A relatively quiet Springfield City Council meeting turned explosive at its conclusion when activists loudly protested their colleague not being called upon for public comment.
Tiara Standage, president of the People United for Reform, Power, Liberation, and Equity (Purple) Coalition and a community activist for police accountability, said she signed up online to speak at the Nov. 4 City Council. When she received no confirmation, she called the City Clerk’s Office to be added to the list as a speaker.
When local activist Ken Pacha completed his remarks during the public comment period at the end of the meeting, Mayor Misty Buscher immediately called for the meeting’s adjournment as Standage pleaded with the council that she had signed up to speak.
Standage proceeded to read her speech as Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams and Corporation Counsel Gregory Moredock engaged in a tense conversation with other alderpersons looking on.
Prior to the meeting, The Purple Coalition had called for its supporters to address elected officials at City Council and Sangamon County Board meetings to “demand transparency, accountability and policy change from law enforcement agencies.” The group also calls for police officers who have received a driving under the influence (DUI) charge to be dismissed.
These demands come in light of Springfield Police Lt. Charles Peters being charged with a DUI on Oct. 24. In August, Sgt. Lindzee Carpenter was charged with a DUI, demoted of her rank and given a 30-day suspension.
Peters is the officer Standage accuses of choking her as he arrested her during a protest on Sept. 9, 2024, in front of the Springfield Police Department. Activists staged the protest in the aftermath of former SPD Sgt. Michael being charged with a DUI for an accident that left one woman in critical condition after his vehicle struck a couple riding on a motorcycle.
The police department never formally filed charges against Standage for what it claimed was her involvement, but following the incident Springfield Police Chief Joseph Behl refused to partake in community meetings where Standage would be involved.
During Tuesday evening’s council meeting, several attendees wore purple and sat in the front row as the majority of the public speakers raised concerns about police misconduct and the lack of accountability in the Springfield Police Department.
“The community has to gain more trust for our police, and it can’t be done if there are this many DUIs and misconduct going on,” said Dr. Lesa Johnson. “The behavior is appalling, and this is only what we know. This is just what happened to come out in videos and things like that.”
Another speaker, Anne Reeves, called for services to help police officers address drinking problems or mental health concerns they may have. In September, she won her wrongful detention lawsuit against the city, with a jury in the federal trial awarding her $2 million.
“I want to be able to trust Springfield Police after what happened to me,” Reeves said. “I want to believe that if I came into the city and I needed help that they would keep me safe and act professionally and not do things they weren’t supposed to. And every time I turn around, I see somebody from Springfield Police getting arrested or in the news or behaving unethically.”
Dist. 21 Sangamon County Board member Reggie Guyton was among the speakers. He told Illinois Times five of the members of the PURPLE Coalition coordinated when they signed up to speak so as to have their names listed after one another and all of them had trouble signing up online.
He said leaving out Standage for remarks was intentional on the part of city officials.
“This is not the first time that a personal attack has been aimed at Tiara Standage,” he said. “So, this is not coincidental at this point. This is literally them infringing on her constitutional rights.”
“All they had to do was look at the proof and … past precedence has occurred in which they have done that before. So the choice that they made — that this horseshoe made — to exclude a community activist and advocate is not only troubling, but it signals a strong issue of fascism in this council,” Guyton added.
Following the adjournment of the meeting, Standage stood outside of the municipal building with supporters gathered around her and read the speech she had been prepared to deliver during the City Council meeting.
“Explain why Charles Peters still has a job with the Springfield Police Department and while you’re at it, explain why you should still have yours (referring to SPD Chief Joseph Behl),” she read.
“The responsibility for accountability rests with the chief of police and the mayor. And if Chief Behl cannot explain these decisions, justify his leadership and demonstrate a willingness to hold his officers accountable, then I’m standing here today to publicly call for his resignation. Chief Behl has shown us time and time again what weak leadership looks like, from openly opposing the Massey Commission’s calls for actions to using public resources and city council time to publicly embarrass constituents…”
Behl told Illinois Times he wasn’t available for comment following the meeting.
In addition to Standage, Veronica Glass said she signed up to speak, but also wasn’t called to address the council.
“My concern is 35 minutes,” Glass said, referring to the time it took for police officers to respond to reports of an injured man targeted for being unhoused outside a convenience store the afternoon of Oct. 22.
“Their short staff was their excuse,” she recalled as the police’s explanation for the time it took to respond.
“The community has to gain more trust for our police, and it can’t be done if there are this many DUIs and misconduct going on,” .
If this is true, then shouldn’t the flip-side also be true?
“The police has to gain more trust for our community, and it can’t be done if there are this many shootings, killings and lawlessness going on”.
Just sayin’.
Oh come on, this is an obvious false equivalency. The police are professionals paid to do a job…one that is admittedly difficult but also one that they have sworn an oath to do. And a very important duty of that job that this department consistently undervalues and falls short of, is crime prevention via healthy community engagement.
And they can’t abdicate responsibility or otherwise behave unethically because they don’t “trust the community.”
And people like you giving them a pass because of the escalation of city-wide crime, and escalation that they, themselves, play a part in is a big reason why community policing is consistently undervalued.
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
I one time had two teenagers attempt to break into my home; I called SPD telling them I was armed and holding them off with my body against the door, “I don’t know how long I can hold them though” as they could hear them against my door over the phone. After about 10 minutes I had to reveal I was armed and then they ran off: police came 30+ minutes after that call was made and had the audacity to blame me for it.