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Urbana residents press council after use-of-force report, demand plan for accountability
Summary
Speakers at the Committee of the Whole urged the Urbana City Council to explain how recent investments in policing will reduce disproportionate use of force against Black residents and to shift funding to social services and alternative response programs.
Public commenters at Urbana’s Committee of the Whole on March 16 told the mayor and council they were alarmed by a city use-of-force report and demanded concrete steps to reduce racial disparities and redirect funding.
Jessica Yacine, speaking for the CU Muslim Action Committee, told the council that Black residents make up roughly 19% of Urbana’s population but, based on the recently released report, bore about 78–81% of recorded police-force incidents. “Let that sink in,” Yacine said. “That means…
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