfm&yearfolder=the

04news&file=022704%5Fngstory%5F15534%2Etxt&search=tasers&theorder=asaphrase 

J.W. Pirtle
Deputy Mayor-District 1
1205 Carver Dr.
Champaign, IL 61820
 H: 217/356-5500

Michael La Due
Council Member-District 2
1005 S. Sixth St., Apt. #28
Champaign, IL 61820 
 H: 217/367-5536

Vic McIntosh
Council Member-District 3
501 Clearwater
Champaign, IL 61822 H: 217/352-0194
E: VicMcIntosh at ci.champaign.il.us 2005

Jim Green
Council Member-District 4
2206 Plymouth Dr.
Champaign, IL 61821 
 H: 217/355-1232
O: 217/367-2500
E: JimGreen at ci.champaign.il.us 2005

Ken Pirok
Council Member-District 5
2203 Southmoor Drive
Champaign, IL 61821  H: 217/398-4258
O: 217/398-4258
E: KenPirok at ci.champaign.il.us  2005

Thomas Bruno
Council Member-At Large
1109 W. Park Ave.
Champaign, IL 61821 
 H: 217/398-2191
O: 217/328-6000
E: TomBruno at ci.champaign.il.us 2007

Kathy Ennen
Council Member-At Large
2711 Sangamon Dr.
Champaign, IL 61821 
 H: 217/351-6164

Giraldo Rosales
Council Member-At Large
102 N. Neil St.
Champaign, IL 61820  
grosales at uiuc.edu <grosales at uiuc.edu>

-----Original Message-----
From: Kranich, Kimberlie
To: Peace Listerv (E-mail)
Cc: IMC (E-mail)
Sent: 2/29/2004 12:52 PM
Subject: [Peace] My letter to City Council re: Tasers

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

_______________________________________________
Peace mailing list
Peace at lists.groogroo.com
http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace