The “use of force” listening sessions that Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten briefly mentioned at last week’s City Council meeting were officially announced this afternoon. The announcement is coupled with the creation of a new section on the Urbana City website titled “Use of Force Policy Revision”:
The issue of Urbana Police use of force policies has been raised numerous times at City Council meetings, ever since the arrest of Aleyah Lewis in April. While City officials have espoused notions of reviewing UPD’s use of force policies, members of the public have pointed out that most of those policies are redacted. It has been the case, for decades, that the public, the City Council, and even the members of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board, are not allowed to see the unredacted policies.
Council member Jared Miller has raised the issue of the redacted policies with Chief Bryant Seraphin multiple times over the past few months, and Seraphin had always dodged the issue. It is the case now that the City has been uploading newly purchased versions of their police policies (the UPD purchases their policies from the company Lexipol).
It remains unclear why the City has purchased and adopted new policy manuals before holding the community listening sessions, rather than after.
It also remains unclear why the listening sessions appear to be limited to only the 8 page “Use of Force Policy 300”. Policy 300 only serves as a generalized introduction to use of force, whereas numerous other chapters of the UPD polices deal with specific types of use of force. A few examples of the chapters which are not to be considered at the Urbana Police listening sessions are:
- 301 Use of Force Review Boards
- 302 Handcuffing and Restraints
- 303 Control Devices and Techniques
- 304 Taser
- 305 Serious Uses of Force and In-Custody Deaths (still redacted)
- 306 Firearms
- 308 Vehicle Pursuits
- 314 Temporary Custody of Juveniles
The listening sessions will be moderated by Urbana’s new “Community Engagement Coordinator”, Lemond Peppers, and have been scheduled for:
- November 12, 1:30-3:30pm (for “youth voices”)
- November 12, 5:30-7:30pm
- November 13, 3:00-5:00pm
-Christopher Hansen, Urbana
Update: according to Ricardo Diaz, the Chair of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), no one from the City or the Urbana Police Department gave any formal notice or invitation for input from the CPRB on revising UPD’s use of force policies.