Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager Nency Salamoun and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon were among those who participated in Saturday’s virtual town hall discussion on race and equity in policing.

By Isabel Sami

The City of Somerville held a virtual town hall discussion on Saturday, June 27, focusing on race and equity in policing. The discussion featured Mayor Joe Curtatone, Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Somerville Police Chief David Fallon, and Patricia Contente from the city’s Community Outreach, Help and Recovery office, and was facilitated by Nency Salamoun, the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager.

Community members submitted questions to the group regarding the city’s plan to transform the police, the role of police in mental health cases, development of a new policing framework, and the potential to defund the police budget.

Mayor Curtatone, who has recently garnered praise for declaring structural racism a public health crisis in Somerville, agrees with the call to “not just reimagine, but dismantle and reconstruct policing into something that truly meets the needs of a just society, and promotes the health and well-being of everyone in the community.” The mayor believes that those most affected by structural racism — specifically black and brown community members — must have their voices amplified as change is made.

When asked how the city planned to reform the police, Mayor Curtatone addressed the creation of Somerville’s Racial and Social Justice Project, a department focused on removing racism from all systems in the community to create a “just and healthy society that is fair and accessible to everyone,” the mayor said.

Chief Fallon spoke about Somerville police officers being “guardians of the community” and creating a culture in the department where officers are devoted to providing help to people in need. When asked about the role of police in response to mental health calls, he emphasized these points and added that officers are taught that arrest is the last option when getting people mental health assistance.

“This is the beginning of a long road,” Chief Fallon said. “I want to be methodical about change, and I also want to recognize the hard work that the men and women of the Somerville Police Department have brought into a culture that upholds the sanctity of life and looks at themselves as guardians.”

Director of Community Outreach, Help and Recovery (COHR) within the Somerville Police Department, Patricia Contente, shed light on police responses and intervention in regard to mental health related calls, saying that the Somerville PD responds to mental health related calls as professionals who follow protocol and have proper training for these situations. She also noted that the COHR program is looking to promote people of color within their program to create a more diverse setting in the department.

Recently, community members called to defund the police budget by 60 percent, declaring they will not accept a cut of less than 10 percent and asking that the funds be reallocated to social services. Somerville police have a budget of about $17 million, 6.6 percent of the city’s total budget, and have the lowest number of officers per capita of the 25 most populated cities in Massachusetts.

While Mayor Curtatone agrees that the city needs to look at reallocating funds to social and human services, he says that a 10 or 60 percent cut will have a detrimental impact on the police force, additionally leading to the youngest and most diverse members of the Somerville PD being cut. He added that cuts will diminish the department’s ability to promptly serve the community and will reduce their efforts to be as flexible and responsive as possible.

“Our prime responsibility is to protect the health and well-being of everyone in the community, and we need to do that while we undertake this important work of reimagining policing,” Mayor Curtatone said.

Both the mayor and the chief of police addressed the Somerville PD’s model progressive policing, especially after the decision to adopt all “8 Can’t Wait” reform policies earlier this month to make positive changes to the department.

Chief Fallon believes people should be supporting the police as members of the community, calling his officers “well-trained, empathetic, and compassionate.”

Cambridge Mayor Siddiqui weighed in about the Cambridge Police Department’s reform actions and budget changes. Mayor Siddiqui wants community members who grew up in Cambridge to join the police force and its growing cadet program, adding that the new group of Cambridge officers are the most diverse in recent history.

She also emphasized the value of relationships that police have with the community to increase trust and accountability, and spoke about the decision to reallocate $2.1 million of the police budget, which was slated to receive a $4.1 million budget increase, to affordable housing and early childhood education on July 1.

The City of Cambridge is looking at alternative public safety response systems, with the goal of decreasing arrests, and creating a task force regarding racism to find concrete policy actions and goals. Siddiqui said there is always more work to be done around racial justice, and always room for improvement.

Mayor Curtatone stated that the police should be reformed in a way that meets the needs of the community. “Policing, historically, is built on a flawed framework, but we’ve made so much progress here in Somerville. There are lessons learned that speak to the need to continue some of that progress or reinvest in other areas that are going to help reimagine policing. Before we end something, we need something to take its place.”

The city is hosting virtual small-group listening sessions with residents to listen to their experiences and ideas about how the community can combat systemic racism and related issues. More information can be found on the city’s website at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/programs/city-somerville-virtual-events.

The town hall meeting from June 27 can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGsqcelcC0Y.