Three weeks ago, Check CU published an article which suggested that the Urbana Police Department’s Use of Force Review Board process was essentially a scam:
Urbana Police Use of Force Review – Total Scam?
After a series of public records requests over the course of several months in the spring of 2021, Check CU came to the following conclusions:
- The Urbana Police Use of Force Review Board has not been producing the required “written recommendations” and the Chief has not been producing the required “Chief of Police’s final findings” for 2018, 2019, or 2020.
- The City of Urbana cannot produce any evidence that Urbana Police Use of Force Review Board has been holding meetings to perform reviews in 2018, 2019, or 2020.
- The City seems very willing to violate the Freedom of Information Act in an effort to conceal the actions of the Urbana Police Use of Force Review Board.
- If the Use of Force Review Board has been reviewing, voting, and creating written findings for incidents as required by Policy 301, then the City is taking extensive (and unlawful) efforts to conceal that fact.
Check CU sent the same article and conclusions to the Urbana City Council immediately after publishing, seeking an explanation. After eighteen days, none of the City Council members had responded and the issue had not be raised at any City Council meetings even though there have been several discussions concerning police policies.
Three days ago, Check CU followed up with the City Council, and only Ward 2 Alderman Christopher Evans responded. Evans indicated that he’d sent a list of questions to Chief Seraphin regarding the Use of Force Review Board. Evans seeks answers about the Board such as who resides on the Board, how they process complaints, create reports, if the Board ever finds misconduct, and if the reports can be acquired via public records requests.
Check CU notes that the Urbana Police Use of Force Review Board has been discussed in the past, and Council members who have asked similar questions are often met with resistance and unclear answers, or are given answers that cannot be supported by evidence. The April 27th, 2020 meeting of the Urbana City Council is an excellent example. Here is a clip from that meeting wherein Council Member Bill Brown sheepishly inquires about the Use of force Review Board:
In this video, Chief Seraphin and Lieutenant Jason Norton both claim in no unclear language that every single use of force incident is reviewed by the Use of Force “committee”. In reality, the Police Department has not been able to produce any evidence that this is claim is true.
Brown also asks how many use of force reviews find misconduct, and Lt. Norton dodges the question, indicating that when they find something, it is just a “training issue”.
Check CU will be issuing updates on this issue if any additional information becomes available.