[Peace] Court Watch demonstration this Wed. 1pm

[Brian Dolinar]

Join us for a Community Court Watch demonstration
Wednesday, May 31, 1pm
at the Champaign County courthouse, downtown Urbana.

Court Watch recently investigated a suicide in Garden Hills and turned
up this report:

Police Stage Attack On Garden Hills.
By Brian Dolinar

	Police have long been regarded by many in the African American
community as an occupying army.  The recent use of overwhelming force
by police in Garden Hills, a predominantly working class African
American neighborhood in Champaign, only feeds into this perception.
After a 4-hour standoff, Carl "Dennis" Stewart, 46, was forced into a
corner by police and he killed himself.
	The death of this husband and family man at the hands of police
should be considered a sign of continued social ills by all members of
the Champaign-Urbana community.
	On the afternoon of May 11, 2006, Champaign police responded to a
domestic violence call in the Garden Hills neighborhood, just north of
Bradley Avenue and west of Prospect.  Upon arriving at the scene, they
found Stewart, a well-liked head custodian at Booker T. Washington
elementary school, sitting alone in his parked car in the driveway of
a neighborhood house with a gun.  It was learned that Stewart had been
separated from his wife, was going through marital problems, and was
suicidal.
	Champaign police quickly leaped into action by calling in the
S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) team and rolling out the
force's prized A.P.C. (Armored Personel Carrier), an expensive
high-tech tank designed to suppress mobs and riots.  Intead of
handling this as a potential suicide, the police reacted as if this
were a demonstration in the case of a terrorist attack.
	Police brought in a hostage negotiator, but after several hours they
had gained no ground.  Pinned into a corner by the police tank,
Stewart attempted to flee in his car, and was trapped  by police.  The
situation ended with the worst outcome when Stewart turned the gun on
himself.

Court Watch in Garden Hills
	A new watchdog organization called Community Court Watch grew out of
cop watch efforts that began over two years ago.  Court Watch members
Aaron Ammons of C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice, Tanya Parker of
Habari Connection, and myself went out into the Garden Hills community
to interview people about their perception of the police reaction.
	One woman who lives on Joanne Lane, where the standoff occurred, told
us she has not received a full explanation from the police.  The first
thing she saw was police with drawn pistols and rifles in her front
yard.  When she went outside, she was sternly directed by police to go
back into the house.  Her greatest concern was for her child who was
returning home from school.
	She went on to explain that she saw the armored tank chase Stewart's
vehicle up the block.  She described the site where the suicide
occurred and told us it looked like the armored tank had rammed
Stewart's car, pushed him off the road and into a post.
	Other neighbors we interviewed told us they heard six shots, not the
alleged single gunshot.
	Many we talked to expressed their concern that police did not allow
family members to talk with Stewart.  A photo in the May 12, 2006
issue of the News-Gazette showed Stewart's brother restrained by
police and he was quoted as crying repeatedly, "You're just going to
shoot him anyway."
	One interviewee who knows Stewart's mother said that even she was not
given a chance to talk to her own son. Police brought Stewart's mother
to the scene, but would not allow her to talk to him. "If anyone
could," the interviewee explained, "certainly a mother could talk to
her son."
	Someone else we talked to said she also knows the family.  She
claimed that it was after police cut off a phone conversation between
Stewart and his wife that he took off in his car.
	A witness told us that the white hostage negotiator was not very
helpful.  Watching the incident from the front window of his house, he
stated bluntly that after listening to the negoiator, he was ready to
kill himself.
	One question raised is why a hostage negotiator and not a suicide counselor?
	
"They was worse than the military."
	Pointing to Arrowhead Lanes bowling alley at the end of the street, a
neighbor described the army of police officers lined up in the parking
lot, all wearing black uniforms.  While we interviewed her, a UPS
truck drove by.  Gesturing at it, she said the police truck was even
bigger – a "big blue tank."  I asked if the police seemed as if they
were carrying out a military exercise.  She said, "Shoot, they was
worse than the military."
	I asked one woman if it could have ended another way.  She told me,
"It went down exactly how they wanted it to go down.  He was Black.
They didn't care."  Do you think this would have happened in a white
neighborhood?  She said, "Hell no!"
	Those we interviewed felt that only half the story has been told by
the local media.  The News-Gazette did little more than dictate what
the police told them to say.  In the newspaper, Champaign Police Chief
R.T. Finney congratulated his force and said, "There was a
considerable amount of restraint shown" (5/13/2006).
	Two years ago, when the African American community opposed the
purchase of Tasers in Champaign, Chief Finney was just beginning his
tenure with the force.  After the City Council failed to endorse the
purchase of Tasers, Finney agreed it was best and said it should be
his priority to improve his relationship with the community
(News-Gazette 3/25/2004).
	After this latest police stunt in Garden Hills, it does not look like
Chief Finney has made much progress in this relationship.
	In Urbana, new Police Chief Mike Billy is talking about reinstituting
the Street Crime Unit to fight drugs, yet another heavy-handed police
response to what is at its root a problem that should be treated
through social services, not more police raids.
	Of course, an investigation will free the Champaign police department
of all blame.  Unfortunately, community relations between African
American residents and the police will continue to worsen.

BD

-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
204 S. Lynn St.
Champaign, IL 61820
briandolinar at gmail.com