URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - Urban City Council passed its 2026 budget and will re-focus efforts on policing amid ongoing staffing shortages.
With the budget's approval Wednesday night, Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams wants to add a sergeant to the Community Engagement Team to help oversee a group of two police officers on that team. The program is designed to support various community programs and continue youth outreach efforts.
The Community Engagement Team has not been fully implemented since being created in 2025 due to various reasons, according to the mayor's letter in the proposed budget. Williams said a lack of patrol officers has not allowed officers to be placed into the Community Engagement Team.
The budget now allows for three additional patrol officers to be added to the Urbana Police Department. Williams said once those officers are hired it will allow the police department to allocate resources, "...to launch more community-centered efforts like the Engagement Team."
Williams said the change does not expand policing in Urbana, but allows the city to build trust in the community.
Two positions previously allocated for the team in the 2025 budget have gone unfilled.
In total, four additional officers will be added to the department: three patrol officers and a sergeant to lead the engagement team. Only two officers and the sergeant will make up the engagement team once hiring is complete.
Williams said the Community Engagement Team is a pilot program expected to last through 2028.
Due to staffing shortages, the 2026 budget also allocates $112,500 to extend police hiring incentives to help fill staffing shortages.
(Editors note: A previous version of this story inaccurately stated officers were being removed from the department.)
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