Boston’s police reform task force did not meet with the patrolmen’s union while crafting its report
"My hope is that they will be on board with us and the rest of the citizens in this commonwealth and particularly in Boston that change is necessary."
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The task force convened by Mayor Marty Walsh to offer ways the city could reform its police department did not solicit input from the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association in crafting its recommendations, members said Tuesday.
The task force was formed in June amid public calls for transparency and accountability from the city’s law enforcement as the nation grapples with the impacts of systemic racism and police brutality, and unveiled its five draft suggestions earlier this month.
Notably, the report recommends creating a new city office with subpoena power to review and resolve civilian complaints against police, expanding the body-worn camera program to all uniformed officers, and taking specific steps to diversify the department’s ranks, among other proposals.
The group, which recently completed another round of community listening sessions, spoke with reporters in a virtual roundtable meeting Tuesday morning as they ready a final set of recommendations.
“We did not meet with members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association or the like, but we did have the benefit of some of their input through our public listening sessions both written and officers who came on and made themselves a part of the listening sessions,” Task Force Chairman and former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Wayne Budd said after members were asked whether the group met with the union.
The BPPA, the largest union representing department personnel, fought against the rollout of the city’s police body-worn camera program, challenging the initiative in court in 2016. A judge ultimately ruled the program could proceed.
The task force’s report also comes as the city works to negotiate new contracts with its four main police unions, whose previous agreements expired at the end of June. City officials and policy makers have said some law enforcement reforms — such as overtime spending — would need to be addressed at the negotiating table.
Beyond public comment submitted by individual officers to the task force, members said they received law enforcement perspective on their recommendations from Boston police Superintendent Dennis White and Sgt. Eddy Chrispin, both of whom served on the 11-person group.
“We didn’t have input from the unions, but I did have conversations with other officers just in passing about parts of the recommendations that were put out publicly that people didn’t fully understand prior to us releasing what we recommended,” White, the department’s chief of staff, said. “Overall, I believe most of the officers believe that change was coming, and I have positive views from members. I mean, there are going to be some that are going to resist change, but that is the process that we went through.”
Chrispin, also president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, said that through his conversations with fellow officers, many had general concerns about the recommendations because it was not immediately clear what the reforms would be, “especially if they didn’t specifically have a voice.”
“But I think at this point my comments to members of the police department I’ve spoken to have been change is inevitable,” Chrispin said. “It makes sense that we have a seat at the table, and we’re able to moderate some of those changes to the extent that we can explain context to some of the concerns that people have.”
Chrispin believes there are some officers who disagree with aspects of the task force’s suggestions, but, in time, “people will acquiesce and confirm with some of the recommendations,” he said.
“I would simply add that the patrolmen’s association has a seat at the table every time a contract is negotiated and that it is not often that the public is organized in a way that would allow them to have a clear voice,” said task force member and former state Rep. Marie St. Fleur. “I do think that with the representation of Superintendent White and Sgt. Eddy Crispin, as well as the officers who elected as members of the public to show up at the public hearings, they had a full forum to participate and share their views. And I know that their views were taken into consideration during this process.”
A request for comment from the BPPA was not returned Tuesday.
In July, the BPPA was among the state’s police unions who were vocally outraged by the passing of the “Reform, Shift + Build Act” in the Massachusetts Senate, upset over being largely left out of conversations by lawmakers crafting the bill, which they contended was rushed.
The measure would limit the “qualified immunity” that protects officers from facing civil lawsuits and create a certification process for police, among other measures. After the House passed its own police reform bill, state officials are still hammering out a final version.
Task force member Joseph Feaster Jr., who is also chairman of the board of directors of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said the group anticipates the BPPA will not “embrace all of the recommendations from the outset.”
“My hope is that they will be on board with us and the rest of the citizens in this commonwealth and particularly in Boston that change is necessary and these will be the procedures put in place that we’ve discussed and there is an issue that needs to be addressed,” he said.
“We’re talking about addressing not the good police officers because we know there are many,” Feaster added. “We’re talking about addressing the police officers who break the rules, and, if the patrolmen’s association wants to support the officers who are breaking the rules, that’s their choice, but I hope in negotiations that the mayor will stand by these recommendations.”
Budd said a final version of the group’s report will come “within a very short period of time.”
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