Visit from ACLU Brings Call to Action Concerning Traffic Stops Issue

ABOVE: ACLU of Illinois Communications Director Edwin Yohnka speaks Saturday (March 4th) at DACC Bremer Center.

A passionate crowd attended Saturday’s (March 4^th) speech by the ACLU of Illinois’ Edwin Yohnka at the Danville Area Community College Bremer Center.  It all began in January, when Former Alderman Lloyd Randle brought Veteran Derek Cooper before the Danville City Council, asking why the police had pulled him over nine times since 2018.  Yohnka says racial profiling began way before the phrase “driving while black” was invented.  He says no matter what police departments have in their written policies; in Yohnka’s words, “Culture eats policy for breakfast every day.”

AUDIO: If officers are trained by fellow officers on the street, “this is the way we do it,” and “these are the things we can do,” those policies will be for naught.  What will happen at the end of the day is stops will continue to take place in a discriminatory way, because they’re encouraged to because they’re told “this is the way we always do it.”

Former Danville Alderman Lloyd Randle introduces Edwin Yohnka to DACC Bremer Center audience, former IEA and NEA president Reggie Weaver of Chicago delivers a “take the next step” message to the crowd during questioning, Randle goes about the crowd during the question and answer session with Yohnka.

Cooper was present, very happy with the turn out, and hoping that the call to action; such as having more presence at City Council meetings, will be followed through on.

AUDIO: I’m hoping so.  Even if we think something’s going to happen, but we have to see if something happens.  We have the ball rolling, now we’ve got to keep it rolling.

Yohnka says the Illinois Traffic Stops Study Act was a bill sponsored by then State Senator Barack Obama when it became law in 2003.  He says it requires municipalities to release statistics from traffic stops, including racial, to be reported to the Illinois Department of Transportation.  Yohnka says stats he obtained for stops by the Danville Police in 2021 showed 1,056 stops of black drivers and 636 stops of white drivers.  Yohnka says this law is 20 years old, and is not leading to the changes it was meant to do.

AUDIO: We figured out the ways to measure the problem, but the problem didn’t go away.  President Obama, when he was president, used to talk about this bill with great pride, and used to say, “We gave police the tools.”  Well what we need to do is to take it from the tools to actually force them into implementation of change.  That’s really where we are today. 

Yohnka says one thing that would help is to put less focus on traffic stops, period.

AUDIO: Stopping somebody for going one mile an hour over a speed limit is not focusing on violent crime.  When we invest so much in these traffic stops; by the way, maybe because they yield fines, maybe because they yield resources and revenues back to local government, I don’t know; but when we focus on that work, we divest and we divert from doing the real things that make communities feel safer.

Also there was State Senator Paul Faraci; who admitted this was a learning experience on the issue for him, with much more to look into.

AUDIO: It’s all about education.  We’ve got to learn what’s going on.  I think Mr. Randle is bringing light to a situation; we have to understand it.  I’ve got to learn about these issues, I am not an expert.  I need to be educator, and so this is an environment to me to learn more.

A similar sentiment was expressed by a member of the Danville City Council that was there; Alderman Robert Williams.

AUDIO: I believe it’s great importance for us to get all the information concerning this particular item.  And I certainly will do my part in seeing that the City Council’s aware of this.  And we need to move forward and investigate everything.

Coming down from Chicago to hear Yohnka speak was former Illinois Education Association and National Education Association president Reggie Weaver.  He said afterwards that the community needs to get behind Randle’s call to action.

AUDIO: And to see the number of people out here supporting this young man that’s trying to do something for the citizens in Danville was very inspiring.  And the question is: Will they allow it to continue; step in and help this man, to do what needs to be done for the citizens of Danville.

Yohnka said towards the end of his speech; a major goal needs to be “make the traffic stops look like the driving population.”