Urbana unveils community engagement police team and partners with HOPE violence-intervention program

Urbana’s police department and its partner HOPE presented expanded community-based efforts to prevent violence and connect residents to services at the March 23 city council meeting.

Urbana Police described a new community engagement team led by a services-division lieutenant with Community Engagement Sergeant Antoine Funches and community liaison Dr. Leanda Cunningham. The department said the team will wear distinct, non‑patrol uniforms, operate a dedicated vehicle and emphasize resource referrals and prevention rather than enforcement. “The goal of the community engagement team and the violence prevention office is not going to be used for enforcement,” the lieutenant said during the presentation.

The presentation outlined three branches: (1) community engagement officers supported by a clergy patrol; (2) a crisis co‑response team pairing a behavioral-health detective with a clinician; and (3) a community violence interventionist focused on problem solving and partnerships with groups including Dream and Courage Connection. Staff said they plan to add one more officer to the team and to be deliberate in filling positions, given training and field‑training timelines.

Questions from councilors focused on policy, hours, equipment and community input. Council member Grace asked whether the department would share the policy that will guide the team; staff said a guideline is in use and they would provide the operating policy in the near future. Councilors also pressed whether officers on the team would carry radios, access CAD dispatch or be armed; staff replied the officers remain sworn police officers with standard communications and tools, but when working in the community‑engagement role their focus will be resource allocation and outreach.

Following UPD’s presentation, Kathy Garrison of DREAM described HOPE (Healing, Outreach, Prevention, Education), a state‑funded community‑based violence‑intervention program that works in Champaign and Urbana. HOPE’s director (Tracy Dace) and outreach staff were named, and program services were listed as street outreach, case management and victim services. Garrison presented program metrics for a target area, Aspen Court: she said gun‑related incidents in consecutive 165‑day periods fell from seven to six to two after HOPE increased presence there.

HOPE staff described a case‑management model, flexible participant support funds and victim services including emergency response and help navigating medical and legal systems. HOPE said it enrolled 40 participants in 2025 (28 high‑risk, 12 victims) and added nine participants in January–February 2026; staff said they responded to 10 violent incidents in early 2026 and mediated five conflicts.

Several councilors urged urgent, transparent community engagement. Council members and community speakers pressed for a public release of the team’s policy and for civic involvement in program design. Some councilors stressed that outreach cannot be a substitute for enforcement when required: “If there’s going to be shootings, if there’s going to be guns, you better be making arrests, too,” one council member said.

The council did not take formal action on the program at the meeting. Staff said they will send the policy and will notify council about planned community events and opportunities for public input; CPRB/HRC and other partners were scheduled to discuss related items at upcoming meetings.

The city and HOPE said they plan to continue data‑driven targeting of “hot‑spot” neighborhoods and to coordinate notifications so HOPE can respond to incidents. Councilors asked for written policies, clearer staffing timelines, and more consistent public communication about requests and outcomes as the city implements the program.