“I choose to focus my attention in whatever direction calls me to create my best day!” – Sherri Bishop – Lecturer in Musical Studies

 

“Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr. – Author

 

“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening, when you rather would have talked.” – Mark Twain – 1835-1910, Writer and Humorist

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by Allan Penwell)

 

Bucket Bucks for September go to Yankee Ridge Reading Specialists. Funds will be used to purchase books for children that will improve their reading skills beyond those supplied by the school curriculum.

 

On October 1st we will meet in person at 7:00 am at Hessel Park pavilion. The park district has Wi-Fi at the pavilion so we zoom those who can’t make it. Bring your own coffee.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Cary introduced Bryant Seraphin who is chief of police of the City of Urbana. He has been with the city since 1994 and was permanently appointed chief in 2019. Bryant commented that Tod Satterthwaite was mayor in 1994 and swore him in to the force. Also, he was sure that Darrell has been the photographer at a few of his crime scenes. Bryant coaches kid’s baseball and enjoys outdoor camping and biking.

 

The City of Urbana was incorporated in 1855 and organized its police force at the same time. There are three divisions on the force which include patrol, services, and investigations. The patrol division has seven officers on duty 24/7, and the officers work 12-hour shifts. One of the benefits of the long, 12-hour shifts is the officers get a three-day weekend every other week. The investigations division is self-explanatory. The services division handles permits, traffic tickets, and other paperwork.

 

Bryant used sports as way of describing police work. The police are the referees, and they have to handle citizens in much the same way. When a citizen has an issue, they have to do like a referee sometimes does when they put their arm around a player and walk him over to the sidelines to calm him down. The police have to interpret the rules like referees as the rules are always changing and are sometimes confusing. It is not always easy to make the right call.

 

Just like in a game, there are now instant replays with body and car cams which show what happened at an event. Sometimes it is hard to interpret exactly who was doing what and what the rules are. Also, Bryant noted that just like referees, the police sometimes get booed.

 

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  Sept 17th Septh 24th Oct 1st Oct 8th
         
Reflection Tod Satterthwaite Jarrod Scheunemann Jen Shelby Charlie Smith
Notetaker Conforti Perry Penwell Hodson

 

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

September 17th – Robert Lawless, Max L. Rowe Professor of Law, UIUC  (Tom)

September 24th – Sarah Livesay, Executive Director, Grand Prairie Friends (Andrew)

October 1st – Meet at Hessel Park Pavilion

October 8th – Dr. Barbara Jones, Chair of the Urbana Rotary Peace Building Committee (Mary)

October 15th – TBD (Ondine)

October 22nd – Dr. Vik Amar, Dean, UIUC College of Law, will talk about “The Flaws of the Electoral College and How to Replace It”  (Tom)

October 29th – TBD 

November 5th – TBD (Bob)

November 12th – TBD (Cary)

November 19th – TBD (Charlie)

November 26th – No meeting – Thanksgiving

December 3rd – TBD

December 10th – TBD

December 17th – TBD