We interview two people who have mental, behavioral, or developmental disabilities about their symptoms, their experiences with police when they were suffering a crisis, and whether they support a police response to mental/behavioral/developmental crisis.
Just as a reminder, in Illinois, a law called the Community Emergency Services & Support Act, or CESSA, requires that all mental/behavioral/developmental emergency calls for service that are nonviolent & noncriminal are responded to by alternative first responders (this is a non-police model).
Interview with T.J. Gordon of Advance Your Leadership Power (AYLP) about the Community Emergency Services & Support Act (CESSA) and the proposed Peoria Co-Responder bill. AYLP is an organization made up of disabled activists who organize on behalf of themselves.
The Safe-T Act, HB 3653, omnibus criminal justice law signed into law in 2021.
The members of CIRC & Afro-SOC BloNo support this law, and so do the working people of our communities. We strongly encourage you to support the reforms made by the law and do everything in your power to implement the changes with equity. Furthermore, public officials should be mindful that the working people of Illinois support efforts toward increased police accountability, transparency, and reform. The public also desires alternative institutions to address public safety. We are certain that the guidance we are providing will help to establish expectations for these domains. This guidance carefully explains what the law says, what it doesn’t say, and best practices on how to implement this law at the local level here in Illinois.
[FULL DISCLOSURE: The editor of Agitation Rising News is a founding member of CIRC.]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
January 22, 2022
The Central Illinois Research Collective (CIRC) supports the new criminal justice reform law, HB 3653, signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2021. Our organization strongly supports the principles of this law like police transparency, accountability, and alternatives to policing.
Central Illinois Research Collective (CIRC) logo
We are releasing this guidance to assist local municipalities in properly interpreting & implementing HB 3653. We believe it is important for public officials to know that our membership supports this legislation. We encourage public officials to embrace these reforms & implement them to the best of their abilities. Furthermore, our organization is looking to hold public officials accountable when it comes to this responsibility.
Our organization is co-hosting a Virtual Town Hall on Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 1:00 PM with the AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color of Bloomington-Normal to explain the guidance in greater detail. This law has left much controversy and questions around how it will be implemented throughout Illinois. This law is much more than just the Pretrial Fairness Act. This event hopes to bring clarity to the important nuances of the law. Our Town Hall will also address follow-up laws adjusting HB 3653.
As DSA BloNo hemorrhaged active membership, the trend was for autonomous groups to form in its absence.
Afro-Socialists & Socialists of Color Caucus continues to exist. They are a space for people of color to organize autonomously. They continue to focus on base building by performing events and outreach to the community: swim lessons, COVID-19 vaccine clinics, fine art events, etc. Their email address is afrosocblono@gmail.com.
The Bloomington-Normal Tenant’s Union is an organization created to provide resources to tenant’s and defend tenant’s rights, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are a vehicle for renting class solidarity and empowerment in the BloNo IL area.
BloNo is home to its very own chapter of the Communist Party USA. During the flooding that occurred last summer, Summer 2021, their members volunteered helping many people whose basements had flooded get the problem fixed (the BN Tenant’s Union was also involved in this effort). Furthermore, the CP continues outreach to the community by holding monthly family picnics during warmer weather.
The BloNo Socialist Feminists group aims to educate the Bloomington-Normal community on issues that affect marginalized genders and building solidarity through awareness, advocacy, and empowerment. Their past work includes outreach to the community through public events, addressing food insecurity, and public education.
The BloNo Socialist Feminists is a group that grew out of DSA BloNo’s Socialists-Feminist Working Group. Like Afro-Soc, they are completely autonomous from DSA.
Currently, their Facebook page is the best way to contact them.
The Central Illinois solidarity-Research Collective (CIRC) is dedicated to helping organizations & individuals request information from public bodies. CIRC is intended to be a resource for all Leftists across Central Illinois and is not limited just to the Bloomington-Normal area. This research is important to guarantee transparent & accountable government. Every person has a right to access most government records. CIRC specializes in requesting police records and helping individuals file complaints again local law enforcement. CIRC is also involved in lobbying legislation and educating the people on changes to various laws and statutes. CIRC is an all-volunteer organization.
CIRC grew out of DSA Blono’s Solidarity Research Working Group. Like Afro-Soc and BloNo Socialist Feminists, CIRC is completely autonomous from DSA.
Those looking to get involved in CIRC should fill out this contact form and someone will be in touch with them. No previous experience doing research is required. Individuals can also email the organization at cisolidarityresearch@gmail.com. GET INVOLVED IN CIRC!
If you’d like your organization added to this list, please send an email to zgetco@gmail.com with your org’s name, contact info, a short description of the group, and any active projects the org is engaged in.
For the second time in two months, the Afro-Soc Caucus of BloNo DSA is publically calling out alleged abusive behavior by BloNo DSA members, including the few remaining leaders of the Executive Committee.1
The Caucus alleges, “The slander and character assassination of targeted members of color represents numerous violations of our Community Agreements and Chapter Bylaws, including our Harassment & Grievance policy… the harassment, the smear campaigns, and the move to reduce our members of color has been persistent. Members of color who have spoken out against this abuse and bullying have simply been made targets themselves for defending any victims. Additionally, we have witnessed members of the Chapter’s Executive Committee participate in and support wild conspiracy theories that undermine our election.”
As reported previously, the Caucus released a statement on October 17th, 2021 condemning the alleged widespread abuse of power and anti-democratic strategies of DSA BloNo’s leadership. All four Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs), including Afro-Soc co-chair Sonny Garcia, resigned from their positions in the chapter with some leaving the organization entirely.
According to this new statement, the alleged abuse has only gotten worse.
The October statement was passed by a majority vote (5-1) at a meeting, including co-chair Ann Simmons. At least two other Afro-Soc members (including co-chair Sonny Garcia) who did not get a chance to vote have stated they did not support the statement and did not believe it would have passed the full Caucus membership of 25. No other member who did not vote has come forward with their opposition, that I am aware of. This new statement passed 7-4 seemingly falsifying this argument.
There is an election for new Exec members (Co-Chair, Secretary, Public Relations Officer, and Treasurer) and HGOs next Saturday, December, 18, 2021. So far, all candidates running have not been in leadership prior and most are running unopposed.
Peoria County voters overwhelmingly re-elected Peoria County Auditor Jessica Thomas last November. But the Peoria County Board last week took the unprecedented step to pull funding for Auditor Thomas’ entire staff.
“Since their referendum to eliminate the office failed and they cannot remove an elected official from office, they’ve chosen instead to defund my office so it cannot reasonably function. On behalf of my office, I would like to assure Peoria County residents that I will continue to work to do the job they elected me to do, even if it requires that I file a lawsuit against the County to force it to follow the law.” – Peoria County Auditor Jessica Thomas
