A full capacity crowd made up of residents and city staff heard public comments regarding the Champaign Police Department’s actions in light of last week’s arrest of 18-year-old Calvin Miller at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Many people voiced their support for the police while others spoke out against police actions. Many in the council chambers wore a “Stop police abuse” sign.

About 45 minutes prior to the start of the meeting, the council chambers were already half full. By the start of the meeting, the 160-seat room was standing-room only, with more than 200 people inside the chamber.

An additional 50 people waited outside, said Fire Chief Doug Forsman.

Much like last week, the council could not comment on any of the public input. However, Champaign Mayor Don Gerard said he was proud of the turnout to the meeting and their willingness to express their concerns.

“We have issues and we have things we need to work on,” Gerard said.

One of the main issues addressed by some in the public was a sense of fear toward Champaign Police. Martel Miller, father of Calvin Miller, said he becomes emotional trying to comprehend the fear his son has toward the police. But he added it is not just the fear his son has that bothers him.

“It’s not about my son, it’s about what is going on in my community,” Miller said.

He added in order to fix this, the city must get rid of the officers who have contributed most to the problem of fear among the African-American community. He said he does not think all officers are bad but wants the removal of those who, in his opinion, are.

However, Sergeant Donald Shelton said the elder Miller showed hostility toward him when Miller and Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice held its press conference outside the Champaign Police station last Thursday. He said he feels that Miller has a negative attitude toward police officers in general.

Shelton said he found the claims against the police to be lacking evidence and disappointing as he notes many officers invest time and money to help Champaign residents.

“I find it very perplexing that someone has the nerve to call them out by name in public without knowing any of these facts, without attempting to find out any of these facts,” Shelton said.

Rev. Edward McGhee said some wouldn’t fear the police if they felt they were dependable. He said the department cannot be trusted completely until they promote equality.

“I have no problem with the law whatsoever, but it needs to be that when we look at a person, we look at a human being,” McGhee said. “(It) does not matter what color he or she might be.”

Urbana resident Patsy Howell said comments from other members of the public only made her more upset.

“I am much more angry with these comments than I ever was when I first sat in that chair,” Howell said.