by Check CU | Nov 22, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana, Illinois Police Chief Larry Boone (left) The City of Urbana, Illinois has violated public records laws once again, according to the Illinois Attorney General. Nearly six months ago, Check CU published an article showing that Urbana officials were going out of...
by Check CU | May 1, 2023 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Finalist Larry Boone The City of Urbana, Illinois appears to be continuing their tradition of extreme secrecy in regards to the operations and planning of their police department. Nearly one month ago, Mayor Diane Marlin announced her choice...
by Check CU | Apr 4, 2023 | Latest Articles
Retired Norfolk, VA Police Chief Larry Boone is Urbana’s sole finalist for their new Police Chief The City of Urbana, Illinois seems to have finally settled on a new police chief after becoming aware of the vacancy more than fourteen months ago. On Monday...
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 | 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 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 | 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 | 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 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 | 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
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 | Oct 2, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin, City Administrator Carol Mitten, and Lieutenant Jason Norton present to the Urbana City Council on April 27th, 2020 on police use of force and the Aleyah Lewis arrest. Three weeks ago, Check CU published an article which suggested...
by Check CU | Sep 12, 2021 | Latest Articles
Since mid-2020, police “use of force” has become a front-and-center issue both locally and nationally. The City of Urbana has been hearing from residents about the need for police use of force reform for the past 18 months, and City officials have frequently...
by Check CU | Aug 30, 2021 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin (left) and Deputy Chief Richard Surles (right) present their revised Use of Force Policy to the Urbana City Council on August 23rd, 2021. On August 23rd the Urbana City Council heard a presentation from Chief of Police Bryant...
by Check CU | Jan 6, 2021 | Latest Articles
On November 2nd, 2020, Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten spoke about a mysterious memo regarding the legality of the obstacles she had placed in front of Urbana residents attempting to submit police complaints. The memo was in regards to the filing of...
by Check CU | Nov 22, 2020 | Latest Articles
Demonstrators amass just north of the Urbana City Building on June 1st, carrying signs for George Floyd, Aleyah Lewis, Black Lives Matter, and innumerable slogans for police reform and accountability. After the killing of George Floyd in May, almost every government...
by Check CU | Nov 15, 2020 | Latest Articles
It has been more than 7 months since the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. Tens of thousands of people have watched the videos of Urbana Police Officers throwing Lewis to the ground, pinning her, punching her in the head, and kneeing her in the...
by Check CU | Nov 12, 2020 | Latest Articles
Urbana Police Use of Force Listening Session (Mayor Diane Marlin, Chief Bryant Seraphin, Lieutenant Joel Sanders, Community Engagement Coordinator Sherman Lemond Peppers) An Urbana Police Listening session revealed some disturbing behavior from Urbana’s new...
