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 anonymously.
The complaint portal removes any requirements to provide a name, a sworn affidavit, or for the complainant to have been physically present at the location of the incident. All of these requirements have been unlawfully enforced by the Urbana Police Department.
The UPD Civilian Resource Site also has a directory of Urbana Police officers, which allows residents to identify individual officers by photo, name, or badge number. Each officer’s City email address is also listed in case a resident needs to contact a particular officer.
Other features of the site:
- Over ten years of Urbana Police use of force logs are made available for public inspection
- A section about the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) shows the board membership and a full record of past meeting recordings
- A news feed updates regularly with articles from various news sources about the Urbana Police Department
Mayor Diane Marlin posted this below on my Facebook page this morning: “Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin
This “0nline Portal” is not affiliated with the City of Urbana or the Urbana Police Department. Complaints sent to this “portal” will not be investigated or addressed by the City. This is a fake site.”
Council Member Evans,
Thanks for your comment. Is it your understanding that the Mayor will direct the Police Department to ignore and destroy police complaints delivered through a proxy?
According to the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the state law “allows for anonymous complaints against officers”.
As you know, other complaint filing barriers were also removed so that complaints could be filed by anyone, even if they were not present at the incident.
If the City does not permanently retain all police complaints (no matter the method of delivery), that would seem to be a clear violation of Section 25 of the Local Records Act.
Can CHECK CU elaborate on who (if anyone) will investigate complaints submitted to the civilian resource site?
I think some people might assume that a formal investigation will follow submission of a complaint, although I’m not sure that’s your intent, as it’s not within the capacity of a community page nor a news media page. I am speculating that the intent might be more along the lines of 1) compiling submissions received, and possibly publishing those for which permission to do so is obtained, and 2) potentially investigating complaints that are both sufficiently substantial and substantiated, via investigative journalism methods. Is that the general idea? Might be good to clarify some.
The complaint portal acts as a proxy so that complaints can be conveyed to the City of Urbana. The portal overcomes Urbana’s unlawful complaint forms and other obstacles that deter individuals from filing complaints.
The City of Urbana has already resolved to accept all complaints, no matter the source or identity of the person filing. State law requires them to do so. The Local Records Act requires the City to retain all police complaints indefinitely.
Urbana Police Policy 1010.2:
“The Urbana Police Department takes seriously all complaints regarding the service provided by the Department and the conduct of its members.”
Is there any reason to think that the Urbana Police Department would not perform an investigation on a complaint?
Got it now. I hadn’t grasped most of that. A suggestion: Maybe also spell out to site visitors why they might choose to submit a complaint here rather than through the City (notary issue, etc). And maybe inform them, too, that they can choose to instead file directly with the City, just to maximize clarity. Just know from experience (and i know you as well) how trauma can, when activated, make what might seem the simplest of instructions hard to understand and follow.
From my personal experience, one of the biggest obstacles – if not the most insurmountable – is the impossible-to-meet filling deadline. For a minor incident it ought not to pose a problem. But the deadline of forty-five days (or little known alternative, resolution of legal case?) is absolutely prohibitive for many victims of *severe* police misconduct. Just two examples: by its very nature, severe misconduct is predictably going to result in traumatization of the victim (which can very significantly impair organizational ability and productivity, not to mention self-confidence), and in the worst cases, imprisonment (from which the prisoner has effectively no way to learn about, let alone file, any complaint).
Until the filing deadline is amended to actually accommodate the reality of victims’ needs, including assertively informing them that complainants with disabilities (which includes officer-caused trauma) have the right, under the ADA, to request special accommodation (including extensions), the UPD complaint process remains a bogus accountability mechanism – in reality, a shield to protect bad cops from discovery and consequences.
I don’t know if the Mayor is directing the police department or the Civilian-Police Review Board from investigating any anonymous complaints on this new portal. All I know is what she put on my Facebook page.