When it comes to the future of the Newton Police, the only point that everyone seems to agree on is that something must change. That’s what the task force is about, that’s what the budget debate was about, that’s what the Defund movement is about, that’s what the Mayor says she wants and what City Councilors have talked about in meetings.
The question, as I see it, is: how does that change come about? From what I’m seeing in the debates, those of us on the Defund side believe the reforms that have taken place over the years haven’t worked and that a more radical change is necessary. Those who think that the Defund movement goes to far favor a slower reform.
So here’s my request: First, tell us if you favor radical change or reform, and then tell us why. I’m curious what you have seen, experienced, or learned about the police here and around the country that has helped you reach your conclusion.
One size doesn’t fit all. What I’m for depends on the particular PD. Some need reform, some need more radical changes. And this isn’t uniform within states (though many states need changes to laws) – here in the Boston area, there are certain PDs that have much worse reputations than others.
A bit of a soapbox here, but if it’s not cheating by taking some middle ground, I’m a big proponent of radical reform. There’s no question policing needs major changes, but we can go about those changes in a pragmatic way rather than an impractical way (such as abolishing the police).
I haven’t seen any case studies or research pointing to police and prison abolition (we should have immense prison reform like Sweden) working – if there is and I’m just missing it, please send them my way.
The Atlantic proposes “unbundling the police,” which I think is very interesting. Police will focus on crime, social workers will focus on de-escalation and crisis scenarios, and traffic officers will focus on speeding tickets. Regardless of how the we go about it, there’s no question that police should not be conducting crisis intervention. That will lead to better services to those that need it, and take a burden off the shoulders of police who have to fill a role they’re not equipped to fill. (Atlantic Link > https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/unbundle-police/612913/)
To complement this, we need significant demilitarization of the equipment police departments use, and the standards for using any kind of force at all. There’s a wide body of studies and research showing that the militarization of police departments leads to more conflict and disproportionately effects minority communities.
> https://www.pnas.org/content/115/37/9181
> https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/issue-areas/criminal-justice-policing-reform/militarization-of-police/
> https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053168017712885
Finally on policing, police and school resource officers should have no – and I mean no – place in our schools. As with above, there’s a wide body of studies and research showing that such police presence leads to worse academic outcomes and disproportionately effects minority students. Similarly, the widely touted idea that police presence eliminates student distrust of police doesn’t really exist it seems. Newton Public Schools has such school resource officers in our schools, and I hope that the school committee will look into replacing them with social workers.
> https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/when-schooling-meets-policing/406348/
> https://www.vox.com/2015/10/28/9626820/police-school-resource-officers
> http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/educationunderarrest_executivesummary.pdf
>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003122419826020
> https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013124507302396?journalCode=eusa
These ideas will radically change how police operate in the future, but they’re pragmatic enough that they can actually get done. They’re also pragmatic enough that we won’t see the potential negative consequences of having no police at all.
I do not favor radical change for the Newton Police Department. I would prefer we not buy them army grade weapons or machinery but have seen no evidence that this is an issue here.
Change for its own sake should not be the goal. Rather, I think the committee needs to evaluate best practices for police and then analyze and measure whether the Newton Police are following those practices. A recent example: What are the best practices and procedures for police to employ when conducting a stop of an individual who is the suspect in a homicide and believed to be armed? The law already provides guidance as to what constitutes reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment and Art. 12 of the Mass. Declaration of Rights. How many officers should be present? How should the suspect be approached? What measures are reasonable to ensure the safety of the officers, the public and the suspect? It is, I would submit, not the role of the task force to re-interpret the law but, rather, to ensure that best practices consistent with the law are followed. Once those are identified, I believe that the path forward will be clear as to how the police interact with suspects.
As to the breadth of policing, they are quite plainly charged with enforcing state law. Whether and to what extent we choose to have NPD enforce municipal codes would be an area for exploration, but any change to their authority would need to come from branch that authorized police to enforce municipal codes – here, the City Council.
As to having police address social issues, I would generally agree that there are better resources for that. For example, Riverside Community Health has a 24 hour crisis team to respond to individuals in severe emotional distress. The difficulty is in determining when an individual is solely a threat to self and whether or when that individual becomes a threat to others. I do not think that a mental health worker should be sent without back up to deal with an armed individual in the midst of a mental health crisis. Whether that has ever happened here and how NPD responded would be worth exploring, along with whether and under what circumstances a mental health professional could have someone in need of psychiatric hospitalization “pink slipped” without police back up.
I wish the task force good luck, stamina and patience.
Does it count as radical if I think we should cut the department budget by 10% for a year or two, see what happens, and then do it again if Society Keeps Working? I don’t really think it’s that radical in the scheme of “defund the police”, but it probably is relative to how a substantial portion of the community thinks about it. My rationale is generally that we pay a lot (a) for community security that data says is more about demographics than the investment in police, and (b) for services that would be more appropriately performed by other first responders in most cases.
(If you want to hear where I get really radical, ask me about the State Police. Burn the whole thing down and invite basically no one back for the reformed Mass Highway Patrol or whatever you call it.)
Jason, I generally agree with your sentiments. I’ve posted before about the police presence on my stretch of Dedham St. in Newton and will reiterate that a cruiser on the road during evening rush hour is the only thing that keeps it from turning into a lane on the interstate. I’m sure that the tickets more than cover their salary and this is a vital component of community policing.
@Jonathan I actually would like to hear your thoughts on the State Police, primarily because it’s the State Police who are responsible for patrolling the river path as well as the main highway that cuts through Newton.
@Craig, Councilor Bowman has repeated the suggestion of others that traffic be controlled in a more automated fashion and/or by a specific traffic division that isn’t necessarily police. Data in Boston suggests that black drivers are stopped at a disproportionally high rate. I don’t know what the rate is in Newton.
Waltham’s head of traffic and transportation has been quoted as saying that speed limits and enforcement tend to have little effect on speeding and the answer is in redesigning streets so that drivers slow down more naturally. I don’t know if the task force will go that far in its recommendations.
Chuck Taniwitz, you say you want radical reform of the Newton PD. Is this an emotional response based on your personal Twitter feed, or have you poured over city of Newton crime and police data? If it is the latter, please enlighten the rest of us us as to the specific data that lead you to believe radical change in this specific city is necessary.
Chuck, my anecdotal but pretty extensive survey of the cars stopped on my particular corner is very highly skewed to white drivers. However since the cars that are stopped have visibly ran a stop sign or are markedly over the posted limit, I wouldn’t be concerned if the offenders weren’t a precise representation of the racial makeup of Newton, Boston, or anywhere else.
I’m all for redesigning roads to solve these problems but in the meantime I rather like having near constant police presence. I interact with the officers often and they are never, ever anything less than perfectly professional and kind.
Jonathan,
A more radical idea: those who want to defund the police can place themselves on a “do not call” list. Ie no police services will be provided to them under any circumstance.
If the list is long enough, the police can defund accordingly
Those who are happy with the police will not be affected negatively by those who dont want police presence AND budget will be adjusted accordingly
Bugek, do we still need to pay taxes to pay the 23 of the 50 top salaries in the city, and the $1.6M in mystery PD salaries and other line items that were never explained prior to the budget vote?
https://village14.com/2020/06/18/dear-city-council-lets-talk-about-the-data/
@Chuck: Sure. Just in the last couple of years we’ve got the payroll/overtime scandal, the illegal ticket quotas, and the response to those cases (including destroying records). We have pretty compelling evidence that, at minimum, a substantial minority of the officers in the MSP, including management, either participated in, condoned, looked the other way for, or somehow didn’t notice a wide-ranging set of behaviors that would be unacceptable in any setting, never mind for a police agency. Phrases like “corrupt culture” and “lack of institutional control” come to mind.
Anecdotally, friends who have been more involved in the recent protest movements have said that a disproportionate amount of the instigation in the city has been driven by the MSP rather than the BPD. Less anecdotally, the MSP has had little to no success adding diversity to its ranks (if it was even trying): at the beginning of this year officers remained 95% white and 89% male, which is substantially more white than they were in 2000 (89%) in a state that is now more diverse.
The reform bill that was proposed by the Governor at the beginning of the year (pre-protests) is exactly the kind of milquetoast “reform” that drives the dialogue on “reform” not being good enough. (And I don’t [solely] blame the Governor for that; nothing more meaningful is getting through the small-c conservative Mass Senate, either.)
I do think the MSP has some pretty clear reasons for existing in something close to its current form, and its mandate hasn’t necessarily broadened as much as some of the local PDs. Sure, pull them back from the immature terf battle in the Seaport, fix the construction detail idiocy, and maybe also transition things like the river path to local police… but you still need a Highway Patrol, it still makes sense for them to cover the airport, detective units and crime labs fit there, it makes more sense to have the MSP as SWAT support than for every town to have a MRAP, etc etc.
I’m just not sure you can get to something that serves the state and the citizens rather than itself from the current organization.
Let’s think about this logically….Newton’s population is going to rise substantially in the very near future and Newton will soon be similar to Somerville and Cambridge except a lot bigger. What you are trying to do today is going to bite you in the a$$ tomorrow. Higher population, higher crime rate etc… Do you really think it’s logical and safe for the community to cut the police budget?
Why do you think everyone agrees that the budget must change?
@FedUp can we explore that a little deeper? You equate a higher population to higher crime. the funny thing is, there is street-level crime that we can see, and other crimes that we don’t. As a non-Newton example, New York City implemented a stop-and-frisk policy to reduce crime. It was eventually shut down because it was proven to target black and brown youth. But the thing that occurs to me is that during the time in which stop-and-frisk was in place, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein were raping women and girls in New York City. They were regularly committing crimes, but I highly doubt they were ever stopped and frisked.
So what crime are we focused on? Do we focus on the right things? Is our policing aligning with the crimes that we want to eliminate? What is the source of those crimes?
One of the big crimes in Newton is cars broken into while it’s sitting in a driveway, but most of those are because people don’t lock their cars. People call the police, file a report, and take the time of the officer. Is that something we need to focus on?
@craig you mention traffic enforcement at that stop sign. But I’ve had instances in which I’ve pointed out cars parked in the bike lane and the police were unresponsive. One even said to me, about the landscape trucks parked in the bike lane, “well, where do you want them to go?” Which makes me wonder, are the police selective about the traffic rules they’re enforcing? Can’t we have someone else doing that enforcement and free the police up to focus elsewhere?
I still recall the neighbor that called the police because a dog had pooped on her lawn. She was beside herself with rage. The police did come, but I don’t think they did anything to follow up with whoever the owner was. Not that any owner callous enough to leave a mess would readily admit to having done so. Actually, there is far far less dog poop on the lawns and sidewalks of my neighborhood, but I attribute that almost entirely to dog owners who do clean up what their pooches leave behind and who have not been hesitant to shame those fee dog owners that still do.
Most of those car breaks are because people don’t lock their cars? I guess if we’re blaming the victim then you’re right.
Hypocrisy at its best!
@Fedup
I was with you…. right up to, “blaming the victim”. Admittedly I’m a bit of a “car guy” but it boggles the mind how often instances of car break-ins on Newton police blotters are followed by, “and the doors were unlocked”. I just can’t understand why people don’t lock their car doors?
The reason the police end up addressing so many social/mental health issues is because budgets for the service providers who should be handling them have been cut so drastically in the past few decades. A few PDs have budgeted to have social workers on staff to go with the police for these types of calls, with the understanding that the police will only take action if the social worker requests help. From what I’ve read, this has worked well in places it was implemented, but then there are budget cuts and bye-bye social workers
@Matt,
People don’t lock their cars so that the thief won’t smash the windows. The bigger issue is why do people leave all their valuables in the car in the first place? So when the stuff gets stolen and the victim files a complaint with their insurance company…we all pay!
@TheWholeTruth
Going to disagree just a little bit on this one. Modern cars have integrated entertainment and nav systems so no more car radios or windshield mounted GPS units to steal. So what left is the random exposed handbag/purse/wallet (and really only during the day) and teenagers rummaging thru glove boxes for change.
Either way, maybe it’s from growing up in the city, but would not image leaving the car unlocked or anything valuable inside.
Radical change in thinking is needed here.
Every municipality, including Newton, should reimagine public health and safety and create agencies that respond to the needs of the community instead of trying to “fix” the police department. In a data driven process, the city would look at all of the 911 and non-emergency calls that the police, fire, and health and human services departments respond to, and figure out from the data what is actually needed.
I have always felt that, ultimately, the police, fire and health and human services departments should be combined into a public health and safety department that would allocate its staff and resources to the needs of the community. If the city were to design its public health and safety department around the actual needs of the community, then I think the allocation of resources and funding would look very different than it does now. For instance, sending police officers to respond to someone who is having a mental health crisis makes no more sense than sending social workers or psychologists to an armed robbery in progress. By the same token, instead of having both an ambulance service and the fire department respond to every medical emergency, why not have full-time EMTs who would respond to medical emergencies and firefighters to take care of fire prevention and safety, as well as putting out fires?
In terms of crime prevention, the data may well show that property crimes require more attention than violent crimes. That might change the approach to how the public health and safety department would deploy its resources as well. Civil rather than police officers could respond to calls, gather evidence, report statistics, etc. Traffic management might well be better managed by folding in part of the transportation department into the public health and safety department, deploying civilians to direct traffic, do detail work, issue parking tickets, etc. Police would enforce traffic laws, andalong with EMTs, and firefighters if needed, would respond to traffic accidents. But the key in all of this is that the data collected and analyzed would drive the allocation of funding and resources, instead of the outdated and inefficient agencies we have now.
The greatest obstacle, as in every community that has tried to make substantial changes in their approach to law enforcement and protection, will be public employee unions. If the data show that fewer police officers or firefighters were needed to meet the needs of the city, and that more human services professionals were required, there would be a tremendous conflict between city leaders and the unions. But there would be much to gain for both public employees and the community if they collaborate on the allocation of funding and resources to meet the needs of the city based on the data. “Broken windows” policing, which is meant to preserve “law and order” by targeting minor crimes in the misguided belief that it will prevent major crime and disorder, has proven to be a disaster. It is also a source of racial discrimination and conflict in communities where many of the laws were originally designed to control people of color in urban and suburban areas. For instance, Eric Garner was choked to death by a police officer for selling individual cigarettes on a street corner. There are just too many cases of unarmed Black men being busted for minor crimes–or mere suspicion–to recount here, but much of what Black people experience is disparate treatment from law enforcement officers that isn’t really preventing crime. Rather, its effect is social control over people of color that translates to disproportionate rates of incarceration for Black and Latinx people in this country.
If we remove the incentives for police to patrol the streets looking for people acting “suspiciously,” or busting them for minor, non-violent offenses that could just as easily be addressed with a warning or citation instead of arrest, it would make our streets safer for residents and police officers alike. Police patrols would be directed to where the data shows they are most needed to prevent violent and property crimes, instead of patrolling the streets looking for people who look are act “suspiciously.” That takes a lot of the unconscious bias out of the equation for law enforcement officers, and would allocate resources to where they are truly needed.
I’ve already gone on too long, but my point is that we need to reinvent police departments and concentrate less on maintaining “law and order” and focus instead on protecting and preserving public safety. The law and order model is a vestige of the slave patrols, which is American policing originated in this country, and is its original sin. By focusing on protections and preservation of public safety, we will make our community safer for everyone, including the police.
@Matt,
You can’t imagine it…but it’s very true. Purses, wallets, laptops…all items that the thief is looking for and gets him/her easy cash. And who doesn’t have that pile of change in the glove box? I would not pin this on teenagers looking for mischief. It’s not a stretch to think people take the T from the City out to the ‘burbs to raid streets overnight. If you are desperate for money, opening a door or smashing a window gets you what you are looking for. Read the police logs and see how many car breaks happen along a street or in a neighborhood. It must be lucrative because it keeps happening.
I hope you “Snowflakes” who cower under your beds at night, when you hear a noise…Never dial 911 again!
You’re all experts at police work from watching television and movies.
Here’s a suggestion…do a ride along or enroll in a citizens police academy to witness first hand what Newton Police do to keep your unappreciative and cowardly asses safe! One bad cop in Minnesota should not lead to overhaul of a fine police department in Massachusetts. And Newton is the finest!
@Retired, this is for you.
I would certainly understand the frustration with newton PD if they had a reputation of bad policing in the last decade.
Its seems to me that some want to throw the Newton PD under the bus to virtue signal.
What was the satisfaction rate of the PD in the last decade? I believe it was extremely high
If there are issues, they need to be dealt with.. but that does not mean negatively impacting every single police officier
Like every organization, the NPD has qualities and problems: they are helpful in emergencies but too slow on leaf-blowers infractions and quick on arresting black ‘suspects’.
Interestingly, have already seen a change towards that last problem, at least in the Wellesley PD. Last Monday, the WPD went out of their way to be nice to four Brown/Black men who while driving at 50 mph on Route 9 threw a lit firecracker towards the open window of a driver in the next lane. The driver saw the movement from the car alongside his, braked and saw the firecracker explode in front of his car. After the police was called and caught up with the car and its 4 occupants, they were given some ‘wordly advice’ and sent on their way. No fine for another firecracker found in their car, no arrest for basically attempted murder.
My take is they were bending backwards so they would not be accused of being racists. Meanwhile I am terrrified of this happening again, with fatal consequences.
Like every organization, the NPD has qualities and problems: they are helpful in emergencies but too slow on leaf-blowers infractions and quick on arresting black ‘suspects’.
Interestingly, have already seen a change towards that last problem, at least in the Wellesley PD. Last Monday, the WPD went out of their way to be nice to four Brown/Black men who while driving at 50 mph on Route 9 threw a lit firecracker towards the open window of a driver in the next lane. The driver saw the movement from the car alongside his, braked and saw the firecracker explode in front of his car. After the police was called and caught up with the car and its 4 occupants, they were given some ‘wordly advice’ and sent on their way. No fine for another firecracker found in their car, no arrest for basically attempted murder.
My take is they were bending backwards so they would not be accused of being racists. Meanwhile I am terrified of this happening again, with fatal consequences.
@Isabelle,
Do you really think Police Officers should be responding to leaf blower complaints? Snow shoveling issues?
I don’t think any member of the NPD would argue that these calls are a waste of their time and should be handled by Inspectional Services. The problem is that IS is only on the clock for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. These complaints come in at all hours….so who handles the calls then?
@Ted,
I pose the same question to you about the mental health workers. When they are only working “business hours”, who is going to respond to the crisis at 4am….or on a weekend? And everyone seems to think mental health crisis issues are not dangerous….really? People can and do snap with the blink of an eye. Is the City prepared to address the safety of these mental health workers?
I think people are being short sighted about the real world in day to day policing.
Leaf blower complaints to the police are a complete waste of resources.. perhaps make it clear that if YOU call 911 will not respond… call 311 instead
If the city doesn’t have enough $ to enforce it without police, they should repeal the ordinance until then
@TheWholetruth-
I agree.
Leaf blower and snow shoveling calls should not be directed to police unless they turn violent. It is a bad use of their time. The neighborhoods that are calling in with snow shoveling & leaf blower issues should be at the top of the “resource reallocation” list.
Is it possible to have a part time dispute mediator
available to, or employed by city hall to deal with these issues? Probably unrealistic. Just a thought.
You are spot on about mental health crisis issues. Like domestic dispute calls, both can go horribly wrong and put the safety of the crisis worker, callers, subject & police at high risk.
Mental health calls can be so dangerous that a patient intake for evaluation at NW Hospital emergency requires an officer outside the door of the patient throughout the process. That’s a fact. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
I want to come back to something Ted noted above about who responds to emergencies. When my son (who is over 18) flipped over his handlebars on a bike, a good person nearby called 9-1-1. My son rode into a curb, entirely his fault, but was in need of some kind of assistance.
As I got there the help rolled up: an ambulance (2 personnel), police car (1 officer), and a ladder truck with what looked to be a complement of 4 fire personnel. My first reaction was “how much does all this cost?”
Sure, he was injured (we ended up not needing the ambulance), but did we need all that response? The fire truck left almost immediately, and the police officer was cordial and helpful. But I still wonder if that was the right response for that situation. I also don’t know what the person told 9-1-1, nor do I know what questions they were asked.
Ted’s suggestion above that we consolidate and rethink the response is, in my experience, a good thought. I’d be curious to see how this would work with the type of calls the city has received.
Chuck,
I “assume”, as soon as the 911 caller mentioned ‘child’, they probably assumed it would be better to be over cautious
As a parent, i think its a reasonable approach for children involved in road accidents.
Is there a chart showing the % of types of calls police make? The discussion can start from there…
If more than 1% are leaf blowers, we should all be outraged for waste of resources.
Ted makes a lot of good points.
Actually figuring out how our resources
are used and allocating or reallocating them where and how they are needed is essential.
@Chuck-
I’m glad your son is okay. Its frightening when your children get hurt no matter what the age.
Although it wasn’t necessary in your case, I have seen many instances where police were on site to direct traffic or closing off access to a location for safety or preservation of evidence.
It might be interesting to know how each call to 911 is staffed based on the call or the information provided by the caller. Are the same personnel uniformly sent to a location irregardless of the nature of the incident?
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
It honestly doesn’t matter what any of us pro NPD say. You are so laser focused on making the NPD look criminal that you even complain about them responding to your injured son.
I will no longer brag about my Newton roots. What Newton’s residents, city council and Mayor are doing is embarrassing! This isn’t Minneapolis, this is Newton. Let’s stop trying to play the victim.
@Chuck: fire departments have paramedics and are often located in places that allow them to respond more quickly than ambulances. Having both fire and ambulances respond to road collisions is an example of strategic redundancy. Yes, it is more expensive. It is also provides the best chance of reaching victims earlier and saving lives. I can assure you, the people who designed our emergency response system know what they’re doing, follow nationwide best practices, and have already thought about things that casually occurred to you as you watched a single incident. Glad to hear that your son did well.
First, the incident with the WPD should have had the word ‘fireworks’ throughout, not ‘firecracker’.
Second, I agree that a policeman is not needed to direct traffic around one lane blocked by construction or repair. Especially not if he/she is paid overtime!
I agree with idea of a data driven approach mentioned by Ted. I think changes need to be based on data rather than making changes based on emotion or change for the sake of change. Match the resources to where the needs are. I think a big problem today is the reduction of resources for mental health care. Police now see more dangerous situations due to mental health issues escalating instead of being managed or diffused by appropriate care. That said I hope a process using data doesn’t require expending funds on “consultants”. A relative who is staying with us during the pandemic and works for a major news outlet covering govt/politics watched one of the City Council meetings and was amazed by the size of the council and how slow things seem to get done ie we have to have a consultant do a study on xy&z. On a funny side note…She also had interesting comments on the Councilors choice of zoom backgrounds. We were trying to figure out Who was Who was based on her description of their backgrounds.
@Chuck. As a former EMT in a nearby town, I can tell you that one of the reasons the Fire Department responds to all medical calls is to keep their call volume numbers up. Fewer calls = budget cuts. And, in most municipalities, more than 60% of calls to which the FD is dispatched are medical.
@Isabelle,
The construction company pays for the detail, not the City.
@Chuck, your first reaction was, “how much did this cost?” And not, “I hope my kid is alright.”?
Joking aside, I’ve never experienced calling emergency services first hand, but is there a co$t personally, if a ride to the emergency room is not required? If not, then what “cost” are you referring to?
Salaries, training and equipment are already funded by tax dollars, so what added cost was applied in ensuring your child’s safety? It seems of late, Newton has become the epitome of, “an (over) abundance of caution”. How pissed would people be if emergency services took longer than expected to show up or not show up at all?
I don’t see why people are saying that having the fire department also respond to medical emergencies adds to costs. It’s not as if extra firefighters are added to the payroll for this purpose. And the additional amount of truck fuel is negligible. I’m sure there are cases where the firefighters arrive before the ambulance, too, providing quicker attention to the patients. Finally, each call is a useful drill for quick response teams.
So Ann, even if, “in most municipalities, more than 60% of calls to which the FD is dispatched are medical,” I can’t see that we would reduce the number of firehouses or firefighters if we decided they shouldn’t respond to medical calls.”