Champaign County Sheriff's Office – CU-CitizenAccess.org

Dozens of police officers from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, and the Champaign County Sheriff’s office joined the University of Illinois Police Department to respond to the encampment demanding the University divest from Israel on Friday, April 26. / Photo by Farrah Anderson

Local police spent over $137,000 on overtime for one day of University of Illinois’ Gaza protests

Post author:Farrah Anderson / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:July 9, 2024
Post category:Government Public Funds

Police departments throughout Champaign County paid over $137,000 in overtime costs to officers who responded to one day of protests at the University of…

The Champaign County Courthouse. Screenshot from Google Street View.

Champaign County suffers chronically high number of domestic violence calls and cases

Post author:Megan Krok / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:May 24, 2024
Post category:Government Justice Neighborhoods

In the first two months of this year, there were around 10 calls per day to emergency services regarding domestic violence and disputes in…

Read more about the article Champaign and Urbana police still mostly white despite repeated attempts at racial diversity

Darrell Hoemann

The window for the Urbana Police Department office inside the Urbana City Hall on Thursday, September 4, 2014. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Champaign and Urbana police still mostly white despite repeated attempts at racial diversity

Post author:Carmen Martinez / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:May 23, 2023
Post category:Government Justice

Despite years of pledges and efforts to bring racial diversity to their departments, only 31 of 203 employees — or 15% — at the…

Read more about the article Champaign police increase residency bonus but most officers still prefer to live out of town; Other area departments show similar pattern

Darrell Hoemann

Looking south to the Champaign Police Department Building on First Street. Photo by Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess

Champaign police increase residency bonus but most officers still prefer to live out of town; Other area departments show similar pattern

Post author:Yuzhu Liu / For CU-CitizenAccess
Post published:May 18, 2023
Post category:Government Public Funds

Most employees of the Champaign and Urbana police departments live outside the cities they serve, even when lucrative bonuses are offered, records show. More…

Read more about the article Champaign County Sheriff’s Office knew Norman Meeker had an alcohol problem for a decade. Why did it take a flipped truck and a DUI for Meeker to leave the force?

A close view of the flipped vehicle. Screenshot from body camera footage.

Champaign County Sheriff’s Office knew Norman Meeker had an alcohol problem for a decade. Why did it take a flipped truck and a DUI for Meeker to leave the force?

Post author:Sam Stecklow, Invisible Institute and Dylan Tiger
Post published:December 22, 2021
Post category:Featured Government Justice

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.