Police reform another victim of political agendas
Though the Massachusetts Legislature fast-tracked a police reform bill, political leaders in Boston are still hashing out details of a possible police civilian review board.
In one corner, City Councilors Andrea Campbell, Ricardo Arroyo and Julia Mejia, who are calling for one unified oversight board.
In the other, Mayor Marty Walsh, who wants to create two.
The city’s current Community Ombudsman Oversight Panel is tasked with reviewing appeals made with the Boston Police over internal investigations. It’s an independent board of civilians appointed by Walsh, and they have experience in law and criminal justice. The mayor’s ordinance would the create the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency to oversee one civilian review board for complaints against the department and one for internal affairs cases.
Not good enough, says Campbell, who is running for mayor.
As Campbell told WGBH’s “Morning Edition” back in July as she discussed her board proposal, “The difference between this board and the CO-OP, the CO-OP makes a recommendation and that is it. The commissioner decides whether or not he is going to adopt that. In the ordinance, it puts forth a matrix where there has to be a set of criteria, and so when they put forth a recommendation to the commissioner, he can’t just simply say ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay.’ He has to respond according to this matrix with specific details as to why he may or may not enforce the recommendation of the board.”
In other words, if Police Commissioner William Gross rejects a recommendation, he’d better have darn good, specific reasons why. Just who is in charge here?
The activists and officials who want police defunding in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, that’s who.
Anti-police sentiment is strong around the country, with officers being attacked, impeded from doing their jobs and facing opposition and censorship for flying the Thin Blue Line flag.
Police reforms need to be structured with an eye towards what is best for the community while still respecting the work of law enforcement, and not opportunities to advance anti-cop agendas.
Of course, as with virtually any proposal in Boston these days, the police oversight issue is really a power struggle between the mayor and the council.
“The mayor’s approach to doing this by executive orders is not just disappointing — it falls short of meeting our goal of lasting, independent civilian oversight,” Campbell said.
She said wants to hear “that the mayor will sign it — we had to get that on public record, in a public hearing, such as this.”
Jerome Smith, Walsh’s chief of civic engagement pushed back, saying Campbell’s “calling on” the mayor to act on police reform when he has an ordinance in front of them doesn’t really make any sense.
“I think it’s just more politics than anything else,” Smith said. “Mayor Walsh has made it very clear his commitment to police reform.”
But in this climate, few things are about sense as much as they are about sensibilities — and scoring political points by appealing to the marching set.
At a time when gun violence is surging and officers respond to regular shootings in Boston, it would be good if some thought were given to police support.