Third robbery in a week in northwest Urbana
URBANA — Urbana police are investigating another robbery in the northwest part of the city that occurred early Wednesday, the third in less than a week.
Investigator Matt Quinley said about 12:50 a.m., a delivery man for Prime Time Pizza was making a delivery in the 900 block of North Gregory Avenue. When he pulled up, two men who had been seated outside in chairs got up and walked toward him.
One pulled out a large black hand gun, pointed it at the delivery man and said, "You're getting robbed," Quinley said.
The other man then took the pizza, knocked the delivery man's cell phone to the ground, and took $20 from his pocket.
Both men then ran south across Fairview Avenue.
Police also had the following calls in that general area:
— About 12:15 a.m. on July 21, a 20-year-old UI student was knocked off his bicycle on Goodwin near Tremont Street as he tried to ride around three men walking. They knocked him off his bike; two pulled guns and demanded his wallet, phone and backpack but left when a car drove by.
— About 11 p.m. July 21, an 18-year-old Jimmy John's delivery man was approached by four young men in the 1300 block of West Tremont Street. One had a ski mask and a baseball bat in his hands and told the victim not to move but he jumped in his car and drove off.
Anyone with information on any of these crimes is asked to call Urbana police at 384-2320 or Crimestoppers at 373-8477.
So what is your point, Dean? If the News-Gazette had said the suspects were black males, age 20-30, wearing blue jeans and t-shirts, would that empower you with enough information to hunt down the perpetrators?
No. Of course it wouldn't.
So again I ask you, Dean: What is your point?
Well, if that's going to be your argument, then why tell us anything at all? Telling us where it happened or what kind of weapon they used isn't going to help anyone hunt them down either, so by your logic, the News-Gazette should just leave stories at the level of "A person robbed another person somewhere in town.".
This is exact reason we need concealed carry. If these thugs jumped someone who had a concealed weapon it might be different outcome, or the thugs may think twice before doing these robberies outta fear the victim might be armed. Im just waiting for these thugs to jump someone that actually is carrying, when 3 or 4 thugs die from it maybe itll wake up others that the people arent gonna take this crap anymore. I live in Danville and its prob just as bad here, it just doesnt get reported.
spoke to an urbana cop yesterday and he said of the 50 officers at the urbana police department only 3 live in urbana. that should tell you something. it's over folks.
Do the math folks!
94% of the urbana city police officers refuse to live in the city they patrol. if that is not funny then i don't know what is. Wake up wake up!
The News Gazette should do a story on the scoop i just provided but they won't.
Ok, first, the northern part of CU has always had a crime problem. This is not new so lets not act like this is a changing neighborhood. It has always suffered from poverty and the associated crime. I live in North Urbana and have for quite some time and feel perfectly safe and love my neighborhood. We can talk about the historic 'red line' that made the area north of University Ave. what it is, but that is another issue.
Secondly, I have long complained about the fact that Urbana police officers are not required to live in the City of Urbana. I, and many other residents I have spoken with, feel that all existing officers should be 'grandfathered', but any new hires must live within the corporate boundaries and agree to remain there. It is ridiculous to allow people to work for a municipality that they do not live in. An officer cares more about his conduct and the well-being of the community when his job directly affects his friends, neighbors, and ultimately, his family. If that is too much of a risk for a particular officer, I would suggest that he find another line of work.
Agreed, except for the school district. School district boundaries extend outside of the corporate limits of the city (this is very common). Also, school districts are a different creature than municipal government. Let’s also not forget that police have less specialized credentialing which is completion of a short certification course. It is a little harder to find people with specialized credentials (engineering, teaching, etc.) than it is to find someone with a bachelor’s degree who can pass a fitness test and is willing to take a short (compared to advanced degree programs) training course.
I'm not a cop hater. I just think we need to hire our citizens, or those who are willing to relocate to our city rather than employing exurban residents. I'm sorry if I don't put police on a hero pedestal; I value their work, but at the end of the day it is a job, We all selected our careers knowing their 'pros and cons'. These men and women are provided with excellent benefits, upward advancement, and little chance of downsizing/layoff. And no, before the comments pour in about how ungrateful I am, I nor my friends or family have had legal trouble. I’m just a realist with a public policy background.
True on almost all points. The problem I could see happening is the police department may start to find themselves hiring not the most qualified but in fact hire just because the person lives in the city. I am not saying that there are not qualified people in Urbana just that the city may miss out on hiring the one person that could turn out to be the best cop on the force just because he live outside the limits.
I agree that it may distort the market as far as hiring the 'best and brightest', but I believe that this can be corrected by offering relocation expenses (moving) for the best candidates. If you are not willing to move to Urbana b/c you don't want your kids in our schools, etc. then I would prefer that you not be an employee of our city. Many cities have policies like these.
There are several reasons why requiring police officers to live in city that employs them is NOT in the best interest of the city and citizens of that community, particularly in the C-U area.
1.) Contrary to popular belief, many new police officers are experienced officers from other departments or are changing careers. These officers bring a plethora of transferable skills, such as technical and interpersonal communication, plus maturity and life experience. Because they are typically older, they may own homes and have children in school in neighboring towns. Requiring them to uproot their families and sell their homes would be a huge deterrent, especially given that no other police department in the area has this requirement.
2.) It's also extremely difficult for police departments to recruit women and people of color, adding an additional residency requirement would reduce the already small number of applications from diverse applicants.
3.) Simply because someone does not live in Urbana does not mean they don't shop, eat, and do business there or that one would care less about the community. I lived in Urbana for seven years of the 10 I've lived in this community. I don't care any less about the community of Urbana now that I don't live there, and I am still there on a daily basis.
We all live in the Champaign-Urbana community, and arresting criminals in Urbana protects the entire community. I doubt there are very few violent criminals who limit their crime to only one city in this area. Within the city of Urbana, there are three other police departments that assist the Urbana PD and have jurisdiction in the city of Urbana: University of Illinois PD, Champaign County PD, and Illinois State Police. All of these agencies, as well as the Champaign, Rantoul, and other area police departments often work together to protect our entire community. Requiring each to live in their own municipality would not increase these collaborative efforts in any way. Also, where should University of Illinois Police be required to live? On campus?
Finally, as to your comment related to teachers vs. police officers. It's extremely difficult to recruit highly qualified police officers, while there is an oversupply of qualified teachers in many education fields-elementary education and secondary social sciences, for example. And, I don't believe either should be required to live in the city or district that employs them. Police work is extremely stressful and dangerous. It's difficult for families because officers often work overnight and on weekends. Becoming a police officer takes tremendous character and sacrifice. If were as simple as "completion of a short certification course" then area departments would not have to work as hard as they do to find qualified candidates.
The fact that some police officers don't live in Urbana doesn't mean they think "it's over," whatever that means.
Many police officers choose to live outside the towns they work in, because they don't want their kids going to school with the children of parent's they just arrested or gave a ticket to. And they definitely don't want their kids going to school with the KIDS they just arrested or ticketed. They don't want to be sitting next to the people in the stands at football game that they're investigating, or that they know are complete worthless human beings. They don't want to be line at the grocery store behind the guy they just pinched for hitting his wife.
You want to require that firefighters and other city workers that are new hires live in the towns they work in, I don't have a problem with that, but for police officers it's different. This ain't Mayberry.
If you lack the character to deal with these day-to-day situations I would argue that you need to find a new line of work. And yes, in many ways; this is still Mayberry. Don't buy the hype and feed the fear. Urbana is still a great place to live and every year many people relocating to CU for many reasons select Urbana as their home.
It takes more than character to protect an innocent child from those who wish to do him or her harm. Yes, Urbana is overall a safe and wonderful community, but that doesn't mean police officers should have any less freedom than anyone else in the C-U community to protect their children from valid threats of harm.
IT IS RIDICULOUS TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO WORK FOR A MUNICIPALITY THAT THEY DO NOT LIVE IN. AN OFFICER CARES MORE ABOUT HIS CONDUCT AND THE WELL-BEING OF THE COMMUNITY WHEN HIS JOB DIRECTLY AFFECTS HIS FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND ULTIMATELY, HIS FAMILY.
Well, that's your opinion I guess. Judging by your comments, it appears as though you are a teacher or you are married to a teacher. I know you're not blatantly cop bashing, but your obvious disregard for the law enforcement profession is showing. Teachers have 'specialized credentials' and police officers only have to pass a fitness test. Your bias is showing. But that's for a different post.
I would counter that your thinking could easily fall prey to the law of unintended consequences. I'll start out by saying that in my opinion, one of the most important traits for a police officer to possess is the ability to act impartially. I know that we're all human and therefore no one is without their own personal biases, but impartiality is still a noble goal. With that being said, it's incredibly difficult for anyone to remain impartial when dealing with people who they might know on a personal level. Heck, in a lot of professions, it's completely impermissible to mix business with personal lives. For example, judges recuse themselves from cases all of the time due to conflicts of interest. I could go on with examples, but for the sake of brevity...
If all officers were to move into the municipality in which they worked, it would inevitably lead to a much higher number of these conflicts of interest. That, in turn, would inevitably lead to charges of collusion and/or 'special favors.' For example, 'He only wrote me that ticket because my daughter beat out his daughter for the last spot on the cheerleading squad.' Or, 'She didn't write him that ticket because everybody knows that they go to the same church.' (These are silly little examples, but I hope they convey the point.)
That already happens, by the way. It's almost certain to come up every time an officer is accused of misconduct. It's usually something along the line of, 'the prosecutor won't charge because she's married to a cop' or 'all those cops hang out together, so they won't conduct a fair investigation' (regardless of who they are or what agency they work for).
As for your claim that police officers would care more about their conduct and the well-being of the community if they lived there, I would counter that it's clear to me that you don't personally know many officers. I do know quite a few, and I'd dare say that none of them stick around simply for the 'excellent benefits.' If there is a problem with conduct, it's a problem of leadership, not a problem of where someone lives.
I could probably triple my word count and respond to some other claims that were made, but I'm guessing I've about maxed out most everyone's attention span. Thanks for listening.
Your inability to deal with/respond a rational argument that does not agree with your personal logic is showing. I am not a teacher, nor is my significant other. I have two small children so yes I understand the need to protect, but if you're worried about always protecting your kids I would argue that a job where you get shot at is probably not the wisest career move. By the way, your argument based on your 'personal relationships' with officers displays a clear bias. Relax, its a message board. No reason to get personal. Interactions such as these show that we have lost our ability to respectfully debate any societal issue. We have reduced ourselves to a 'winner takes all' mentality in which we simply want to hold to our beliefs and accuse anyone who doesn't hold them of hating the (police, America, God, marriage, etc.).
There is no shortage of police officers. Read the stats, and ask about the registers in CU, Danville, Bloomington, ISP, DNR, etc. I always wondered how Mr. Jones got his followers to drink the drink, it seems it is easy to get people to buy whatever you're selling when you scare them enough.
IF YOU LACK THE CHARACTER TO DEAL WITH THESE DAY-TO-DAY SITUATIONS
Oh, while I'm here, just a quick thought.
You dismiss this as though it's nothing. If you have children (maybe you do, maybe you don't), then think about how you would feel if your child was threatened due to something that was totally out of that child's control. It's a very base instinct to protect your own children at whatever cost. And if that means you have to drive ten miles to get to work, I think that most people would consider that a small price to pay. Peace of mind, my friend.
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