Campus Police: Threat or Protection?
From left to right: Latrel Crawford, William Burke, Leojae Bleu Steward, all seniors at the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus, are advocating for the defunding and abolishment of the University of Illinois Police Department, saying the officers target students of color. Lee Gaines/Illinois Newsroom
Students at the University of Illinois’ Urbana and Chicago campuses are calling to defund the campus police department following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Activists say police on the Urbana campus have for years targeted students of color and that the $8 million annual budget for the University of Illinois Police Department could be better spent on mental health and other services for students. Campus police officers, however, say they’re a necessary part of college life — that they protect both university property and the people who make up the university community.
Click here to read the series of reports by Illinois Newsroom Education reporter Lee Gaines about campus policing.
In addition to Gaines, The 21st spoke to an University of Alabama professor of criminal justice and U of I professor whose research focuses on racism and policing to speak more about the complexities.
Guests:
Lee Gaines, Education Reporter for Illinois Newsroom, WILL
John J. Sloan, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice for the University of Alabama at Birmingham
A. Naomi Paik, associate professor — research and teaching focuses on racism and imprisonment, policing, and immigration issues at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
More than *HALF* of those physically taken to jail by University of Illinois police between 2016-19 were Black.
— Lee V. Gaines (@LeeVGaines) January 25, 2021
Black students make up only ~7% of @Illinois_Alma student body.
I dug deep into the defund the campus police movement:https://t.co/SU0hjbrHnD
Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi
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