Champaign Citizens Review Subcommittee

Tomorrow, June 3rd, the City of Champaign's Human Relations Commission meeting will include presentations and proposals for the Citizen Review Subcommittee that allows citizen review of complaints against the police department. The Champaign Police will be presenting information on complaints as well. More information on the agenda including the earlier start time of 5pm here. More information on how to attend an HRC meeting here. The chair of the subcommittee, Emily Rodriguez, highlighted the upcoming meeting in a Tom's Mailbag Q&A a week ago:

"Next, this reader believes that the complaint process is not accessible. I agree. If a complainant feels 'frozen out' of the review process, we aren't succeeding at our job. I have heard these concerns echoed by a half dozen community members and neighbors in the past months. Several have reached out to me personally regarding their experience filing a police complaint. The CRS also heard similar feedback about the complaint process at our most recent meeting.

"At the upcoming Champaign Human Relations Commission meeting on June 3 at 5:30 p.m., I will propose a series of research-based reforms intended to make the complaint filing process more open and meaningful. I propose that the CRS (1) eliminate time limitations on the complaint filing process, (2) diversify the locations at which complaints can be filed, (3) invite complainants to address the CRS as a part of the review of their complaint, and (4) add a mediation option for officers and complainants. As a whole, the recommendations will lead to greater officer accountability, and will also create opportunities in the review process to build a new sense of community in place of what has been damaged. We need community support to make these recommendations happen. If these changes are important to you, make your voice heard at the HRC meeting.

More at the full Mailbag article here. Rodriguez has also been circulating the information on social media:

Do you want a police complaint process that is accessible, that empowers your neighbors, and creates opportunities to build a new sense of community in place of what has been damaged?

The Champaign Citizen Review Subcommittee invites you to attend the upcoming Human Relations Commission Meeting on Monday, June 3, at 5:00 pm in the City Council Chambers (102 N. Neil St.).

The CRS is responsible for reviewing the police investigation of citizen complaints against Champaign police officers, making policy recommendations, and public outreach efforts with the goal of improving community-police relations. A decade of hard work went into establishing the CRS.

In this meeting, you’ll hear from the Champaign Police Department and the CRS on how we’ve done in the past year. It’s an opportunity to hear and contribute candid thoughts about the successes and challenges of the CRS and the police complaint filing process. This is also an opportunity to talk about the next year for the CRS. The CRS Chair will detail four crucial changes the CRS must make in the upcoming year. We need community support to make these changes happen. If we don’t have community support, the CRS recommendations can be easily ignored. So if you can, stop by and voice your support in the audience participation section of the meeting.