Petition: Establish a Community Review Board for Waltham PD
Sign our petition here: Establish a Community Review Board for the Waltham, MA Police Department - Action Network
We call upon the Waltham City Council and Mayor to establish a Community Review Board for the Waltham Police Department. This board would:
Serve as liaison between the public and the police department, educating the public about police policy and bringing community concerns to the attention of police leadership.
Review civilian complaints against police officers and make recommendations to police leadership regarding discipline.
Have the power to request and review any police police department documents relevant to this work, which the department would be required by ordinance to provide.
Make recommendations to the Waltham City Council and Mayor regarding police policy.
Be made up of civilians representing a cross-section of the Waltham community, including Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans, members of the LGBT+ community, people with disabilities, people who have experienced mental illness or addiction, and people who have experienced homelessness.
Why do we need this in Waltham?
In recent years we have seen a painful pattern play out again and again on television and social media: A law enforcement officer is caught on video doing something that is shocking to their local community. In many cases, police leaders tell us the officer was allowed to take that action, and in fact they could not do their job safely if they were not allowed.
This means there is a disconnect between the values of the community and the values by which their police department operates. That disconnect went unaddressed for so long that actions considered normal and necessary by the police are shocking to their own community.
We are concerned this kind of disconnect exists in Waltham, and we shouldn’t wait until there is a shocking incident to address it. In the past Waltham PD has held open conversations with the community in response to incidents such as the serial assaults last fall. It’s time for a proactive and ongoing conversation that both identifies and follows up on issues.
In recent years Americans have increasingly recognized that racism in policing and police abuse of power are real and urgent problems in our country. Many people are reluctant to ask whether these could be problems in Waltham because their personal interactions with
But unfortunately, there are over 60,000 people in Waltham and most do not have personal experience with Waltham PD. For Black people and others concerned that they or their children could be harmed by police violence based on who they are, this uncertainty is a source of very real fear and distrust that prevent us from fully participating in our community.
There is evidence that Waltham is not immune to problems we have seen in other communities. According to data released by Waltham PD last year (source linked below) :
Black civilians are about 2.3 times more likely than the general public to be involved in a police use-of-force incident in Waltham.
Black drivers are about 1.6 times more likely than the general population to receive citations in Waltham.
Black people, Hispanic people, and women are significantly underrepresented on the force, and Asian Americans are not represented.
“Stop and Frisk” interactions (searching someone without probable cause) are permitted under Waltham PD policy.
Source: http://linktr.ee/WPDInfo
Who oversees the police in Waltham?
Every few years, Waltham’s Police Department goes through an accreditation process during which they are evaluated by a team of police officers from other communities. Last summer, the mayor said she asked her former professor from Northeastern University’s School of Criminal Justice to review the department’s policies and procedures. These reviewers can tell us whether the department meets standards in the world of policing, but they cannot tell us whether our department operates according to the values of our community.
There is currently no community review process of any kind for Waltham PD. Complaints made by civilians against police officers (including school resource officers) are reviewed by higher-ranking officers. Records of complaints released last year by Waltham PD show that nearly all are judged to be without merit.
In many cases, when a civilian accuses an officer of taking inappropriate action, the evaluating officer agrees that the officer took that action, but finds that it didn’t violate any policies. If the public has the same misunderstanding about what police policy allows, this process does nothing to resolve it.
The police chief reports to the mayor, and the city council is responsible for oversight of the department. But many of the rules regarding hiring and discipline of police are set by the city’s contracts with our two police unions. Those contracts are usually negotiated behind closed doors between the mayor’s office and union leadership. They must be approved by the city council, which usually approves them with little or no public discussion.
Like other city departments, each year WPD must submit a requested budget to the mayor, and she may make changes before submitting a recommended budget to the city council for approval. The city council nearly always approves whatever the mayor recommends with little or no public debate. For fiscal year 2022, the mayor has proposed an increase of $2.4 million to the $20.3 million Waltham PD budget.
Waltham currently has an acting police chief since the retirement of the prior chief. At some point the mayor will need to nominate him or another candidate as permanent police chief, and that person will need to be approved by the city council.
By Waltham ordinance, the new chief must be appointed from among the current high-ranking officers-- no outside candidates. The city council has the power to make an exception to this rule, but the last time they were asked in 2007, they refused.
Based on their record, we can’t count on the mayor and city council to ensure that our police policies reflect the values of our community, or that our community has sufficient information about how our department operates. That’s why we must demand a Community Review Board to allow the community to oversee the police department more directly and with more access to relevant information.
What are other communities doing?
Last year Boston created a Civilian Review Board for Boston PD as well as a Police Reform Task Force. The task force recommended creating an independent Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, which would have the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, and the city is moving forward with that.
Last year the mayor of Newton convened a Police Reform Task Force. In March they made recommendations including the creation of a Newton Police Committee to improve communication between police and the community and to investigate certain complaints.
Last year the mayor of Framingham issued an executive order, in collaboration with the police chief, placing specific limits on police use of force, and requiring the police to conduct a review process that includes public community meetings.
Last year Watertown citizen groups created their own Police Reform Task Force. In March they presented their findings to the city, including racial disparities they found in arrest data released by Watertown PD. They have asked the city to take action which would include making more police records available to the public.
Last year the town of Lexington asked a law firm to conduct a review of its police department that included meetings with community groups. In May they made several specific recommendations, including changes to the way the department handles complaints.