by Check CU | Apr 10, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign, Illinois County Courthouse (photo by ILDocs.com) The Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office has repeatedly refused to supply records related to the malicious prosecution of two men – a prosecution based on falsified evidence which left them imprisoned...
by Check CU | Apr 9, 2022 | Latest Articles
Research by Check CU has revealed what can only be described as the felony destruction of public records by Urbana Police Officers. Throughout 2020, amidst the nationwide demands for police reform, Urbana, Illinois residents took up similar causes with their local...
by Check CU | Apr 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
(Champaign, Illinois City Building – Photo by ILDocs.com) On March 21st, 2022 Check CU asked the City of Champaign, Illinois to provide copies of complaints submitted against police officers in 2021 and 2022. Three days later, City Clerk Shannon Myers fully...
by Check CU | Apr 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign Police Officers Kevin Olmstead (left) and Bruce Ramseyer (right) at the January 8th, 2020 meeting of the Citizen Review Subcommittee meeting. On that date, Ramseyer passed his police complaint review responsibilities over to Olmstead. Check CU recently...
by Check CU | Apr 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
On March 21st, 2022 Check CU Founder Christopher Hansen asked the City of Champaign, Illinois to provide copies of complaints submitted against police officers in 2021 and 2022. Three days later, City Clerk Shannon Myers fully denied the request. Myers claimed...
by Check CU | Apr 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Council member for Ward 7 James Quisenberry at the April 4th, 2022 Council meeting Since mid-2021, residents have been making requests to the Urbana, Illinois City Council to allow remote public input at their in-person meetings in the same way...
by Check CU | Apr 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin and Council members Jaya Kolisetty, Grace Wilken, Christopher Evans, James Quisenberry, Shirese Hursey, Chaundra Bishop, and Maryalice Wu The entire Urbana, Illinois City Council seems content simply ignoring numerous public records...
by Check CU | Apr 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
On December 16th, 2021 Check CU Founder Christopher Hansen filed a lawsuit against the Village of Rantoul alleging violations of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Rantoul unlawfully denied access to copies of complaints against police officers, and...
by Check CU | Apr 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
On January 21st, 2022 Check CU sent a public records request to Village of Rantoul Clerk and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer Janet Gray seeking police complaints from 2010 through 2018. Gray passed the request off to Village Attorney David Wesner who,...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2022 | Latest Articles
Members of the public who tuned in to the Champaign Government Television livestream today were greeted with this screen The Champaign, Illinois Human Relations Commission (HRC) cancelled their monthly meeting for the six time today. Assuming they actually...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten at the April 4th, 2022 City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten announced at a Council meeting tonight that the City had received zero bids in response to their...
by Check CU | Apr 3, 2022 | Latest Articles
New Interim Police Chief Richard Surles (bottom left), resigned Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (bottom center), and new Interim Deputy Police Chief Matthew Bain (bottom right) at the March 28th 2022 Urbana City Council meeting. On March 28th, the Urbana, Illinois City...
by Check CU | Apr 3, 2022 | Latest Articles
On March 29th, Check CU published an article about the City of Champaign, Illinois hiring private security to patrol their downtown area. The City’s Request for Proposals (RFP) describes issues such as noise, trash, loitering, fights, and shootings. On...
by Check CU | Apr 2, 2022 | Latest Articles
From left to right: Champaign Officer Dillon Holloway, Sgt. Kaitlin Fisher, University of Illinois Officer Kennedy Hartman Sergeant Kaitlin Fisher of the Champaign, Illinois Police Department recently expressed her feelings for a significant portion of the populace...
by Check CU | Apr 2, 2022 | Latest Articles
The scene outside of the Red Lion bar in Champaign, Illinois shortly after an altercation between a bar employee and a patron resulted in “significant injuries” on March 5th, 2022. Check CU has acquired nearly an hour of police body camera video from the...
by Check CU | Mar 31, 2022 | Latest Articles
The University of Illinois Police Department (UIPD) is dispensing complaint forms that quite clearly violate Illinois State law. The forms and related procedures contain numerous provisions that require the complainant to sign a sworn affidavit and have it...
by Check CU | Mar 31, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District HR Generalist Amy Roberts, Board Member Danielle Chynoweth, Jodie Ellis, Deputy Administrator Awais Vaid, CUPHD FOIA Officer Patricia Robertson, Treasurer Ron Fields, Board member & Secretary Kyle Patterson, Public Health...
by Check CU | Mar 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
One of more than a dozen automatic license plate reader (ALPR) installations in the Village of Rantoul, Illinois. The Village of Rantoul, Illinois has asserted for the second time that they are permitted to keep locations of automatic license plate readers a secret...
by Check CU | Mar 29, 2022 | Latest Articles
The City of Champaign, Illinois recently posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) on their website seeking private firms to patrol the downtown area during weekends and events. From the thirty-six page proposal document (provided in full below): 2.1 Services Summary: The...
by Check CU | Mar 28, 2022 | Latest Articles
New Interim Police Chief Richard Surles (bottom left), resigned Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (bottom center), and new Interim Deputy Police Chief Matthew Bain (bottom right) at the March 28th 2022 Urbana City Council meeting. Earlier this evening, the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Mar 28, 2022 | Latest Articles
Residents now have an easy to use tool for submitting complaints about Urbana, Illinois Police officers. The non-profit “Civilian Resource Site” at UrbanaPolice.org now has a web portal that can be used to submit complaints at any time, by any person, even...
by Check CU | Mar 28, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Council members have thus far ignored the statutory and contractual violations by their Police Department in regards to the handling of complaints against police officers. Check CU recently published two articles showing that the Urbana...
by Check CU | Mar 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Colby Wright shoots an unarmed subject in the back with his TASER in a 2019 incident. The subject turned out to be an innocent bystander who was misidentified by Urbana Police. Deputy Chief Richard Surles argued that the TASER use was...
by Check CU | Mar 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
The City of Champaign, Illinois is advising use of force training for bar staff who were involved in an incident which resulted in a young woman leaving in an ambulance on March 5th. Deputy City Manager Matt Roeschley, Lieutenant Andre Davis, and Assistant City...
by Check CU | Mar 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
The three finalists for the City of Champaign, Illinois Police Chief position: Angela Coonce, Timothy Tyler, Bryce Johnson Champaign, Illinois staff have invited the public to attend an open house on March 29th at 7pm to meet the three finalists chosen to compete for...
by Check CU | Mar 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin will ask the City Council to appoint current Deputy Chief Richard Surles to the position Interim Police Chief at Monday night’s meeting. Lieutenant Matthew Bain will be appointed to Interim Deputy Police Chief. Police Chief...
by Check CU | Mar 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU has acquired security camera footage of an incident which occurred at the Red Lion bar in Champaign, Illinois. An altercation which occurred around 2am on March 5th, 2022 between a patron and a Red Lion staff member resulted in a young woman leaving the...
by Check CU | Mar 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
On March 9th Interim Police Chief Thomas Petrilli spoke briefly about an incident that occurred at the Red Lion bar in Champaign, Illinois which left a young woman injured and unconscious on the pavement outside of the bar. Petrilli said “it was a rather minor...
by Check CU | Mar 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU filed a lawsuit today alleging that the City of Champaign willfully violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by refusing to provide records related to the Champaign County Community Coalition (CCCC). Two days ago, Check CU published an article...
by Check CU | Mar 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Bryant Seraphin talks about changes in technology as he holds up the one and only cell phone owned by the Police Department in 1999, reserved for use by the detective on shift. Chief Bryant Seraphin will serve his last day as a police...
by Check CU | Mar 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU has received data from the City of Decatur showing all of their automatic license plate reader (ALPR) locations, as well as sample images from each camera. ALPRs were unanimously approved by the Decatur City Council in March of 2021, making them one of...
by Check CU | Mar 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
Police Chiefs for four different departments and the Champaign County Sheriff spoke about rising gun crime at the March 9th, 2022 Champaign County Coalition meeting. City of Champaign Community Relations Manager Tracy Parsons (blue suit) organizes and runs the...
by Check CU | Mar 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Illinois State Police (ISP) have finally issued a response to a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit which was filed with the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in Champaign County last year. The lawsuit was filed on October 1st, 2021 by Check CU Founder Christopher...
by Check CU | Mar 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
Nearly eight months after the Urbana, Illinois City Council approved funds for a “Community Safety Review”, the City is finally searching for proposals. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ), titled “Community Safety Review Through the Lens of Racial Equity and...
by Check CU | Mar 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officer Colby Wright chases an unarmed subject with both guns drawn after already having shot him in the back with his TASER Body camera video and police reports obtained from the Urbana Police Department (UPD) show what appear to be highly...
by Check CU | Mar 12, 2022 | Latest Articles
This frame from the video shows three passengers of a black Chevrolet Impala wielding handguns. Video of a drive-by shooting in Urbana, Illinois shows a terrifying interruption to an otherwise calm and quiet Saturday afternoon. In a matter of seconds, multiple...
by Check CU | Mar 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
The last time the Champaign, Illinois Human Relations Commission had enough members in attendance was October 2021 The Champaign, Illinois Human Relations Commission (HRC) cancelled their monthly meeting for the fifth time this past Monday. Assuming they...
by Check CU | Mar 11, 2022 | Latest Articles
On February 5th, 2022 Check CU sent a records request to the Village of Homer, Illinois asking for the identities of any Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officers, and their email addresses. The Village issued the following responses: “Sharon Jeffers, Village...
by Check CU | Mar 9, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Red Lion Bar in Champaign, Illinois. Two security cameras appear to cover the area directly in front of the entrance where a young woman was rendered unconscious after an alleged encounter with bar security. A disturbing video posted on YouTube three days...
by Check CU | Mar 8, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin stresses the importance of keeping ties with neighborhood associations at a City Council study session on February 22nd, 2022, but her actions don’t align with her words. Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin has frequently...
by Check CU | Mar 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and Mayor Diane Marlin participate in a police reform march on June 1st, 2020. Demonstrations were held in Urbana-Champaign and nation-wide to push for greater accountability and transparency in policing, with a focus on...
by Check CU | Mar 6, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana, Illinois City Council passed a resolution on Police use of force more than a year ago, but it has gone almost entirely ignored. More than a year after the passage of “A Resolution Prioritizing Tactical De-escalation in the Use of Force Policy and Police...
by Check CU | Mar 5, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana, Illinois Police Department (UPD) has been distributing complaint forms that contain language which violates state law, as well as UPD’s contractual agreement with the people of Urbana. Check CU recently published an article showing that the Urbana...
by Check CU | Mar 5, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Council member Christopher Evans speaks on September 13th, 2021 about the Urbana Fraternal Order of Police contract negotiations: “The contract was never discussed…Council was kept ignorant as to what was going on.” It seems the...
by Check CU | Mar 3, 2022 | Latest Articles
Despite repeated objections from the public, the Urbana Police Department (UPD) continues to supply a police complaint form that quite clearly violates state law. The unlawful form, along with multiple unlawful requirements, is supplied on Urbana Police webpages...
by Check CU | Mar 3, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Officers chase a resident with TASER gun and pistol drawn Seven years after passing a TASER gun review requirement for their police department, the Urbana, Illinois City Council seems to have given a passive thumbs-up to its destruction. ...
by Check CU | Mar 1, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign Police Department Command staff on March 11th, 2020. Three of the four officers have since left the department. The Champaign, Illinois City Council granted a hefty bonus to their police officers at this evening’s City Council meeting. Upon the...
by Check CU | Feb 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Ward 5 Alderperson Chaundra Bishop speaks at a City Council meeting Tuesday evening. Here, she uses a microphone, but about 45 minutes of the meeting was not audible from the public seating area, and City Officials thwarted attempts to record the meeting. Ward 5...
by Check CU | Feb 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois City Administrator Carol Mitten at a City Council study session on February 22nd, 2022 (written displays only legible from the public seating section with a zoom lens) When public bodies, such as the Urbana, Illinois City Council hold meetings, they...
by Check CU | Feb 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Council members Shirese Hursey and Chaundra Bishop, along with Deputy Chief of Police Richard Surles and Deputy Fire Chief Kent Demond Dade at the February 22nd, 2022 City Council Study Session Urbana, Illinois Alderperson Shirese Hursey showed what can...
by Check CU | Feb 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
Two vehicles racing through Urbana, Illinois ended their chase with a bang after one of the cars crashed into a power pole. The resulting electrical arc from the power lines above turned night into day for just a moment, then a portion of the West Urbana neighborhood...
by Check CU | Feb 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul, Illinois Village Clerk Janet Gray did not comply with the state-mandated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer training until after Check CU asked to see her training certificate. After observing numerous Freedom of Information Act violations by the...
by Check CU | Feb 26, 2022 | Latest Articles
Former Champaign, Illinois Police Chief Robert T Finney, now teaching Criminal Justice at Parkland College in Champaign Last week, Check CU published an article about former Champaign Police Chief Robert T Finney landing a teaching job at Parkland College. His...
by Check CU | Feb 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
At an Urbana City Council meeting Tuesday night, which was poorly publicized, held at an off-site facility, and not broadcast to the public, Ward 1 Alderperson Maryalice Wu was the first to jump into action when she realized that members of the media were trying to...
by Check CU | Feb 25, 2022 | Latest Articles
FOIA Officer for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) Patricia Robinson, Public Health Administrator Julie Pryde, HR Generalist Amy Roberts In November of 2021, the Illinois Attorney General began investigating the Champaign-Urbana Public Health...
by Check CU | Feb 24, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Mayor Diane Marlin speaks at a City Council meeting study session on February 22nd, 2022. “This is a violation,” said Urbana, Illinois City Clerk Phyllis Clark when she became aware that a meeting of the Urbana City Council on Tuesday evening was...
by Check CU | Feb 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
CUPHD representatives Whitney Greger, Kami Lafoon, and Anna Johnson urged the Urbana City Council to pass legislation which would ban e-cigarettes and create fines for business owners. The Champaign Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) is campaigning for laws that...
by Check CU | Feb 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Council member for District 2, Alicia Beck Check CU recently published an article about Champaign City Council members Alicia Beck and Michael Foellmer giving two senior citizens the boot at Tuesday’s Council meeting. Albert and Claudia Morr...
by Check CU | Feb 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
Champaign City Council member Alicia Beck bangs her fist on the table as she castigates two residents who raised concerns about gun violence. Albert Morr and his wife Claudia attended the Tuesday night Champaign City Council meeting to address the increasing gun...
by Check CU | Feb 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
On February 3rd, 2022, the Champaign, Illinois Police Department (CPD) supplied Check CU with a police complaint form that quite clearly violates state law. The CPD also supplied the same unlawful forms to individuals who inquired at the police station. The form...
by Check CU | Feb 15, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU has struggled to find vital public records on the City of Danville website, especially those regarding the Danville Police Department, such as: Danville Police Department PoliciesPolice Union Contracts for the Danville Police DepartmentPolice Complaint Forms...
by Check CU | Feb 14, 2022 | Latest Articles
In September 2021, the Urbana City Council voted to significantly reduce their role in selecting police command staff. All seven Urbana City Council members campaigned on increased police oversight and accountability, and four of those Council members made it one of...
by Check CU | Feb 13, 2022 | Latest Articles
Former Police Chief of Champaign, Illinois enters the law enforcement field in Champaign for the first time in ten years Robert T. Finney has reentered the law enforcement profession in Champaign, Illinois for the first time since his resignation as Champaign Police...
by Check CU | Feb 12, 2022 | Latest Articles
Retired Champaign, Illinois Police Chief Robert T. Finney claims that social media comments about his role in the killing of an unarmed boy have damaged his reputation and put his family in danger. Records obtained from the City of Champaign, Illinois show that social...
by Check CU | Feb 10, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin The Urbana Police Department and the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) have been openly violating their mandate for more than two years. Whereas City Ordinance and UPD policy require the Police Department to review TASER gun...
by Check CU | Feb 7, 2022 | Latest Articles
Repeated attempts at acquiring a Danville Police complaint form failed Check CU recently published an article showing that the Danville, Illinois Police Department dispenses unlawful complaint forms. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that the Police Department...
by Check CU | Feb 4, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU recently published an article about the Danville, Illinois Police Department utilizing unlawful requirements in their civilian complaint forms. The article showed that the complaint form requires a sworn affidavit, and also requires complainants to...
by Check CU | Jan 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
On January 25th, 2022, the City of Danville, Illinois supplied Check CU with a police complaint form that quite clearly violates state law. The form contains an affidavit page that requires the complainant to sign a sworn statement and have it notarized. A...
by Check CU | Jan 30, 2022 | Latest Articles
On May 19, 2021, City of Champaign Police Officers Chris Oberheim and Jeffrey Creel responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance. After the officers approached an individual sitting in a car outside of the Town Center Apartments complex in the north end of...
by Check CU | Jan 27, 2022 | Latest Articles
At their February 2021 meeting, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Board discuss fines and prosecution for persons failing to wear face masks (Director of Environmental Health Jim Roberts, HR Generalist Amy Roberts, Chair Andy Quarnstrom, Deputy Administrator...
by Check CU | Jan 24, 2022 | Latest Articles
The January 18th meeting of the Champaign City Council had a curious item on the agenda: approval of nearly seven and a half years of meeting minutes for Community Civic Events. There were ninety sets of meeting minutes spanning from June 17, 2014 to November 6,...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
A new 2021 Rantoul Police Department Complaint Form and accompanying instructions bearing the name of Chief of Police Anthony J Brown (click image for full PDF) Check CU recently published an article showing that the civilian complaint forms dispensed by the Rantoul...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
On October 27th, 2021, Check CU published an article which reveals many of the failures of the TASER review process by the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB): Urbana Staff Refuse Oversight on Police TASER Usage From the article: “When the Board members issued...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
Check CU commends the Village of Rantoul for keeping a publicly accessible “Document Center”, where hundreds of public records are hosted for 24/7 access. However, of the myriad of documents available on Rantoul’s website, a number of important items are...
by Check CU | Jan 23, 2022 | Latest Articles
Danville Mayor Rickey Williams violated the Open Meetings Act at several City Council meetings in 2021 Danville Mayor Rickey Williams and the Danville City Council violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) at several of their meetings last year, according to a...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Human Resources Director Todd Rent (now HR Director for the University of Iowa) violated FOIA by refusing to provide City financial records to the News Gazette In April of 2014, the City of Urbana was cited by the Illinois Attorney General (IAG) for a Freedom...
by Check CU | Jan 22, 2022 | Latest Articles
2015 Binding Opinion from the Illinois Attorney General citing City of Danville Corporation Counsel David Wesner with violating the Freedom of Information Act. In December of 2015, the City of Danville was cited by the Illinois Attorney General (IAG) for a rather...
by Check CU | Jan 21, 2022 | Latest Articles
On November 7th, 2021, Check CU sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Village of Rantoul asking for past police complaints. The request was sent to Rantoul Village Clerk and FOIA Officer Janet Gray. The records response was handled by Village...
by Check CU | Jan 20, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin announced today that he would resign his position effective March 25, 2022. At just 50 years old, it is likely that Seraphin has already acquired a new position at a different department,...
by Check CU | Jan 19, 2022 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Clerk Charlie Smyth devised a scheme to unlawfully classify several Urbana residents as “recurrent requesters” which the City used to delay records requests for months and impose huge illegal fees. Check CU has covered numerous Freedom of...
by Check CU | Jan 18, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul Police Officer Marcus Beach provides a “Citizen Complaint Form” after a 30 minute wait. Check CU has been made aware of Rantoul Police Officers handing out police complaint forms which appear to violate Illinois State Law. On November 7th, 2021,...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
After throwing her to the ground and punching her in the back of the head, Officers Michael Cervantes and James Cory Koker pin down a resident so that Officer Eric Ruff can knee her in the ribs. The City of Urbana has devoted considerable time and energy to debating...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
(click image to view full 3 page PDF) As public bodies in Champaign County, such as the City of Urbana, City of Champaign, the Champaign Sherriff’s Office, and the University of Illinois continue to consider and implement automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), the...
by Check CU | Jan 17, 2022 | Latest Articles
City of Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin spent months actively muting residents for expressing opinions The City of Urbana offered to pay $12,750 for plaintiff’s attorney’s fees in order to bring an end to an Open Meetings Act (OMA) lawsuit which was filed on November 20th,...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Rantoul Police Officer Marcus Beach (right) and Rikki McComas (distant left) outside of the Village of Rantoul Police Department building Check CU has recently become aware that Rantoul Police Officers are directing victims of police misconduct to call METCAD 9-1-1 to...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Glover Bannon cost the City of Champaign $5,000 in legal fees after unlawfully concealing copies of human rights complaints. In the spring of 2021, Check CU published an article about denial of public records by the City of Champaign...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
The Urbana City Council reappointed police officials even after they repeatedly lied about conducting use of force reviews (Grace Wilken, Jaya Kolisetty, James Quisenberry, Diane Marlin, Maryalice Wu, Chaundra Bishop, Christopher Evans, Shirese Hursey) Over four...
by Check CU | Jan 16, 2022 | Latest Articles
Village of Rantoul Police Officer Rikki McComas guards the parking lot east of the Police Department building from “all sorts of crimes” The Village of Rantoul Police Department appears to have a prized section of asphalt that may be off limits for...
by Check CU | Nov 17, 2021 | Latest Articles
A Flock Safety automatic license plate reader (ALPR) failed to capture this motorcyclist passing by, along with hundreds of other vehicles On October 17th, Check CU visited the Village of Rantoul to observe the automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that had been...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
A clip from a presentation given by Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and ALPR salesman Dan Murdock at the September 20th Urbana City Council meeting (yellow highlighting added by Check CU) When Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin and a representative from automatic...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
During the past two months, the City of Urbana and the City of Champaign have held a number of meetings wherein the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) have been discussed. One issue that has been raised numerous times is the failure of normal...
by Check CU | Nov 14, 2021 | Latest Articles
Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) photos provided by Rantoul Attorney David Wesner in response to a FOIA request (click image to see all 68 images in higher resolution) Nearly two months after Chief Bryant Seraphin pushed for the installation of automatic license...
by Check CU | Nov 13, 2021 | Latest Articles
Attorney David Wesner addresses the Urbana City Council before his initial appointment to the position of City Attorney on March 8, 2021 On September 29th Check CU posted an article which described a stream of Open Meetings Act (OMA) violations by the Urbana City...
by Check CU | Oct 27, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten interjects during a CPRB meeting, arguing that the Board is not allowed to perform TASER oversight. The September 22nd Urbana Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) meeting continued a theme that has been present at virtually every...
by Check CU | Oct 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the October 5th Champaign City Council meeting, a lengthy discussion was held about the Champaign Police Department’s proposal to install 36 automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) at a cost of $189,000 for 2 years (view the full proposal here). A fair portion of...
by Check CU | Oct 19, 2021 | Latest Articles
Check CU is in possession of a letter which was sent to the Urbana City Council on June 22nd this year, in regards to the Mayoral appointment process. The letter was sent by forcibly-retired Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Chad Hensch, and it sheds a...
by Check CU | Oct 11, 2021 | Latest Articles
Check CU has published a number of articles recently about the Urbana Police Department proposal to install a network of cameras to track vehicle movement throughout the City. These automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) photograph vehicles, and save the data (such...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
While attempting to perform basic research, Check CU found that the Cunningham Township Board has failed to publicly display, and frequently failed to approve, its meeting minutes since March of this year. The Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA) requires minutes of...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
At the September 20th City Council meeting the Urbana Police Department (UPD) presented their desire to deploy a network of expensive license plate cameras for the stated purpose of solving violent crimes. These automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)...
by Check CU | Oct 10, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) proposal, initially presented to the City Council on September 20th, has been tabled by the Committee of the Whole (COW) for the time being. At the October 4th COW meeting, some members expressed concerns about the...
