The Somerville City Council is once again looking into establishing review and accountability agencies for the city’s Police Department.

By Jim Clark

At the newly seated Somerville City Council’s first regular meeting of the year, a resolution first put forward by Ward 6 City Councilor Lance L. Davis last year calling for the creation of a police commission and a community police review agency was taken up again for consideration.

The proposal has been under consideration and debate for nearly two years, with the Council’s Legislative Matters Committee taking up the issue over the course of several meetings in 2021.

Committee members met with the City Council’s Policy Analyst, Community Outreach Coordinator and the Director of Racial and Social Justice to begin discussions on how to move the matter forward in May of last year.

The full text of the proposed resolution reads as follows:

WHEREAS, Police violence against Black and Brown Americans is a product of systemic racism including structural failings in the way law enforcement agencies are organized; and

WHEREAS, Even before the recent killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor by police officers, two-thirds of Americans believed that Black people are treated less fairly by the police than white people; and

WHEREAS, Only 23% of Americans believe that police “provide fair and accurate information to the public all or most of the time” and only 37% believe police “do a good job protecting people from crime all or most of the time”; and

WHEREAS, Whether people are satisfied with policing depends heavily on whether they’re satisfied with police oversight; and

WHEREAS, Chief David Fallon has stated, “having reports of police misconduct investigated by a fellow union member can create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Even when investigations are conducted correctly and without bias, it’s understandable that the public might not trust the process,”; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Curtatone has stated, “we need to bring new voices and perspectives into the oversight and rank and file of the police department,”; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Attard, former President of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement has stated, “as oversight of law enforcement becomes an integral part of government in the United States, the benefits of oversight are being acknowledged. Those in policing are recognizing that allowing independent oversight and community access to this information leads to increased confidence in the process and the law enforcement”; and

WHEREAS, Captain Pamela Seyffert of the Sacramento, California Police Department has stated, “although civilian review can be controversial, there are enough positives presented by the successful models that show it to be an essential tool for the future,”; and

WHEREAS, Two of the four recommendations of Representative Ayanna Pressley’s recent resolution in the House concern oversight:

– “Efforts to improve oversight and independent investigations to hold individual law enforcement officers and police departments accountable,

– “Supporting efforts to establishing all-civilian review boards with the authority to investigate incidents of police misconduct to ensure community-level oversight, accountability, and disciplinary action of police officers;” and

WHEREAS, Representative Pressley’s resolution calls for the adoption of sound and unbiased law enforcement policies at all levels of government that reduce the disparate impact of police brutality and use of force on Black and Brown people and other historically marginalized communities, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, That this City Council immediately begin preparing legislation that creates both a Police Commission and a Community Police Review Agency by ordinance in Somerville, and that the City Solicitor’s Office assist in the drafting of language needed to effect the intentions expressed herein; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That the Police Commission so established shall have the charge of recommending changes to the Somerville Police Department’s (“SPD’s”) policies and procedures, and that any changes of same sought by any source would be subject to the Commission’s approval, and that the Police Commission be invested with subpoena authority, and that review of Police Chief selection such that the Mayor would be required to appoint any new Chief from a list of candidates identified by the Commission, and further that the Commission be empowered to remove a Chief from office for cause; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That the members of the Police Commission would serve 3 year terms, with a two-term limit, and must be Somerville residents, and that no member of either body may be a current police officer, current City employee, former Somerville police officer, or current or former official, employee or representative of a union that represents police officers, and that the Police Commission so established shall have no more than 30% of its standing members be appointed by the Mayor and further that it shall at all times be constituted to contain not less than one Black or Brown person serving as a full Commissioner; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That the Community Police Review Agency so established shall have the charge of independently receiving and reviewing complaints of police misconduct, and that it would be required to investigate complaints involving use of force, in-custody deaths, profiling, incidents and public assemblies, and may engage in other investigations as directed by the Police Commission into other police misconduct, AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED,  That upon completing its investigation of a complaint, the Community Police Review Agency would be required to submit its findings and proposed discipline to the Police Commission and the Chief of Police, at which point the Chief would accept the recommendation or be required to submit separate findings and discipline to the Commission. Final decision on the discipline would in that case be made by a committee of Commission members, and any officer so disciplined would have an opportunity to appeal by filing a grievance in addition to any other remedies allowed by law, AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, That the Review Agency and Police Commission so established be allocated enough money and resources so that they can perform their required functions and duties, including at minimum an Agency Director and at least one Agency Investigator for every 80 Somerville Police Department employees. Further, that the City would also be required to allocate enough money for outside counsel to provide independent legal advice to both the Commission and Agency. No current City of Somerville employee could serve simultaneously as staff to the Commission and Agency while serving in any other capacity in the city’s employ, nor could any current or former official, employee or representative of a union that represents police officers serve as staff for the Commission or Agency.

The resolution was once again held in Committee for further review.