Domestic violence exacerbated by pandemic, leaving marginalized communities especially vulnerable
Domestic violence in the city of Champaign rose by 13% last year, surging from 871 incidents in 2019 to 982 incidents in 2020, a…
Domestic violence in the city of Champaign rose by 13% last year, surging from 871 incidents in 2019 to 982 incidents in 2020, a…
It’s no secret that some underage students at the University of Illinois like to drink at nearby Campustown bars, and that those under 21 have ample opportunity to violate the law at Campustown bars. But throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Champaign Police Department has made it even easier for minors to get away with underage drinking at the local campus bars.
Champaign County Sheriff’s Sergeant Norman “JR” Meeker had a 10-year history of violations, including destruction of personal property, contract violations, a Tik Tok account that shared bodycam videos of crime scenes and mountains of missed paperwork. Yet, he was still employed and promoted at the Sheriff’s Office until he flipped a truck while drunk. Champaign County Sheriff’s Office records suggest a systemic inability to deal with over-the-top behavior from its officers — a system in which a sergeant can be disciplined regularly, suspected for having alcohol problems for over a decade, violate contracts and be accused of using racial slurs — yet keep their job.
UCAP was intended to be a catalyst for the community policing program. It no longer exists and there doesn’t seem to be a community policing program for northern Urbana, north of W. University Avenue and west of N. Broadway Avenue, or any other part of Urbana.
With the upcoming closure of the County jail in downtown Urbana, the Champaign County Jail Facilities Committee passed a motion last month to fund to health and educational programs in the Champaign County Satellite Jail. Committee members addressed the urgency of moving forward with renovations as quickly as possible throughout these meetings. Issues such as replacing the heating, air, ventilation and cooling systems of the satellite jail were discussed, and designating currently unallocated American Rescue Plan funds specifically to renovate the jail.
The Champaign County CASA provided legal services this year to about 595 foster children, but served about 200 less just two years ago. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. This branch of CASA is based in Champaign, but is a national organization that has been around since 1994. The special advocates are contracted by the county and assigned to a child to oversee their home reassignment and to assure they are getting proper care.
The vast majority of police staff members in Champaign-Urbana don't live in the cities they serve. Local and national experts attempting to unravel community policing solutions see residency as one more piece of the puzzle, but other factors may turn out to be more important for the community's residents.
In 2014, the police staff in Champaign was 88% white and Urbana’s police staff was 84% white, CU-CitizenAccess reported at that time. Almost seven years later, those numbers are virtually unchanged, despite pledges by both cities to diversify their police forces.
Among the most trending topics locals discussed on Facebook and Twitter were the highest rate of COVID-19 vaccination in Illinois, the first UK variant of COVID-19, Pritzker tour, Market Place Mall looter’s guilty plea, mysterious Walmart fight and, of course, the weather.
Black persons were booked at the Champaign County jail at least one and half times more than white persons over an eight-year period, according to a review of jail data by CU-CitizenAccess.org. The jail system has been criticized for shortcomings in health care and infrastructure over the past decade. The latest plan to consolidate the two facilities, estimated to cost between $42 and $52 million and is still being discussed by the county board. There were a total of 49,535 jail bookings from January 1, 2012 to March 11, 2020 – specific bookings, not individual persons booked.