URBANA — The Urbana City Council will discuss a resolution Monday that would encourage police de-escalation and transparency regarding officers’ use of force.
If approved, the resolution would require that de-escalation is prioritized in the department’s use-of-force policy and that the chief present any proposed changes to the policy to the council.
The resolution also requires the department to submit an annual report on officers’ use of force and for the Use of Force Review Board, which currently consists of police employees, to have at least one civilian member.
Alderwoman Maryalice Wu, who sponsored the resolution, said, “It’s important for city council to have a voice in how this use-of-force policy is shaped,” and the annual report would give the community information about how it is implemented.
“Right now, we don’t have any numbers” on how often force is used, what kinds are used and what the results of those interactions are, Wu said.
“By asking the city to generate an annual report, it gives the community a foundation to have a conversation about, is this working?” she said.
In a memo, City Administrator Carol Mitten and police Chief Bryant Seraphin recommended approval of the resolution.
They wrote that a “three-year look-back” is already being prepared, “which we think will serve as a valuable baseline moving forward.”
The police department had planned to finish updating its use-of-force policy by Jan. 31 to qualify for certain federal funds, Seraphin said at a council meeting last month.
But after pushback from the local NAACP and ACLU chapters, it met with the organizations and is still working on updates, Seraphin said Friday.
“The council wanted us to get a little more feedback and take some more time, so that’s what we’re doing,” Seraphin said.
Despite missing the deadline, Seraphin said he believes the department will still qualify for the federal funds.
Seraphin said the resolution makes sense.
“The resolution prioritizes de-escalation,” he said. “Absolutely, we support that resolution and that effort. That’s what we currently do.”
The department has faced more intense criticism from local activists since the April 2020 arrest of Aleyah Lewis. An independent review concluded that the officers involved acted consistently with department policy but made 18 recommendations, including putting an explicit mention of de-escalation in the use-of-force policy.
In November, the city hosted three virtual listening sessions on the use-of-force policy, and draft changes were presented in January.
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February 13, 2021 at 11:00PM
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Urbana council to discuss resolution prioritizing de-escalation in police use-of-force policy - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
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