DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — A community-led conversation about traffic stops in Danville continued Thursday night with some clear direction on what’s next.

The main topic was focused on racially disproportionate traffic stops in Danville.
Concerned citizen and former Danville Alderman Lloyd Randle has been leading these discussions for months.

The American Civil Liberties Union is acting like a direct pipeline to the state’s attorney general’s office to look into these concerns. They had a representative there tonight to listen to the community’s stories.

“The city doesn’t seem to think that this is a problem,” Randle said. “We want the city to know that people are feeling the pain.”

A 2023 IDOT report showed Black drivers in Danville were five times more likely to be stopped by police for a routine traffic stop.

“The goal has always been to look at the disparity in traffic stops and because we know that Danville has a high number of disparities based on the report that comes out of IDOT, the Illinois Department of Transportation, we know that Danville is a problem area,” Randle said.

Randle organized the meeting. He said it was meant to discuss the issue, but also to explain how the state’s attorney general is getting involved.

“It’s important for the community to understand that while it’s not an open investigation as of yet, the AG has taken an interest in what’s going on in there now,” Randle said. “So now they’re giving us an opportunity to have citizens come forward and tell their story.”

Several people took the open mic to talk about their experiences with traffic stops and how they believe race played a role in it.

Randle said what comes next is turning dialogue into new practices.

“Well, the next steps, we’re actually looking at legislation,” he added. “Many don’t know that pretext traffic stops are actually being eliminated from basic traffic stops around the country. And the reason why is because pretext traffic stops are proven not to make your community any safer.”

Danville police were not at the meeting, but WCIA reached out to the Danville Police Department for comment. However, Chief Chris Yates did not want to speculate about the meeting.

Chief Yates did tell WCIA earlier on Thursday: “Danville Police Department takes enforcement action on violations and criminal activity observed.”