Champaign’s trial run of gunshot detection program fires blanks
In an effort to deter gun violence, Champaign implemented two new surveillance technologies, but underwhelming results have led the police department to recommend parting…
In an effort to deter gun violence, Champaign implemented two new surveillance technologies, but underwhelming results have led the police department to recommend parting…
In 2016, the Southeast Urbana Neighborhood Association and its steering committee met with leadership from the Lierman and Historic East Urbana neighborhoods to address…
In the past eight years, Champaign and Urbana witnessed a steep hike in gun violence and then a swift decline after 2021 — but…
On February 13 this year, a one-year pilot program began in Champaign with Raven gunshot detection technology. Records obtained in a Freedom of Information…
The City of Champaign is implementing a multi-million-dollar plan to combat local gun violence focusing spending on its street outreach program intended to aid…
Although Champaign voted in favor of implementing automated license plate readers (ALPRs) for $240,500 last month, Urbana rejected its $54,000 idea about a month…
Gun violence in Champaign has steadily marched westward over the past three years as shootings have increased in neighborhoods north and south of Springfield Avenue, especially in or near several apartment complexes, according to a review of police data over the past seven years by CU-CitizenAccess.org. With about two weeks left in this year, 16 people have lost their lives. In 2020, there were nine homicides, but only two in 2019. Shooting incidents more than doubled in Champaign since 2019, going from 100 shootings, to 189 in 2020, then to 251 by December 13.
Shootings continue at over 250 in a year that has already seen its highest number of shooting deaths ever recorded in the city, at 16 so far. The previous high of 9 occurred just last year, and even all the numbers that measure gun violence in Urbana have tripled in the past five years. Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said the rise in shooting incidents and homicides this year can be attributed to retaliation in a lot of cases. While retaliation may be to blame for a lot of the shootings, law enforcement officials and community leaders said it is not the only cause.
Only four years ago, Urbana police reported just 17 shooting incidents and no fatalities. The numbers doubled by the end of 2019, and have nearly doubled in each of the two years since, according to an analysis of police data by CU-CitizenAccess. Out of the 99 shootings through November, at least 21 individuals were injured, meaning that when combined with homicides, one-in-three people were killed or wounded when shots were fired.
Several months after addressing increasing gun violence in a community update, a new report on hiring reveals the Champaign police force is understaffed. Urbana and University of Illinois police are experiencing some shortages, but have significantly less unfilled positions.