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Residents and students press Urbana leaders for plan after city use-of-force data prompts outcry
Summary
At a March 16 Committee of the Whole meeting, multiple residents — including a community organizer and university-affiliated speakers — criticized Urbana’s use-of-force figures and asked city leaders for concrete plans linking public-safety dollars to racial-equity results.
Jessica Yassin, a Urbana resident speaking for the CU Muslim Action Committee, opened the public-comment portion of the Committee of the Whole meeting by pressing the council and mayor to explain how they will remedy what she called starkly disproportionate use-of-force numbers in Urbana policing. “Black residents make up roughly 19% of Urbana’s population. Yet police force was used on Black people between 78 and 81% of the time,” Yassin said, adding: “That is someone’s father, someone’s child, someone’s neighbor.”
The concern recurred through several speakers. Steven Maguire told councilors that leadership choices inside the police department and budget priorities help explain the numbers, saying a recent grocery tax produced about $1 million and that “about 60% of that is going to the police,” an allocation he said could otherwise support social services. Maguire also alleged past misconduct involving a promoted officer, saying the council had not given that conduct adequate consideration during personnel decisions.
Other commentators urged a broader rethinking of public-safety spending. Derek Briles and Luke Lee said the city should redirect money into housing, alternative-response programs and services such as survivor supports and food security, arguing those investments would reduce crises that otherwise draw police involvement. Stuart Levy urged caution about attributing disparities solely to economic differences, saying “visibility” and profiling have driven disparate traffic-stop rates in past local studies.
Several speakers framed their appeals around the city’s stated racial-equity goals. Yassin said she and others expected the city’s investments in policing to “produce results,” and asked directly for a council- or mayor-led plan linking budget increases to measurable improvements in use-of-force outcomes.
The comments were made during the committee’s public-input period; staff did not immediately propose a specific response at the meeting. Council members did not vote on the policy questions raised during public comment; several members later discussed surveillance and other agenda items. The committee closed the public-input period and proceeded to staff reports and ordinance discussions.
Why this matters: Multiple residents urged the council to tie public-safety funding decisions to transparent metrics and to explain how recent investments will change outcomes for populations that speakers said bear a disproportionate share of police force. The complaints also pressed the council to answer whether current promotion and oversight choices have contributed to those outcomes.
What’s next: Public commenters asked the council and mayor for a clear remedial plan and for staff to return with specifics; the committee did not set a formal follow-up during the meeting.
