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Home My Public Portal AboutPalomba_2021_0629_Transparency and Accountability in WPD Proposed Revision to Watertown Charter Charter Review Committee members &Town Clerk: please enter this proposal into the record. IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE WATERTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT Date: May 10, 2021 Overview We propose that the Watertown Charter mandate that a mechanism be established for regular municipal and public oversight of the Watertown Police Department to increase its transparency and accountability to Watertown residents. While the MA Police Reform Law will provide important state oversight of many aspects of policing, there remains a clear need for greater citizen and municipal involvement in understanding and reviewing police practices in Watertown. Need Currently there is little public transparency or accountability for a department that plays a direct and important role in the lives of town residents and visitors. The WPD reports to only one individual, the Town Manager. Given concerns recently expressed by Watertown residents about use of force policies, arrest and citation data, budgetary priorities, relationship with the town's changing demographics, and anti-bias training, we believe oversight by the Town Manager alone is not sufficient. Recent meetings of the Public Safety Committee, held with the WPD and the public, have raised issues that remain unresolved, including racial disparities in arrests and citations; appropriate anti-bias training; and whether police should carry the responsibility of responding to mental health concerns. These issues would not have come to light if citizens had not pressed to be heard. If no one hears from the Town Manager about what is actually going on in the WPD, and because the Public Safety Committee only occasionally reviews the operations and services of the WPD, the citizenry is essentially uninformed about critical matters of town policing operations and outcomes. Recent efforts (in the fall of 2020) by a Kingian Response Team working group to address such issues through the establishment of a WPD Community Advisory Board were rejected by the Police Department. (5) The direct link between police practices and the lives of Watertown residents requires greater openness and accountability OPPORTUNITY Longstanding concerns about policing and specific concerns about racial injustice in policing have more recently spread throughout the country. Local efforts to better understand and influence police practices would provide our community with greater trust in law enforcement, better practices with regard to communities of color, and overall improved safety and protection for all of our residents. Greater openness about the activities of the WPD should be a goal of our town government. It should ensure that local policing is transparent and accountable by holding regular and substantive review of relevant police practices. Such transparency and openness could include, for example, routine reports to the public about current WPD operations, sharing of outcomes data, and updates on how the new state police reform requirements are being implemented in Watertown. In addition, thinking outside the box about policing with town stakeholders could lead to innovative and beneficial new directions. The review of the Town Charter offers a unique opportunity to reflect on all aspects of municipal functioning. The Charter Committee is empowered to address areas that are not working to citizen satisfaction. It has become abundantly clear that our citizens, like others across the nation, are calling for greater accountability and transparency from the police. Were this proposed mandate to be made part of the Charter, a task force could be created to address and study how the town can best fulfill this mandate for regular and substantive police oversight. We believe that any mechanism created to fulfill this mandate must include not only representatives of the town government and the WPD, but members of the public. See the reference below (3) to the report from the task force that Newton created shortly after the death of George Floyd to study policing issues and make recommendations. GOALS/ BENEFITS/ IMPACT In the near term, we anticipate several benefits from the formation of a task force to explore options for increased transparency and accountability by the WPD: • Dialogue and increased understanding among diverse constituencies of the need for greater transparency and accountability, including specific reporting and oversight needs • Learning about the experiences of similar Massachusetts towns (e.g., Newton, Arlington) in assessing and establishing mechanisms for police oversight • Identifying and evaluating options for establishing mechanisms to increase WPD transparency and accountability to the public and town government • Development of specific recommendations, with associated milestones and required resources for authorizing and implementing a sustainable mechanism for transparency and accountability of the WPD z We believe that such a measured, interim approach provides an opportunity to fully evaluate this matter and develop appropriate recommendations in order to achieve effective police oversight in Watertown. As highlighted in a recent journal article on police accountability, such efforts are designed to"improve what the police do and how they perform." (1) In some municipalities oversight efforts have been enacted preemptively to address emerging concerns; others have been established in response to allegations of wrongdoing. In the case of Watertown, concerned citizens are making this recommendation primarily as a way to prevent any number of potential problems as well as to increase public trust, particularly among People of Color living in the Watertown community. MILESTONES 1. Town Council or the Town Manager authorizes and establishes an interim Task Force on Police Transparency &Accountability to study the creation, membership, authority and responsibilities of a body that serves to oversee the actions and policies of the Watertown Police Department. 2. Task Force begins its work and reports back to the appointing body (e.g., Town Council or Town Manager) within the specified time frame (e.g., six months, one year). 3. Public review and comment on the Task Force Report and its recommendations. Both the executive and legislative members of the town government review the recommendations of the Task Force. Opportunities are provided for public review and comment through open hearings and/or written comments. 4. Task Force recommendations are accepted or rejected, either through the executive branch, through the legislative branch, or through a joint approach.An implementation strategy and plan are established for the accepted recommendations, along with proposed funding parameters. 5. Police transparency and accountability measures are implemented according to the established and accepted plan, with ongoing oversight by the executive or legislative appointing body. CONCLUSION/SUMMARY We recognize that in many aspects the functioning of the current WPD is quite good and, further, that the WPD is viewed positively by most Watertown residents. This proposal is intended to improve public reporting and accountability about WPD operations and outcomes, to effect innovative approaches that improve policing, and to build better community trust of police by people of color, immigrants, youth, and other marginalized residents. We believe this kind of oversight and innovation can best be accomplished by establishment of a sustained mechanism for greater transparency and accountability of the Watertown Police Department. REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. "Civilian Oversiaht as a Police Accountabilitv Mechanism", Brett Raffish, Lawfare (February 17, 2021) 2. "For Civilian Review Boards to Work. Thev_ Must Avoid Past Mistakes", Kelly McConney Moore,ACLU Connecticut (September 10, 2020) 3. Newton Police Reform Task Force Recommendations, City of Newton /Strategy Matters (March, 2021) 4. "Citizen Advisory Boards in Contemoorary Practice: A Practical Approach in Policina", Police Chief Magazine (October 2015) 5. WPD CommunitvAdvisory Board proposal, Kingian Response Team Working Group (February 27, 2021) Louise Enoch 58 Spruce Street 617 966-7688 Ipenoch@gmail.com Chuck Dickinson 21 Church Lane 617 794-0483 cdickins@verizon.net Sue-Ellen Hersh man-Tcherepnin 96 Russell Avenue 617 835-1679 seht128@gmail.com David and Alice Kidder 50 Watertown Street,Apt. 503 617 276-6227 flintkiddr@aol.com Sarah Pardo 22 Spruce Street 617 458-2654 spardo2@wellesley.edu Krystyn Elek 40 Union St, Watertown, MA 02472 843 209-5044 krystyn.elek@gmail.com Merle Kummer 375 Arlington Street 617 489-9964 mkummer@kummerconsulting.com Sheila Krishnan 83 Fayette Street 734 972-4459 sheilakrishnan@gmail.com Theodore M. Hammett 119 Riverside Street 617 407-7830 ted ham mett.abt@gmail.comEmail: Nancy Hammett 119 Riverside Street 617 763-2761 nhammett4@gmail.com Will Twombly 75 Marion Rd. 617 926-8130 wtsd@rcn.com