On March 13th, 2023, just before a final vote on a Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract, one member of the Urbana City Council laid out just how straightforward basic police accountability can be. Or rather, could have been, if anyone had listened.
We believe that the list of accountability measures presented by Evans for the Urbana, Illinois FOP contract could be applicable to any police contract in the country. Without further commentary, Evans’s complete statement is provided below.
“Last year, during our contract negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police, City Council was told that the Fraternal Order of Police was very difficult to work with because the FOP won’t even allow for police officers to be fired for beating up someone or falsifying evidence. In that small moment I saw an encapsulation of the 30 years of deterioration of a good relationship between the police and the community. I hoped Urbana could be different and that the Urbana Police Department could lead the way.
So last year I contacted Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), a non-profit organization in Massachusetts founded in 2002. They are comprised of police officers, police chiefs, prosecutors, judges, correctional officers, and other law enforcement officials dedicated to ending the drug war and reforming the criminal justice system for the better and seeking real public safety solutions.
I asked them if they had any contract language to prohibit excessive use of force and falsifying evidence. One of their on-staff lawyers sent me the following:
‘Urbana police officers can be immediately terminated by the Urbana Chief of Police at the conclusion of an investigation, hearing, and appeal if:
- An officer deliberately uses unjustified and reckless excessive force as defined in departmental policy and training
- An officer deliberately fails to intervene to stop a fellow officer from using unjustified and reckless excessive force as defined in departmental policy and training
- An officer deliberately fails to report incidents by fellow officers of unjustified and reckless excessive force as defined in departmental policy and training to a superior officer or supervisor
- An officer a) deliberately makes a false statement in a police report or warrant application, b) revises, edits, or redacts any portion of any document for the purpose of creating a falsehood or for the purpose of eliminating or concealing a false statement that had knowingly been made, or c) makes a statement orally or in writing, in the course of employment as a police officer, the officer knows or has reason to know to be false
- An officer intentionally entices, colludes with, or coerces any witness in any proceeding or matter to provide any statement or testimony the officer intends, knows, or has reason to know to be false
- An officer deliberately fabricates or tampers with any physical evidence in any manner in any way to reduce the integrity, reliability, or usefulness of the evidence
- An officer deliberately fails to collect or preserve any evidence relevant to any matter
- An officer engages in any conduct or makes any statement or representation that undermines the integrity, reliability, or truthfulness of any matter or investigation
Fired officers would retain their right to appeal under the arbitration system.’
LEAP also alerted that the City of Urbana’s FOP contract had been identified as problematic regarding transparency and accountability. LEAP connected me with Campaign Zero, a national non-profit that seeks to eliminate police killings of civilians, improving police community interactions, and ensuring accountability. It was recommended the Urbana FOP contract changed its regulations over the Civilian Police Review Board to allow independent and transparent oversight of the Urbana Police Department.
The current contract puts the FOP entirely in charge of what the Civilian Police Review Board can and cannot do. The contract requires all investigations into citizen complaints be done only by the police department. The contract prohibits the CPRB from can doing its own investigation. The contract prohibits a complainant’s lawyer, the complainant themselves, or the media from conducting an investigation into complaints against officers. The contract prohibits the CPRB from communicating with relevant witnesses to the complaint. The contract requires the names of officers, their disciplinary records, and the investigation itself be kept confidential. The contract places no obligation on officers to participate in CPRB proceedings. These investigation and investigative standards which have been avoided by the FOP for the last 12 years are the same investigative standards every resident of Urbana is under at the police station, jail house, and Courthouse.
The Urbana City Council has supported the Urbana Police Department since May 3rd 2000, I mean 2021 when this current City Council was sworn into office. This City Council has allocated over 30 million of your tax dollars to law enforcement in the way of increased salaries, bonuses, equipment, remodeled facilities, budgets, and new investigative staff. What the Urbana City Council shouldn’t support is our Police Chief disempowered to fire police officers who in very, very rare instances engage in deliberate, intentional, and unjustified excessive uses of force. Or don’t intervene or don’t report unjustified excessive uses of force by their colleagues. The Urbana City Council shouldn’t support our Police Chief unable to fire police officers who in very rare instances engage in falsifying evidence or coercing or enticing witnesses to give false testimony the officer knows to be untrue. Neither should the Urbana City Council support our Civilian Police Review Board unable to conduct a fair, impartial, transparent, unfettered, and public investigation of the very, very few complaints against police officers filed by our citizens.
The Urbana City Council should codify these precautionary regulations into the Union contract so there won’t be problems in the future. These precautionary regulations would have absolutely no impact on police officers who follow the rules, have their body cams on, and enjoy Union legal representation. The heroes and good guys and gals have nothing to fear from public oversight and should embrace such oversight to provide insurances to the public they serve, that they can trust the Urbana Police Department. That the city of Urbana takes a zero tolerance view of intentional and deliberate misconduct and our Police Department abides by transparency and accountability. As a City Council we must maintain the Public’s faith in their public and their Police Department. The Urbana Police Department should have a good reputation. Having a labor contract that insists the public will be protected and their complaints will be taken seriously is a necessary step toward improving public policing community relations. Unfortunately, the contract negotiators failed to include these provisions in the proposed contract. Thank you for listening.”