The Newton Police Task Force, set up by Mayor Fuller last summer, issued it’s final report and recommendations this past week.
Here’s a Boston Globe article by John Hilliard about it
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Given some of the comments on other threads I’m surprised that no one has anything to say here about the Task Force’s recommendations – good, bad or otherwise?
“The task force acknowledges that community members and at least some members of the NPD would like body cameras. The Task Force agrees that acquiring body cameras should be a goal for the future, but body cameras should not be a top priority. The Task Force recommends that the NPC review the feasibility of body cameras within the next several years.”
84 pages and only they mention of body cameras 5 times, with most of those references in the same sentence. Why?
Hi Jerry, patience! The comments will come!
I think the report is excellent. My concern is what happens next? How do the ideas get translated to reality, and is the City committed to doing so? I just don’t know.
My radical comment relates to our reliance on sidearms. Does every officer really need a sidearm all the time? Does wearing a gun create the temptation to use it vs other means? I think yes. Had the officers working the Michael Conlon incident not been armed, would they have found an alternative to diffusing the situation? I suspect yes.
I get the risks our Police face. They deserve protection. But guns could be kept in patrol cars, with supervisors, etc. Not all countries share our gun culture and reliance on guns. They get along just fine without always carrying deadly force.
For what it’s worth when I was a Navy Officer I occasionally needed to wear a sidearm. It wasn’t cool or macho. I did it, but that experience guides me in how I view the dependence out police seem to have on guns today. We need to question all assumptions for any actual change to occur.
I stopped at page 15 of the 83 -page report, so do not feel I can comment intelligently. maybe that is the problem for other readers.
I liked what I read and am grateful for the thoughtfulness of the recommendations.
I would be curious to know if there is a section about not using policemen to direct traffic when construction/ tree trimming, etc… blocks one lane. It always seem a waste of police training and usually results in shocking overtime; which may result in overtired officers who over-react.
Here’s a comment for you Jerry….
When this Task Force was first formed, it as somewhat shocking that, despite being the second largest ethnic group in Newton, there was not a single Asian person on the Task Force.
Months later, given what’s currently happening to the Asian community, it’s both an ironic oversight and confirms the practice of marginalizing the “model minority”, yes even here in Newton.
Like Isabelle, I also got to page 14 or 15 and realized this will take at least two reads and some underlining to fully comprehend. I hope this works. I so want to see the police and all residents of this city working together with trust in each other and I believe this is an achievable goal. I have known so many great Newton cops over the years as well as a few real stinkers. I agree with Matt Lai that there should have been an Asian member on the task force, but it’s tragic that it took what’s happened to the Asian community in the past few years for all of us to recognize what folks like Matt have sensed for a long time.
Michael Slater. You reminded me that I, too was a naval officer who had to carry a sidearm when moving classified material from one facility to another in the Med. No, anything but macho and I always felt I was more likely to shoot myself than an assailant.
Matt, 836 people asked the mayor to address your concern: https://www.change.org/p/creating-true-diversity-on-the-newton-police-reform-taskforce. She chose to ignore.
Anotoly,
Interesting, did not know this actually brought up (more representation).
One more thing to take note if someone else runs for Mayor.
I wish liberals will stop using the phrase “black and brown” when referring to minorities. Its literally intentionally excluding Asians… why?
So why aren’t we talking about the main perpetrators of racial violence against Asian-Americans? It’s the black community. Happy to have the conversation, but let’s root it in evidence rather than emotional rhetoric designed to push a political agenda instead of making life better for all Americans…. 71% of hate crimes against Asians, Gays, and Jews in NYC are committed by Blacks according to the NY Post.. the data is based on Police reports, Victim and Witness statements, and often times corroborated by video surveillance tape… Is this typical of all metropolitan areas ?
Pretentious Newton, communities don’t commit crimes, inflict violence, or espouse bigoted, ignorant, or hateful beliefs.
Individual people do.
May every person be valued for their individual worth, celebrated for their heritage and experiences, understood for their needs, respected for their common dignity, forgiven for their faults and frailties, judged by their actions, and treated fairly in the eyes of the law.
Failing to do so makes us worse as a civil society.
@Mike Halle: You’re absolutely CORRECT. Communities don’t espouse bigoted, ignorant, or hateful beliefs. Each person SHOULD be valued for their individual worth, forgiven for their faults, and judged by their actions.
Too bad that Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo disagree with you. Too bad that so many members of the Newton Church of Woke disagree with you. According to them, if you were born with the wrong amount of skin melanin, you are inherently bigoted and ignorant. According to them, our community IS inherently bigoted and ignorant, especially our police. According to them, you are not valued for your individual worth. You and your moral stature are determined by your skin color. It’s ridiculous.
Very happy to read this under Objective 3, “The Task Force also recommends that officers spend as much time as possible out of their cruisers in the villages, walking around and getting to know business owners, residents, kids, etc.”
I think walking around and meeting people is one of the best ways to strengthen police community relationships. And it’s low cost and healthy
@Boaty: Have you read Dr Kendi’s book “How to be an Anti-Racist”? Because the statement you just made is not accurate. He actually calls for people to be judged as individuals rather than groups and it’s a pretty major theme throughout his book.
Thank you Councilor Norton
Councilor Norton is 100% correct. Read the book.
@Michael Slater if sidearms are of concern, then you should see what else they have in the cruiser. This video shows a not only a shotgun but an assault rifle too. This may be the “warrior” mentality mentioned in the report.
https://youtu.be/hGSYCI3JXTY
@Very happy to read this under Objective 3, “The Task Force also recommends that officers spend as much time as possible out of their cruisers in the villages, walking around and getting to know business owners, residents, kids, etc.”
I think walking around and meeting people is one of the best ways to strengthen police community relationships. And it’s low cost and healthy
Isn’t this what is commonly known as “Community Policing”?
We aren’t reinventing the wheel here. I hope we didn’t pay any consultants
With respect to the “warrior mentality” and guns, it’s tough to generalize but still a real problem. Why do some people choose to join our firefighting force vs the police? There are no weapons involved with being a firefighter or paramedic. These folks just want to help others. With the police, I’m sure that many do join for the right reasons, but I worry that for some the guns are an attraction and a source of power. That’s not what we want. It’s a problem everywhere, maybe less in a community like Newton, but still an issue of real concern.
Newton can’t fix our nation’s gun obsession. In my opinion it’s a sickness. When our founders wrote the 2nd amendment they couldn’t foresee what it would enable/allow. But as in many areas, Newton can start, show the way, experiment and lead. However, just like our schools we seem incapable or unwilling to do this. The source of the problems are the same. Our leaders didn’t create these issues, but they need to be more proactive in solving them.
Claire, the fact is that Newton Police are generally not currently accessible from an community policing point of view. That doesn’t necessarily mean the police don’t value community relationships. I think they do. Including this item in the report makes it as a community priority.
I agree with Lucia on the importance of community policing, but I suspect it isn’t low cost. Allowing officers to stay in one general location on foot or bike may be costly in a geographically large city like Newton with many villages. Walking patrols may not be able to respond quickly to calls in the neighborhoods. An emphasis on community policing may require an increase in staffing, which means buy-in from the rest of the city.
In my diagonal reading of it, the report is strong in emphasizing desirable outcomes and not budget reduction, which paves the way for beneficial but more costly changes.
@Mike Halle, I didn’t mean to come off flippant. This is an extremely important issue and I believe community policing is an excellent tool. It just struck me that particular reference seemed like stating to obvious, but since I didn’t read the report, I should refrain from commenting
@Michael Slater – I think you’re getting at one of the core issues with policing in the US – when the culture is perceived as “warrior mentality” then it’s going to attract the type of people that buy into that mentality. Compare with the model used in the UK/Canada/Australia (policing by consent)* and the difference in culture readily apparent. Would agree that it’s likely not as prevalent in Newton specifically but still a consideration. I would have bumped recommendation 4 to a priority 1 as culture is pretty much foundational to how the department is going to approach everything else. It all starts with the culture.
@Mike Halle – Agreed on there being a cost associated with all these recommendations, and something I find ironic of the Defund the Police mentality. To get the changes we actually want to see means investing in training, investing in oversight/accountability, investing in all of the other efforts that are needed to implement these recommendations and put our police department in a position to be successful (and accountable). Just reallocating funds isn’t going to do anything to accomplish any of these goals, if anything that would actually make them less likely to be successful. If we want our officers well trained in crisis de-escalation how are we going to pay for that training if we slash their budget, for example. The goal should be to establish a policing model that can be trusted and relied on to protect the public and then implement the steps needed to get to that model. Maybe when all of this has been accomplished there will be opportunity to tune funding but none of what’s been outlined in the document is going to be achievable by defunding.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles
The report is a start, and a part of the conversation, and like any evaluation should be considered within the existing situation and the goals of the residents as it relates to public safety. The challenge of being a police officer in Newton includes our geographic location. Newton has Route 95, the MassPike, Route, 9, Route 16, Route 30, is close to Route 20, has Commuter Rail, Subway service, and bus routes. Neighborhoods bordering these areas can never anticipate what maybe coming their way. A large number of residents in Newton enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in largely suburban neighborhoods. These neighborhoods may never see the need of a police car on their street; and then you have the denser neighborhoods in the busy parts of Newton such as my house in West Newton. We typically have a significant car crash directly in front of our house every so many months, which has included impaired drivers, we had an armed store robbery in West Newton last year, and a shooting near the CVS a few years ago. These differences mean that you cannot paint the police department, their equipment, and training in one easy stroke.
Community policing takes a monetary commitment in that you need additional staff to have walking and bike officers to compliment vehicle mounted police.
You may recall the event after the Marathon Bombing when the Watertown Police were suddenly thrust into a police event never before anticipated. It may never happen again, but being prepared ensures that you can respond as necessary.
Recruiting: As a City Councilor, I pushed for recruiting Veterans for Public Safety roles since they had already been vetted and tested. My reasoning is that you can easily find diverse candidates from the large pool of Veterans being discharged daily. The numbers of high quality women, and minority candidates with leadership and people interaction skills is staggering and a resource we are missing out on. These quality recruits would then be in position to move up in the department rank structure.
A recruiting program would have to contain “carrots” to attract these Veterans, since they have many options, incentives such as sign on bonuses, relocation, etc., but as its done in the private sector, it can be done in the public sector.
The reason for diverse staffing is obvious, in that we create an internal atmosphere of understanding various cultures that translates to street activities, and positive results. Newton enjoys a highly accredited and well trained department, that like all organizations needs ongoing training and updating. We owe this commitment to our public safety professionals and the residents they serve.
Jim, my understanding is that veterans have absolute preference under state law for police and fire and other civil service positions. Are you suggesting some local enhancements beyond that?
@Paul: Excellent question. Veterans do enjoy the preference and there is an order of preference that contains backgrounds such as a parent dying in the line of duty as a firefighter or police officer, disabled veterans, veterans, etc.
Having said that you still have to attract people to the job and therein is the problem. The city is not attracting many veterans, and virtually no women veterans, and veterans of color, even though these candidates exist, and leave the military on a daily basis.
A recruiting example is one that I saw first hand while I was still in the service a number of years ago, when the Connecticut State police sent a recruiting officer to my Marine base to recruit candidates, They offered a presentation on the job duties, and benefits, and one of their big carrots as a state police organization was complete use of the police cruiser on/off the job. (their vehicles at the time were unmarked except for a removable light rack.)
Current Newton, and State of Mass policy, is to wait for people to show up, and I have always felt that a pro-active city recruiting policy will truly benefit the city.
Newton could do this on its own, or we could team up with other cities/towns for more effect.
Hi Jim, thanks for your work helping to find good civilian opportunities from veterans.
I say this with respect for those that have served in both the armed forces and the police, but the transition from the military to civilian police isn’t always straightforward or best for the individuals involved. This is a sensitive subject that has to do each person’s training, experiences, personality, and crisis coping mechanisms. This military.com article covers many of the issues that might not be clear or obvious to civilians:
https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/search/law-enforcement-jobs/military-transition-to-police-force.html
Here’s another in-depth article on the subject from the Marshall Project:
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/03/30/when-warriors-put-on-the-badge
I blame many of the problems both veterans and police face on the stigmatization of mental health treatment and its second class status in our healthcare system. The military and police face dangers in our name that can break a person. We need to make sure they (and everyone else in our society) gets the help they needs and is made whole so that they can be the best person and member of society they can be.
Last night’s mass shooting in Boulder CO reminds us why police officers carry assault rifles in their vehicles. The reality is that there is an arms race between law enforcement and Americans who buy and own semiautomatic weapons and high capacity magazines. The NRA came out with a tweet last night supporting “Second Amendment” rights more than a half hour before the Boulder Police Department was even able to give a preliminary press conference to confirm that people had died. News reporters citing sources within the police department said the shooter used an AR-15. As America opens up again, post-COVID, I am afraid we will start seeing weekly massacres again. Not to mention the tens of thousands who are killed or wounded by firearms used in connection with domestic violence every year. It is no wonder that our police officers have adopted a “warrior” mentality. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Sadly, I agree Ted. When in some states people can walk down the street with AR-15s perfectly legally, the window for police to act should one of them turn violent is vanishingly small. Literally a second can lie between prevention and carnage. This may sound like hyperbole, but it isn’t. It is my naive hope that one day this practical inability to stop a heinous mass casualty act will be the basis of preventative legislation.
Fortunately, Massachusetts isn’t one of those states, but the arms race between police and a very small number of criminals is real. We live in a time and place when, in a very small number of horrific situations, the only guardian is the warrior.
Our real challenge is how to prevent preparedness for the once-in-a-lifetime worst from adversely impacting the approaches, performance, risks of everyday policing.
James,
We need more leaders like you who support newton PD…. and not throw them under the bus for the sake of virtue signaling
Ted was on the City Council with me when the decision was made for the police to carry weapons that allow them to do their job to the benefit of the people they are to protect. AR15’s in the Newton scenario are in the proper place, and from my experience even though they may not be true assault weapons, AR15’s do not belong in mainstream America. The reason in my opinion is that they are too light in weight, too simple to operate, and too easy to target making them a real mass shooting threat. Massachusetts seems to have it correct in many aspects of gun management.
Back to recruiting: this thread took a different tack, but Mike please note that recruiting Veterans doesn’t mean you hire all of them, or that you ignore other pipelines of candidates. By being in the recruiting game you have the ability to screen and evaluate many candidates. Something not well known to non-military is that very few military members actually see combat, so to stereotype great candidates with a study is not fair. Recruiting Veterans allows you to screen candidates that have made a community commitment by joining in the 1st place, know the rank structure, have developed people skills working side by side with people from all backgrounds, have leadership training, are trained to diffuse violent situations.
As an example of training, my oldest daughter, a graduate of the Naval Academy, and a former Navy officer was required to take physed classes in boxing and wrestling ensuring that her 1st fight was behind her, thereby lessoning the need to use a weapon for fear of physical violence. The true test is that when you dial 911, a well trained responder shows up able to handle the situation.
Points, taken, Jim. My larger point is that we shouldn’t underestimate the unique training and personal qualities required for great civilian police officers, which overlap somewhat but are distinct from military service (active duty or not). The same distinction holds inside the military with military police. As is generally true, it comes down to the talents and skills of the individual and the support and training that we can give them.
Disappointed that the report did not substantively address the use of body cameras. All I see in this over 80 page reports is a footnote which states “The task force acknowledges that community members and at least some members of the NPD would like body
cameras. The Task Force agrees that acquiring body cameras should be a goal for the future, but body cameras should not be a top priority. The Task Force recommends that the NPC review the feasibility of body cameras within the next several years.” Why not make this a priority? Did they review evidence for/against? If Somerville can do this, why can’t Newton? Seems body cam footage would have been enormously helpful with the recent tragic death of Michael Conlon.