Community Coalition Updates

The Champaign County Community Coalition had an event in Champaign this week as part of its outreach to neighborhoods dealing with gun violence. I cover that below. The organization also recently gave a presentation to the Champaign City Council (video available here). There was a great overview of the Coalition's history, goals, and related municipal actions assembled by City staff ahead of the presentation available here. For example, in these excerpts from the background section, there's an explanation of the City of Champaign's role in the coalition:

The City partnered with governmental partners and organizations to create a Community Coalition. The Coalition is a collaborative initiative involving governmental partners, community organizations, and members working together to address and solve community problems of mutual concern...

Since 2016, the Executive Committee Members annually meet to discuss and identify the strategic priorities for the upcoming year. The draft of the priorities is then agreed to by the Coalition partners for implementation and coordination of activities. Once these activities are identified and agreed upon, the monthly Coalition meetings are a coordinated approach to highlight activities and promote on-going dialogue with community stakeholders. The City of Champaign is the lead organization for the coordination of the Coalition and is responsible for the overall administrative responsibilities and daily coordination of all Coalition partners and activities.

Full update report on the Champaign County Community Coalition here. Another recent update on their CU Fresh Start program addressing gun violence interruption is available on the Cheat Sheet here.

There was a lot of local coverage of one of their recent community outreach events in the Willis Park area. Video segment available here from WAND. Below is an overview from yesterday's News-Gazette coverage:

Willis Park residents urge Champaign officials to shed some light on neighborhood
Pitch-black streets were among the biggest issues discussed by dozens of Willis Park residents who packed a neighborhood-safety forum Monday hosted by the Champaign Community Coalition...

Other sources of blight that were brought up included gun violence, rampant vandalism, and vacant homes...

Residents also said investments like youth centers, child-care facilities and mental-health services could help alleviate a lot of the burden placed on parents, the idleness of some young adults in the area and what neighborhood leaders have identified as a trauma-ridden community.

Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb said more neighbors have to be cooperative with police as they investigate crimes in the area. Without that cooperation, he said, it’s much more difficult and time-consuming to do an investigation, find the culprits and make arrests.

Full article available here. The News-Gazette also had an article previewing the meeting with additional information here.

MTD Terminal Updates and Survey

The local mass transit district is looking for feedback in a survey and is also planning to expand the primary terminal in downtown Champaign. From the Daily Illini:

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District is planning on expanding the Illinois Terminal to increase access by providing a more efficient service to connect both students and residents to educational buildings, as well as other necessary locations.

The expansion of the Illinois Terminal will include a 5,000 seat arena, about 175 to 200 hotel rooms and an ice arena, according to the MTD proposal.

Autumn Soliman, marketing manager for MTD, said this new proposed project will be beneficial for everyone who rides buses. The new expansion will also give customers a larger Amtrak waiting area and other patron accommodations. 

Full article here with additional comments by City of Champaign council members. Proposal link here.

Also in recent news, the MTD has been encouraging residents and riders to fill out a survey and give them feedback for their future services. From WAND:

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District wants the public to share what the future holds.

The large-scale study called MTD Next is looking at the potential market for public transit service in the community, where current and future customers want to travel, ho the MTD is performing and how service can be improved.

Officials are hoping for responses from as many people as possible so they can get more recommendations from their customers.

The online survey is brief and is the first comprehensive study of its kind that the MTD has undertaken.

Link to that blurb here. The MTD on-line survey is available here. The News-Gazette had additional information about the MTD's efforts to gather information for their study earlier this month:

[MTD Planning Manager Jay Rank] said the study is set to be completed in August 2020.

In addition to the online survey, the MTD has also done an on-board survey of riders. It will also be looking at data from cellphone apps that show how people are moving about in the community, Rank said.

That information is being supplied by a private company and derived from cellphone carrier data, and the MTD won’t have any access to information on individual cellphone users and their movements, Gnadt said.

The study is being funded through an Illinois Department of Transportation grant.

More at that full article here.

UIUC Public Safety and Bias Incident Updates

There has been some handy local coverage highlighting new public safety data and comparing bias incident reporting over recent years. I have some excerpts from that below. They've also been covering quiet a bit of the debate and concerns about antisemitism on campus after an incident and letter sparked controversy over issues relating to Israel and Palestine.

Here's a quick list of context links for people interested in the incidents and responses that have stirred up debate and controversy locally:

• UIPD public safety data article from the DI
• Bias incident data over recent years from WILL
   
• News-Gazette coverage of resident hall adviser meeting that sparked controversy
• Daily Illini coverage of the fallout from that presentation, the Chancellor's letter and other recent antisemitic events on campus
• Protests over the Chancellor's letter from the N-G
• Coverage of the student government meeting revolving around these issues from the DI
• Student government meeting coverage, including resolution voted on from the N-G
   
• Recent reported incident of racial slurs being shouted from a truck waving Confederate symbols in campustown from Fox Illinois
• UIPD response to the Confederate truck incident from the DI

I'll be highlighting the UIPD public safety data and bias incident data from the first two links below. The other links are for those interested in the controversy and context. As even the short descriptions of the links imply, there is a wide variety of perspectives and passion on these issues locally. I leave it to the reader to weigh their own concerns about public safety, free speech, academic freedom, and the historical contexts locally and around the globe.

From the article on UIPD safety statistics:

The University Police published the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, Thursday in order to increase transparency around campus.

The publishing of this report falls under the requirement of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Police and Campus Crime Statistics Act and contains statistics from 2016-2018 on crime and fire-related incidents on campus as well as campus policies on safety-related activities.

In an effort to make the report more user-friendly and transparent, the most recent report was published as a website instead of a PDF document, with more navigation functions and greater accessibility for different screen sizes.

In a statement, Police Chief Craig Stone said the report was being released not just to comply with federal law, but to create a more informed campus.

Full article here. UIPD press release at their blog here and report website here.

WILL had recent bias incident data, including a chart examining the recent increase in bias incidents reported on campus with a breakdown of the type of incidents:

University documents show that reports of bias incidents, which would include swastikas, have increased dramatically over the last five years. The U of I defines these reports as being motivated, at least in part, by hostility or prejudice toward a person or group of people because of their perceived race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation, among other attributes.

Reports of bias incidents more than doubled between 2013 and 2018 — with 62 total reports in the former year and 128 in the latter.

Reports of religious only bias incidents also soared during the same time period — with five reported in 2013-14 school year compared to 22 reported in 2017-18. During the 2017-18 school year, 16 incidents were classified as anti-Semitic, and 14 were categorized as anti-Islamic in nature. Prior to 2017-18, reports of swastikas were categorized as "unclassified" rather than anti-Semitic, and reports from prior years do not include a breakdown of religious bias incidents by denomination.

Full article with additional information and links here.

Update 11/8: Another recent incident was in the news about a week after this was posted in the Daily Illini here.

Parkland Workforce Training Program

Parkland has a new program intended to provide workforce training access to underserved populations in its district. From the Daily Illini earlier this week:

Parkland College begins workforce equity training
Parkland College recently started a program that works to “provide free, short-term training to underserved populations in the college’s district,” according to a press release. The goal is to prepare residents to transition into careers in high demand that also pay family-sustaining wages.

Fifteen community colleges, Parkland College being one, were chosen to partake in the total $18.5 million WEI. The grant period is from October 2019 to September 2020.

The program, Support for Workforce Training, focuses on helping over 150 residents transition within a year or less. An Illinois Workforce Equity Initiative grant of $1.5 million was donated in efforts to point to historic underrepresentation of African Americans in these high-demand, well-paying careers. Because of this, African Americans were required to comprise 60% of the people in the SWFT program.

The initiative will provide tuition and fee waivers for training. In addition, employment barriers, higher education-access barriers, and local workforce gaps will be addressed. Eligible participants will also be able to receive services such as academic mentoring and counseling.

More at the full article here and the press release here. The website for applicants is available here (includes a map and contact information to the SWFT office at Parkland): https://www.parkland.edu/Main/Apply-Now/SWFT/

A quick overview from the press release itself:

Along with providing tuition and fee waivers for training and stipends to help tackle higher education-access barriers, the initiative will address local workforce gaps and employment barriers in an effort to prepare skilled workers to move into employment upon program completion. Participants who are eligible for the program also will receive wraparound support services, such as academic counseling and mentoring.

Students may select from 22 Parkland College degree or certificate programs in four technical career categories: construction and manufacturing, healthcare, transportation and distribution, and business and IT services. Career options vary widely and include industrial maintenance and welding; office assistant, Microsoft Web, and Google IT professionals; phlebotomy and pharmacy technicians; practical nursing and CNA; and truck driver CDL and highway construction, among others. Most programs can be completed in a year or less.

Those eligible for the incentives may include incumbent workers, unemployed persons, members of underrepresented minority groups, those receiving SNAP benefits and other need-based aid, recently incarcerated persons and ex-offenders, those receiving housing assistance, and others demonstrating financial need. 

Full press release here.

CU Fresh Start Updates

First a reminder of what CU Fresh Start is from their web page:

CU Fresh Start is a community-led, focused effort to deter gun violence. This approach gives individuals with a history of violent, gun-related behaviors a choice to put down the gun and move in a different direction. If they choose to stop shooting, offenders will receive help to access community services and resources. If they continue to engage in gun violence, they will face swift and certain consequences.

WILL had a recent detailed article explaining the program and its evolution here. Excerpt:

In the past, a person had to already be on probation or parole for gun-related crimes to be eligible for CU Fresh Start and receive the individualized support to program provides to find housing, jobs, mental health or addiction treatment, or anything else a person needs to get their life back on track.

Now, anyone 18 and older is eligible to apply, or refer someone else, as long as they don’t have pending criminal charges.

Champaign Community Relations Specialist Mary Catherine Roberson said the goal is “to be able to get them support services they need before they have to enter the criminal justice system.”

Forms will eventually be available online for agencies or individuals interested in referring someone to the program.

Full article here. Cheat Sheet posts with previous updates and news on CU Fresh Start are available here. WILL also had coverage of the most recent "call in" with details on how they currently work. Excerpt:

CU Fresh Start held its sixth “Call-In” Thursday, attempting to set a new path for young men in trouble for gun-related offenses in Champaign-Urbana. At the same time, local officials say they’re looking at ways to expand the program’s reach.

Modeled after programs used in Boston, Minneapolis, Peoria and other cities, CU Fresh Start takes an interventionist approach, warning young people in trouble of the dangers and legal consequences of gun violence, while offering help with education, job-training and cutting through legal red tape.

Thursday’s Call-In, like previous ones held over the past three years, took place in Champaign. Nineteen young men, a larger number than in previous Call-Ins, came in for the event. Their names were not released, and the invited audience, including local officials and reporters, were told not to disclose the names of anyone they might recognize. The audience was present only for the first part of the program, which featured speakers ranging from local prosecutors to mothers who had lost sons to gun violence. After that, the men went to another room for one-on-one discussions, after which they would decide whether to continue with the program.

That full article here.

Champaign Police Review Board Reforms

The City of Champaign's Citizens Review Subcommittee (Cheat Sheet post with an overview of its origins and purpose here) has recently proposed reforms to improve the process going forward. This is a follow up to a previous Cheat Sheet post where these reform ideas were initially presented to the Champaign Human Relations Commission available here. These ideas were presented at that meeting with some initial reaction by the Champaign Police Department's Chief Cobb and Lt. Ramseyer (video here — CPD presentation at 13:30 , CRS presentation at 17:30). As a reminder, the Citizens Review Subcommittee is a subcommittee of the city's Human Relations Commission (more on the bureaucratic organization here). The News-Gazette had an overview of that meeting and the proposals here. Excerpt:

Two years since it was first seated, the Champaign Citizen Review Board, chaired by University of Illinois doctoral student Emily Rodriguez, has come up with four recommendations on what can be done to "improve community-police relations" and make the complaint process easier and more transparent.

The subcommittee called on Champaign police to take four steps:

— Eliminate the current 30-day limitation on filing complaints.

— Fold mediation opportunities into the complaint hearing process.

— "Humanize" the complaint filing process by creating an anonymous option and adding complaint filing sites.

— Invite the complainant's participation and feedback after the process.

Full article available here with additional information (Cheat Sheet meeting write up here). A lot has happened since the reform ideas were initially presented to the Champaign HRC in June. The Citizen Review Subcommittee discussed the recommendations with Chief Cobb at their August meeting (video available here, overview in the minutes available here). The News-Gazette had coverage of that meeting with Chief Cobb here. with many of his initial thoughts and Q & A with subcommittee members:

The city’s top cop has several concerns but no solutions about proposed changes to the way citizens file complaints about police officers.

Champaign police Chief Anthony Cobb appeared before the citizen review subcommittee this week to address recommendations the 2-year-old, five-person commission made in late May. The chief left the meeting agreeing to work with members of the group but not ready to sign off on any of the four changes to the process they had suggested.

That full article here. The recommendations and attention has raised concerns among some City Council members. From the News-Gazette earlier this month:

Some on Champaign council questioning Citizen Review Subcommittee's role as police chief reviews recommendations
...
Among Fourman’s issues with the group’s recommendations is the elimination of a time limit on filing a complaint.

That, she said, “is not going to work in the citizen’s best interest,” given that body-camera footage is deleted after 90 days, unless it’s flagged...

According to the ordinance that established the subcommittee, it has a role in promoting “thoughtful policy recommendations and ongoing outreach” in addition to its duties as an “unbiased review board.”

But like Fourman, Stock questions whether the subcommittee is overstepping its bounds.

That full article here. Attempts to resolve the City Council members concerns led to a rift between council members concerned about recommendations that tread into policy and subcommittee members who consider recommendations a clear mandate of the subcommittee passed by the council itself. From the News-Gazette last week:

The Champaign City Council on Tuesday unanimously supported a request to clarify the role played by its commissions and subcommittees — spurred in part, according to one council member, by the lack of respect city staff have been shown by some of the groups.

The request put forward by council member Clarissa Nickerson Fourman during a study session followed critical comments by members of the Citizen Review Subcommittee during the public-participation portion of Tuesday’s meeting.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Emily Rodriguez used that time to say she is “eager” to give the council more information on suggested reforms to the city’s police-complaint process, while also voicing concerns about recent council comments that her group was overstepping its mandate.

Rodriguez said her subcommittee is merely abiding by the 2017 ordinance, passed with unanimous consent, that established the group.

“The CRS is part of the legacy of Kiwane Carrington,” Rodriguez said, referring to the 15-year-old victim of what was deemed an accidental police shooting in 2009. “The CRS is not only within our mission to issue recommendations, but we would not be fulfilling our mission if we did not do so.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had further coverage the next day with further reactions by Council and subcommittee members and next steps. The issue will likely come to a head again in a City Council Study Session approved at that meeting:

Feinen said the study session could happen as soon as three months from now.

“When we do have that meeting,” the mayor said, “we’re going to reach out to the boards and commissions so they can read the study and appear if they want to.”

More details at that full article here.

Unit 4 Active Shooter Drill Changes

Unit 4 will be voting on several parent requests regarding active shooter drills in the upcoming school year, including an unannounced drill and an opt-out option. The School Board for Unit 4 meets Monday, August 12th (they usually start at 5:30pm, but the agenda isn't up yet here). From the News-Gazette today:

School board to vote on revised safety plans following complaints
School board members will vote Monday on a revised plan of A.L.I.C.E (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) drill implementation across the district, including adding a social worker and parents to district crisis planning processes, as well as a commitment to only have one, announced drill this school year...

When some parents discovered that a September 2018 draft of the crisis plan called for two ALICE drills — one announced and one unannounced — they wondered why both were needed.

And as they did more research, they wondered how students and staff would benefit from the unannounced one.

“Unannounced drills violate the best-practice standards of professional organizations such as the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and Safe and Sound Schools,” the letter read...

Superintendent Susan Zola said Thursday that for the 2019-20 school year, there will be no unannounced drills — a change from the original plan presented informationally to the school board last year...

On Monday, parents will find out whether all five of their requests — which include revising the ALICE presentation to students to be more “developmentally appropriate” and adding an “opt-out” option — have been incorporated and whether the board will approve the revision. Zola said the district is looking at revising the student presentation, as well as starting the opt-out option with “students with Individualized Education Plans or 504s or students who have sensory concerns.”

Full article available on the website here and the eEdition here. Previous Cheat Sheet post with links and information on the last "reunification drill" here. Last year at the Unit 4 School Board there was an extended discussion on issues involving active shooter drills in a presentation on "Crisis Planning" with Dr. Jennifer Ivory-Tatum & Orlando Thomas. That video is available here with the full presentation beginning at the 27 minute mark and a relevant active shooter drill discussion starting at just before the 45 minute mark. An early public version of the parent letter outlining their requests is available here in PDF form.

Housing Ordinance Study Session

[UPDATE: The meeting video is available here with links to jump from the City Staff's report on the issue, public input, and the board's discussion afterward. The News-Gazette had coverage of the Study Session with a concise overview of the result:

Champaign staff ordered to rework housing-code language
It became obvious early on in Tuesday night’s marathon meeting that there were not enough votes to fully repeal the section allowing landlords to take into account a felony conviction received up to five years in the past when deciding whether to rent to a tenant.

The measure wasn’t up for vote, but a straw poll revealed it would have been defeated, 7-2.

So council members have asked city staff to come back in a future study session with two possible changes:

— A reduction in the amount of time landlords can hold felonies against potential tenants, from five years to two.

— A rewording of the language to make its intent more clear.

Members Tom Bruno and Vanna Pianfetti voted not to reduce the time to two years, but the vote on clarifying the language received unanimous support.

After two-plus hours of public comment and about another hour of council comment, it was clear to Mayor Deb Feinen that the language is confusing...

Council members also asked city staff to bring back more information on how the language can disallow a landlord’s consideration of certain drug convictions, and for a deep dive into a recently passed Chicago ordinance that limits criminal history inquiries by landlords.

Full article here with more information and reactions from some of those involved. Preliminary coverage of the meeting from the News-Gazette here. Additional coverage by WILL here.]

Tonight, Tuesday June 25th, the City of Champaign is having a study session on the Human Rights Ordinance exception added in the 90s that allows housing discrimination for some felonies in rental properties. The City Staff put together a report on the issue with information on the exception, the history behind it and the years long efforts to reverse it here. The News-Gazette had coverage previewing the meeting this morning:

Petition asks Champaign council to repeal housing rule on convictions
More than 700 Champaign residents have signed a petition asking city council members to repeal a section of the city code that allows for housing discrimination against people with prior felony convictions.

As it stands now, Chapter 17 of the city code permits "discrimination in the leasing of residential property based upon a person's record of convictions for a forcible felony or a felony drug conviction or the conviction for the sale, manufacture or distribution of illegal drugs" for up to five years after release...

Beyond tonight, council members will ultimately have three options of what to do about the language when the frequently debated topic comes up for vote: amend it, leave it as is or scrap it altogether.

Several community organizations, the council-appointed Human Relations Commission and now about 700 residents are in a favor of the latter. But it appears advocates have more convincing to do before winning the support of the full council.

More information at the full article here, including arguments for and against ending the exemption. Previous news updates on this reentry housing issue on the Cheat Sheet here, with a recent overview of the issue here. More on local data related to racial disparities here.

Update: Additional Coverage

• WILL this morning: Champaign To Consider Changing Housing Policy Advocates Call Discriminatory
• The News-Gazette's Adalberto Toledo had a twitter thread overview of the issue here.

[Updated. Originally posted on 6/25/2019 at 8:20am.]

Local Park Funding Updates

First, some various funding updates for area parks. From the News-Gazette last month:

Virginia Theatre among tourism grant recipients
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has awarded $1.8 million in grants to increase Prairie State tourism — and the Virginia Theatre in Champaign is among the recipients.

The Office of Tourism announced the 17 recipients of two different grants, saying tourism produced more than $3 billion in tax revenue for the state and local communities last year.

One grant, awarded officially to the Champaign Park District/ Virginia Theatre, is for $50,000. It’s to be used for installation of “modern ‘intelligent’ theatrical lighting.”
...
The Tourism Attraction Grant program helps develop or enhance tourism attractions to boost visitation and overnight stays in Illinois. There were 13 recipients sharing $1.4 million. Officials say there were four times as many applications for this grant as there was available funding.

Full blurb available in the eEdition (with digital subscription) here. There was also an update by WCIA on Crystal Lake Park (with video segment here):

Work is underway on Crystal Lake Park Rehabilitation Project.

Developers needed the lake level lowered to allow for work on the new multi-use path.

The Park District is paying for this project with a grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program.

Carle Hospital matched the grant for a total of $537,000.

They expect the trail to be completed in July. 

Blurb and video segment available here. The Rehabilitation Project has an informational website here as well. There was also a blurb last week on State funding becoming available to local governments here:

Local governments in Illinois may apply for state grants to acquire or develop space for recreation areas.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday that applications will be accepted beginning July 1 for the Open Space Land Acquisition fund and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The OSLAD program provides 50 percent funding for qualified projects by municipalities that can show they have the ability to finance the remainder of the project.

The money comes from a portion of the state’s real estate transfer tax.

That blurb also available from the eEdition here.

Citizens Police Academy

Several local police departments participate in a free program to educate the public on law enforcement in collaboration with the University of Illinois' Police Training Institute called the Citizens' Police Academy. This year's classes included at least eight police departments, other agencies, some current and former elected officials, etc. The 10 week program consists of a weekly 3 hour night class at the Police Training Institute on campus (free parking was provided) and a few other local facilities. At the end of the program, participants are encouraged to participate in a ride along with their local police department.

The Daily Illini had an overview and coverage of the first day of class back in April:

Police Training Institute begins 10-week course for citizens
The University’s Police Training Institute began its annual 10-week public course, Citizen Police Academy, on April 4. The program is offered to all citizens residing in Champaign County.

The interactive 10-week program will cover topics such as de-escalation, DUI enforcement and crime scene investigations. Students taking the course will also have the opportunity to visit the Champaign County Jail and meet some of the Champaign Police Department’s K-9s...

Michael Schlosser served as a lieutenant for the Rantoul Police Department before retiring. He is currently the director for the Police Training Institute, as well as the main instructor for the 10-week course.

“When citizens have the opportunity to gain knowledge and learn about all the different aspects of policing … then that gives them a better perspective when they’re trying to understand things they see on TV or read in the paper,” Schlosser said...

If the students attend 7 out of 10 classes at the end of the program, they will have the ability to graduate and get a small certificate saying they completed the course.

Full article here. Departments are generally trying to increase awareness of their various outreach programs, so if you have questions about this or any less intensive outreach options they may offer, they'll probably be happy to get you all the information you need. I'd strongly encourage this one if it's possible for you to attend regardless of any views one way or the other on the police themselves. The instructors encourage questions and criticism to have an opportunity to explain their perspective. Signing up was easy, but required a background check.

Below are some highlights from the course:

Week 1: An introduction to the class and how it's laid out. A brief history of the Police Training Institute and the role it plays in training officers from all over Illinois. An introduction to Dr. Schlosser, the Director of the Police Training Institute and general ringleader of the 10 week program. He covered the first subject of de-escalation and "verbal judo" involved in gaining voluntary compliance. Some may notice that some of the "verbal judo" techniques are being used as the class proceeds.

Week 2: Former Champaign County Sheriff, attorney and PTI instructor Dan Walsh explains the structure and authority of various law enforcement agencies in the State of Illinois down to local departments. He also explained various aspects of civil and criminal law, enforcement and prosecution. The limited options in dealing with mental health issues and the current role the criminal justice system plays in mental health intervention and treatment was raised. This is a recurring theme throughout the course.

Champaign Police Deputy Chief Troy Daniels explained "community policing," the history of it, and the principles behind it. Topics ranged from intelligence based policing and spearfishing to the mutual benefits of community policing for law enforcement and the community. He emphasized the sudden dangers involved in policing and argued that police constantly put their life at risk giving people the benefit of the doubt. He also tried to dispel the myth that local violence is a Chicago imported problem. He noted that it is overwhelmingly home grown local disputes between local people and cliques. There was also an overview of the local Crime Stoppers program.

Week 3: At the Willard Training Center by the airport, the class learned about use of force balanced with the situation at hand and the use of Tasers. The seating is a bit more Spartan here, so you might consider bringing a little seat cushion. The material covered various control tactics, from verbal to defensive  depending on the subjects cooperation or aggression. The use of deadly force in response to risk of life or severe bodily injury were detailed as well. Four student volunteers from the PTI, later in their academy training, were on hand for demonstrations. Including to be "exposed to Taser" as they prefer to say instead of "Tasing" someone. Various technical and legal issues were covered on the use of a Taser.

The use of force scenarios demonstrated an attempt to apply the most simple and effective tactics to deal with chaotic situations with endless variables, all within the legal limits set by courts and legislatures. A lot of the questions and concerns raised were dealing with those variables and complications.

Week 4: Judge Jeff Ford of the 6th Judicial Circuit Court explained DUI Court, DUI statutes and enforcement as well as Drug Court programs and drug enforcement. State Trooper Tony Micele explained DUI enforcement details on everything from sobriety tests and the legal framework they have to operate within to help ensure convictions. He repeatedly emphasized that they were "not out to get people," but also that these offenses have deadly consequences for both offenders and innocent people.

Week 5 was on active shooters and responding to them. I'll be covering that class in a separate post and link it here when it's up.

Week 6: Tours of the Champaign County satellite jail and METCAD. The jail tour was instructive regardless of one's views on the various contentious issues on jail expansion, criminal justice reform, etc. Some of the logistical and security issues are made more clear regardless of what future direction one supports. It can also make clear the very real safety and security concerns with a county budget stretched to the brink when you see how that affects the lives of both the jailed population and jail staff. The life and safety of everyone in the facility (staff or inmate) depend on other people being able to assist them and functioning equipment.

The METCAD presentation was similar to the one I saw with the Champaign City Government 101 course, but I was able to get an update on the backup center that was being upgraded. The backup center ran a couple hours of a shift back on April 14th and on its way to being ready to handle operations if the main METCAD facility goes down for some reason. Here's a quick overview of METCAD from a previous post:

Champaign County's METCAD system handles calls for 25 Fire Departments including Champaign and Urbana Fire Departments as part of its emergency dispatch services. This is on top of their services to 12 area police departments. It's an impressive collaborative agency with employees of the City of Champaign, an Urbana location, in a County building, and U of I phone systems. Its board has administrative and public safety representatives from local governments, the University of Illinois and rural representatives of police and fire departments.

The Q&A part of the presentation got into some of the technical hurdles in the long term goal of a fully integrated system and software updates to the system with varying local government and police department communications systems.

Week 7: Mike Metzler, the Chief of Police in Mahomet and a PTI firearms instructor led the class at the Tactical Training Center focusing on firearms and tour of the gun ranges. This class covered a lot of technical details on typical law enforcement firearms and an overview of marksmanship training. It highlighted the various training and requirements, including scenarios to prepare officers for situations they may face one day. The instructor explained the differences in various firearm laws, such as Illinois Firearm Owners ID card versus concealed carry permits. He also explained the difference and downsides of "open carry" laws in other states.

Week 8: Lt. Bruce Ramseyer of the Champaign Police Department explained Crime Scene Investigations and how a real life Crime Scene Unit operates locally versus what one sees on television. In real life people aren't experts or technicians in everything, a lot of the work is low-tech and certain testing is done by other laboratories and everything takes a lot longer. He explained the differences between elected coroners and (often appointed) Medical Examiners and their differing responsibilities. The whole process involves constant paperwork and a huge amount of evidence storage.

He explained how fingerprints are collected, analyzed and compared. He then covered a variety of evidence collection, chain of custody, and even his trip to "the body farm" at the National Forensics Academy. He outlined good calling advice if you contact the police. He encouraged people to not jump to conclusions, take a breath, and try to think positive — look for the facts.

Week 9: SWAT, K-9 and Bomb Squad demonstrations. Down at the U of I Stockyard Pavilion families were invited as well to check out the hardware, canine cops and explosive demonstrations. There were overviews of the local Metropolitan Emergency Tactical Response Operations (METRO) SWAT Unit, the types of K-9 dogs and their training, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams and robots.

A couple highlights included the multi-agency collaboration that forms our local SWAT team, including the SWAT medics who operate unarmed and work through a collaboration with Carle via the University of Illinois Police Department medical support unit. K-9 dog vests are available, but their use is limited by a more common danger to the dogs: overheating. The EOD unit is also a collaborative unit, currently with 6 techs split evenly from the Champaign Police Department and University of Illinois PD. There were a couple big booms in this class session.

Week 10: States Attorney Julia Rietz and Judge Randy Rosenbaum (who was the public defender years ago) explained the roles of the prosecutor and the public defenders office in the legal process. The SA explained various issues such as the plea bargain process, limits on evidence admission, and legal requirements and rights that have to be ensured. The former PD explained in more detail the rights of the accused and the ways how public defenders are appointed by the judiciary.

Afterwards those who attended enough classes graduated and got a certificate of completion and thanks from the chiefs of the participating police departments for taking the time to get to understand law enforcement better. Contact information and forms for scheduling a ride along with your local department was then sent out.


What next?

I'm looking forward to the ride along opportunity when that gets scheduled. I still have to finish the post on the Week 5 course on active shooters and catch up on several other topics that I've been collecting information on lately, including immigration and refugee services locally.

Unit 4 Budget Issues

Last week the News-Gazette highlighted the 10s of millions of dollars in cost increases for Unit 4's referendum projects. From their coverage:

Budget for Unit 4 referendum work now $31.4 million higher than projected in 2016
...
After that figure was presented to the referendum oversight committee at Monday's meeting, member Neil Strack asked officials whether it includes potential cost differences for International Prep Academy — one of the latest-scheduled projects with a current budget of $6 million. It didn't.

The $239.8 million number is an update from the original projected total of $208.4 million in 2016 and includes recent overages at Edison Middle School ($10 million), Central High School ($9.2 million) and Centennial ($8.1 million).

Potential overages could increase that budget. And depending on the judgment of board members, International Prep's 1957-era building could be the source of some of those overages, according to Elizabeth Stegmaier, the district's director of projects and planning. Officials are working on a capital projects plan at the board's request that will detail any needed work remaining, as well as any maintenance issues in need of fixing prior to updating a state-mandated health/life-safety report in 2023. The goal is to synchronize the capital projects work with any code-related updates — like fire alarms or accessibility — in a five-year plan...

Financing plans for the overages are still being worked out; board members have heard several presentations on available funding options, including selling land or using district "savings" or moving money from contingency funds...

As of Monday, there were 51 days for contractors to meet summer-specific construction goals prior to the return of students.

Full article here with additional information on weather issues and summer deadlines approaching for work to get done before students return.

Unit 4 Updates

Tonight Unit 4's school board will be meeting and discussing and touching on some items that were in the news last week (meeting information and agenda here). The first update is on the P-cards spending issue (more on that at a previous Cheat Sheet post here).  From the News-Gazette last week:

Unit 4 drafts policies on 'P-cards' designed to prevent alleged abuse
As the state appellate prosecutor weighs whether it will file criminal charges against any member of the Champaign school district, Unit 4 officials have drafted policies designed to prevent further instances of alleged credit-card abuse that led to a state police investigation.

Documents released by the district prior to Monday's school board meeting contain the first drafts of policies setting parameters for the use of Unit 4-issued credit cards, purchases and approval. Since purchasing cards, or "P-cards," were introduced in 2014, the district hasn't had a formal policy on how they were — and were not — to be used...

Now, district policy makers have responded to the controversy by drafting language that specifically prohibits all personal purchases, stating that P-cards "shall only be used for those expenses that are for the district's benefit and serve a valid and proper public purpose," which include "certain job-related expenses" or "purchases on behalf of the board or district or any student activity fund or for purposes that would otherwise be addressed through a conventional ... fund."

More details and information at the full article here. The draft policy is available here (administrative draft policy here) from the Unit 4 board meeting website. The other news item was on women and minority owned businesses in referendum bidding. Conflicting language in State law is making the attempt to encourage diversity in bid awards complicated. Also from the News-Gazette last week:

Champaign school board seeking to change rules on contract bids
Stymied by current restrictions, the Champaign school board plans to introduce a resolution in support of changing a state policy that it sees as preventing districts from selecting vendors based on their diversity goals for women- and minority-owned businesses.

It will take months to move forward, but it's the first step in changing language in the Illinois School Code that limits districts to choosing the "lowest responsible bidder" when awarding work to contractors or vendors.

That language often leads to the exclusion of women- or minority-owned businesses who don't come in as the cheapest bidder — something board members learned as work began on the district's eight referendum projects voters approved in 2016...

That's why the board will vote on a resolution urging the school board association to write legislation that would change the code to allow preference to local or minority- or women-owned businesses.

The resolution must be submitted by June 25 for consideration at a November membership-at-large vote, and could undergo some "refining" in the months prior, or not be adopted at all. Regardless, Shannon said, "We need to start the process."

More information at the full article here. Tonight's school board meeting also includes a proposed draft resolution to change State rules on the issue here.

Champaign Human Relations Commission 6/3

The bulk of the Human Relations Commission meeting focused on possible changes with the local police review board, including some Q&A with the chair of that board and the police department, as well as public input from the community including some critics of the department. The Champaign Police Department presented an overview of complaints and commendations. Emily Rodriguez, the Chair of the Citizens Review Subcommittee had a presentation and proposals for the Citizen Review Subcommittee that allows citizen review of complaints against the police department. The meeting video is available here on CGTV. News-Gazette coverage here.

Before all that, there was short reception congratulating student commission Walker on graduating from Centennial High School and moving on to U of I. Starting at the 5:50 mark in the video, there was an update on the Bristol Place Development by the City's Neighborhood Services Department. They covered the current status, an overview of the project itself, and collaborations between agencies: IL WorkNet, First Followers, the City of Champaign, and the Housing Authority of Champaign County.


Police Complaints:

Lt. Ramseyer of the Champaign Police Department gave a brief presentation of the 2018 summary of police complaints and how they were addressed (at the 13:40 mark). It included a contrast with 39 compliments along with an explanation of the possible complaint outcomes:

There were 5 former complaints which included 9 overall allegations. 5 allegations were over policy issues and 4 were over unreasonable use of force. Here's a breakdown of the findings:

The corrective actions taken for the two policy violations sustained included verbal counseling for one officer and a letter of reprimand for another.

The Citizens Review Subcommittee report began at the 17:38 mark. The Chair posted a copy of the recommendations on Google Docs here. The four key reforms listed were:

• Eliminate time limitations on citizen complaints.
• Fold opportunities for mediation into the complaint hearing process.
• Humanize the complaint filing process.
• Invite complainant participation and feedback. 

The presentation itself had an overview of the review board itself and how it has been developing, community feedback, and taking a hard look at the current situation. Rodriguez noted the absence of feedback from people of color in spite of national trends and other communities experiences. This was tied to issues of access and problems with the process to be remedied.

Some of the ideas floated included removing the time limit on complaints (currently 30 days) completely, humanizing the complaint process and providing access points in the community. Including people as part of the process was a recurring theme, not just with feedback, but with people currently feeling frozen out of the process. Audience comments later attested to that.

Alissia Young, the chair of the Human Relations Commission suggested and Rodriguez agreed to quarterly updates as opposed to annual for the review board being a good idea for the future. The Q&A session included the Chief and Lt. Ramseyer. They had also just heard these recommendations for the first time so their answers reflected a desire not to get ahead of themselves.

The board's questions and comments seemed overall positive and though the Chief wanted to temper expectations until some of these ideas were hashed out a bit more thoroughly there appeared to be a willingness to collaborate towards a reformed process.

The second audience participation opportunity had the bulk of the community input from activists and critics of the Champaign Police Department beginning at the 56:15 mark. Some explained their negative experiences in great detail and expressed deep frustration with almost everyone they interacted with at both the Police Department and the City Government itself. One speaker, Christopher Hansen, noted that he gets more complaints through his CorruptCU website than were listed for all of 2018 by the department. He claimed there were more complaints on the department's own facebook page.

Many of the criticisms included difficulties with getting documents and the Freedom of Information Act process for gaining materials as well as the amount of resources and time involved in their pursuit of justice.

There were concerns about proposed mediation options being used to "stuff complaints" as opposed to providing satisfactory resolutions.

The commissioners comments afterward were generally sympathetic and looking towards next steps on reforms and solutions. A few of the commissioners reiterated that they heard those in the community that spoke today and contacted them by e-mail.

The commission adjourned at 7:22pm.