• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Featured
    • North Alabama police giving rides to work in snow storm
      North Carolina bill aims to discourage cities and counties from...
      L.A. DA will not seek death penalty for cop killer
      Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
      Alabama law enforcement hesitant to get COVID 19 vaccines
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • North Alabama police giving rides to work in snow storm
        Demand “the why”
        New study suggests diversity can improve law enforcement
        Paging Dr. Oz: N.J. police receive backup from a celebrity doctor
        Cape Coral Police Department testing mountain e-bikes for patrol
    • Labor
      • Union says “many” U.S. Capitol Police officers want to leave the...
        NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Raising the bar
        Retirements up, recruiting down
        Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
    • Tech
      • Technology gives police an edge in chases
        Data-driven investigations
        Police technology: Why so far behind?
        Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
        Denver police gun detection technology pays off
    • Training
      • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
        LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
        Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
        Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
        K-9 lifesaver
    • Policy
      • North Carolina bill aims to discourage cities and counties from...
        Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
        Colorado lawmakers propose bill to reduce police’s role in protests
        Capitol Police Officers Lack Confidence in Leaders Following Unrest
        Police warn new NJ law decriminalizes underage drug and alcohol use
    • Health/Wellness
      • Alabama law enforcement hesitant to get COVID 19 vaccines
        Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
        So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
        Save jobs and lives
        Everyday work trauma and your brain
    • Community
      • L.A. DA will not seek death penalty for cop killer
        Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
        LA school board cuts police funding to support racial equity
        When parents are arrested, what about the kids?
        Law enforcement investigates death threats against California...
    • Humor
      • Cheeto dust leads to bust
        The force is strong with this one
        Dude, where’s my car?
        Dressed to impress
        How to retire angry
    • We Remember
      • Louisiana cemetery removes its whites-only policy after refusing to...
        Slain Capitol Police officer honored
        A thread of courage and love
        COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
        Always honored, never forgotten
  • On the Job
    • North Alabama police giving rides to work in snow storm
      Demand “the why”
      New study suggests diversity can improve law enforcement
      Paging Dr. Oz: N.J. police receive backup from a celebrity doctor
      Cape Coral Police Department testing mountain e-bikes for patrol
  • Labor
    • Union says “many” U.S. Capitol Police officers want to leave the...
      NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Raising the bar
      Retirements up, recruiting down
      Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
  • Tech
    • Technology gives police an edge in chases
      Data-driven investigations
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
      Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
      Denver police gun detection technology pays off
  • Training
    • New PT standard for future officers draws objections
      LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
      Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
      Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
      K-9 lifesaver
  • Policy
    • North Carolina bill aims to discourage cities and counties from...
      Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
      Colorado lawmakers propose bill to reduce police’s role in protests
      Capitol Police Officers Lack Confidence in Leaders Following Unrest
      Police warn new NJ law decriminalizes underage drug and alcohol use
  • Health/Wellness
    • Alabama law enforcement hesitant to get COVID 19 vaccines
      Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
      So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
      Save jobs and lives
      Everyday work trauma and your brain
  • Community
    • L.A. DA will not seek death penalty for cop killer
      Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
      LA school board cuts police funding to support racial equity
      When parents are arrested, what about the kids?
      Law enforcement investigates death threats against California...
  • Humor
    • Cheeto dust leads to bust
      The force is strong with this one
      Dude, where’s my car?
      Dressed to impress
      How to retire angry
  • We Remember
    • Louisiana cemetery removes its whites-only policy after refusing to...
      Slain Capitol Police officer honored
      A thread of courage and love
      COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
      Always honored, never forgotten
  • Jobs and Careers
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Community

Task force plans to hold police accountable

Published November 23, 2020 @ 1:27 pm PST

iStock.com/wildpixel

In the tumultuous times in which we currently live, police reform has become a hot topic for debate, but it’s often unclear what “reform” will actually look like. However, a task force in Boston has a specific plan: installing an independent office to investigate police misconduct.

In recent months, the task force has held two sessions that were open to the public and were designed to hear the opinions of residents. More than 120 people showed up in person to give their thoughts at these sessions, and the task force received another 73 written comments.

Based on the feedback from all those people, the task force has called for the Boston P.D. to create an independent office of police accountability and transparency (OPAT) with “full investigatory and subpoena power.” This new proposed group would replace the current community oversight panel.

This new office would include a civilian review board whose duty is to investigate complaints against police from members of the public, as well as an internal affairs oversight panel that would be able to audit completed internal investigations and review as many as needed.

Task force members told MassLive Media that the civilian review board will have between seven and 11 members, and it will function like any other city office. Mayor Marty Walsh will appoint the people who serve on it, but the City Council — with input from the public — will select candidates, and the president of the City Council will be able to recommend two of the candidates in the pool.

Other members of the new office would be nominated by civil rights organizations, neighborhood associations or other Boston stakeholder groups. Acting law enforcement officers would not be eligible for selection. Members of the task force maintain that the board will function independently from the city.

“If the public does not have confidence in this [board], I think the mayor’s office will hear about it,” task force member Allison Cartwright said.

Task force members said the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the largest police union in the city, was not consulted during the process of creating this proposal and was not involved in drafting the recommendations within it.

“The association has a seat at the table whenever a contract is negotiated,” task force member and former state Rep. Marie P. St. Fleur said. “It’s not often that the public has a voice in the process.”

Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP and a member of the task force, said that they wanted to find an inclusive way of building the public’s voice into city government without major changes to the structure of the government itself. Mayor Walsh will still have the final say in who is able to serve on the oversight panel.

“I want to be clear that this was not an easy process,” Sullivan said. “And when it came down to drill down on these final recommendations, they really do reflect a weekslong diligent review of documents, analysis, and again, debate. It should not be perceived in any way this task force was of one mind at the outset.”

The proposal of this new independent office was the most significant reform put forth by the task force, but it was not the only one. It called on the Boston P.D. to “adopt data and record practices that maximize accountability, transparency and public access” to its records and data. It also reviewed the department’s policies on use of force and recommended rigorous implicit bias training for officers, an expansion of the agency’s body camera program, and a continued ban on facial recognition software, among other things.

All the task force’s recommendations looked to “enhance enforceability, accountability, trust and transparency, and should improve the relationship between the BPD and Boston community that it serves and protects.”

The dialogue surrounding police reform in Boston began after the death of George Floyd. After the public outcry that was sparked by Floyd’s death, Walsh declared racism a public health crisis and moved to reallocate 20% of the Boston P.D.’s fiscal year 2021 overtime budget — about $12 million — to be “invested instead in community programs for youth, for homelessness, for people struggling with the effects of inequality.”

As seen in the November 2020 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Community

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • North Alabama police giving rides to work in snow storm
  • North Carolina bill aims to discourage cities and counties from defunding police
  • L.A. DA will not seek death penalty for cop killer
  • Berkeley passes sweeping police reforms
  • Alabama law enforcement hesitant to get COVID 19 vaccines
  • Demand “the why”
  • New study suggests diversity can improve law enforcement
  • Colorado lawmakers propose bill to reduce police’s role in protests
  • Technology gives police an edge in chases
  • Cheeto dust leads to bust
Advertise with APB

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Featured
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Humor
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers

Editor’s Picks

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

January 28, 2021

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

January 25, 2021

A thread of courage and love

A thread of courage and love

January 20, 2021

The job doesn’t love you back

The job doesn’t love you back

December 28, 2020

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2021 American Police Beat, Inc. | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close
Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.