[Peace] Monday night - Tasers in Urbana

[Brian Dolinar]

Tomorrow night, Monday at 7pm, there will be the first of two critical
hearings before Urbana city council about a proposal to purchase Tasers for
the police. There will be a presentation by the officer leading the Crisis
Intervention Team about why police believe they need Tasers. It is vitally
important that the community send a message to police that we oppose Tasers.

For some 10 years now, community pressure has been the only thing keeping
Tasers out of the hands of police, first in 2004 when then Chief Finney
wanted to purchase $30k worth of Tasers, and again in 2009 just before the
police killing of Kiwane Carrington when it was leaked that the Champaign
police again were planning to acquire Tasers.

Statistics from IDOT have shown for several years that African Americans
are at least twice as likely to be pulled over by police during routine
traffic stops. A recent story in the
*News-Gazette*<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-04-03/state-marijuana-proposal-would-affect-urbanas-rules.html>showed
that of 203 tickets issued for possession of marijuana since a 2008
ordinance was passed in Urbana, 123 tickets were given to African
Americans, again far disproportionate to their 15 percent of the local
population.

If Tasers are in the hands of police, we know that African Americans will
be the ones most likely to be electrocuted in order to achieve
"compliance." If Urbana is able to get Tasers, the Champaign police are
sure to follow. Come out Monday night to tell Urbana *NO TASERS!*

BD
-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
briandolinar.com
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