Gun Violence Updates

This post has links and updates on area gun violence and the latest information on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded programs intended to address that problem at the County and municipal levels. In general, we're seeing a significant drop in violent crime, shootings, and other gun violence locally, similar to national trends since the pandemic era spikes.

Heads up: The third in a series of training sessions for a mass casualty event will be happening today, Tuesday January 30th, according to the News-Gazette:

Tuesday’s session will operate under the Active Shooter Incident Management plan, a widely used framework that Lack said helps restructure the chain of command and coordinate different agencies to use the same language and procedures in the event of a major emergency...

It will also test how certain departments are delegated to respond to regular calls for service outside of the major event. Each responder will participate in the exercise for an hour before cycling back out to their shift.

Tuesday will be the third and largest training session that local first responders have held in part of a continuing effort to ensure that the agencies are on the same page in the event of a major emergency.

That full article here. More from WCIA and the City of Champaign website here. There's a phrase we hear from first responders, ALICE trainers, and some policy makers that, "it's not a matter of 'if,' but 'when.'"

Gun Violence Updates: 

For general updates on shootings in Champaign County, there are monthly updates by area police chiefs and the Sheriff's office each month at the Champaign County Community Coalition. For example, the Champaign Police Department continues to report reduced shootings and a drop in violent crime. From the News-Gazette coverage of January's Champaign County Community Coalition:

The Champaign Police Department is moving in the right direction and not looking to make any wholesale changes — at least according to Deputy Police Chief Geoffrey Coon...

Champaign saw an almost 50 percent drop in shootings in 2023 compared to 2022 and a nearly 75 percent drop in shootings last year compared to 2021, a release from the city police department said...

Coon pointed to the department’s increased investment in building relationships with community members, as well as the implementation of new technology like license-plate-readers and “old fashioned police work” to the drop in violent crime.

That full article here. Urbana PD presented an crime update to the Urbana City Council in early November (jump to video). A graph from that presentation shows similar drops as in Champaign and national trends:

One can compare the spike and subsequent drop in violent crime in national trends and in each city to evaluate any claims on causes. C-U Citizen Access has previously reported that violent crime and shootings have fallen in both Champaign and Urbana in spite of the policy and ALPR technology differences. Other metropolitan areas saw similar drops in gun violence and violent crime as reported by the Springfield Journal-Register.

ARPA Funding Updates:

A lot of programs attempting to address gun violence or underlying factors got an infusion with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. A quick by the numbers update on ARPA funded projects can be difficult as the funds went to various local government bodies. The latest ARPA updates at the County level show most of those programs are still in the "being implemented" phase (page 65-74 of the January County Board Agenda Packet PDF).

Individual municipalities can be a bit trickier to nail down. The City of Champaign packaged a lot of their ARPA funds towards these issues in their Community Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint. There was a Study Session report and update on the blueprint programs several months ago here. Since then the City has approved a second round of ARPA funding via that blueprint. The resolution approving that second round of funding had an explanation and breakdown here. They also have a general ARPA explainer page on their website.

Similarly, the City of Urbana has a general concept page describing how it plans to use the ARPA funds, including on matters related to gun violence and issues viewed as underlying causes. More details from the city's approved "ARPA Concept Plan Project List" here. The 2024 budget includes a detailed description of the ARPA funds usage (starting on page 8 of the PDF)

"Lost" and "Stolen" Guns:

The News-Gazette has continued to highlight local reports of lost or stolen firearms in a series highlighting how many legal firearms are entering criminal circulation through neglect, theft, or likely sales/transfers reported as loss or thefts:

In less than three months’ time last summer, Champaign police filed five reports of firearms reported stolen by residents — one from an unlocked truck, another from an unlocked apartment, five more from a home when the owner apparently wasn’t looking. Of the nine guns gone missing, none have been recovered. 

That full article here. Other articles in the series highlighted similar issues in Rantoul and Danville and another recent article highlighted vehicle thefts.