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Date: 3/7/2023
LEVERETT – Member Jed Proujansky wisely suggested the Leverett-Wendell Advisory Police Services Oversight Committee (PSOC) anticipate resident concerns before they surface. Foresight may be a primary benefit of having the committee.
“It’s always better to bring the question to the community, rather than have the community come back and say, why haven’t you addressed this?” Proujansky said.
The comment came near the end of a meeting of the PSOC, formed to smooth the joining of the police departments of adjacent towns, Leverett and Wendell, into one department. Advisory committees have no day to day decision making authority. A difficulty for members then is what specific role will the committee serve during the wedding of departments?
The meeting on Feb. 27 began with Gillian Budine, representing the Wendell Selectboard, acknowledging the PSOC was still without a clear role in the melding of the two police forces, a money-saving effort.
“We’re not ready to have a public conversation because we’re not really sure what our role is,” Budine said.
Thomas Richardson, representing the Wendell Finance Committee (FinCom), said the purpose of the group is to gather facts, make recommendations and engage the community. Discussion revealed that oversight and policy for the combined police force is still murky. Anna Wetherby, a Wendell member at large, noted that police policy, like school policy, is often mandated by the state. The PSOC has no role in deciding those principles of governance.
Shannon Gamble, a Leverett member at large, offered the opinion that 90 percent of residents love the new agreement to combine forces, and would love a fourth, fifth or even sixth full time officer…but the PSOC really doesn’t know. The comment implied the police reform bill adopted by the commonwealth several years ago, that requires all part time officers be trained to the same extent as full time officers, was one of the primary reasons for combining the two police forces.
The role of the PSOC in police budget oversight, however, is unclear.
“In the IMA,” Proujansky said, referring to the intermunicipal agreement between the two towns, “it says we need to review the budget.”
“If we review the budget,” Budine asked, “what is the FinCom’s job?”
Proujansky countered that the PSOC and police officials have different viewpoints on what might work for the combined department. The PSOC will have its own understanding of what works on the community level. Patricia Duffy, representing Leverett’s Selectboard, said the committee will bring up issues that are “floating around in the community” that other town officials may not be thinking about.
Gamble, from Leverett, desired “to just have more openness and transparency about the policing in our two towns, what people want, and to make that happen.”
Gamble felt that making a near term and weighty recommendation on the hiring of a fourth full time officer was difficult because the information on the need for another officer came from only one source, Scott Minkler, police chief in Leverett. According to Gamble, Minkler also wants to hire a fifth and sixth officer.
Proujansky preferred that residents not see the PSOC in favor of building up a big force. A public roundtable about residents’ hopes for the combined department and the hiring of a fourth full time officer, he said, should happen before Town Meeting.
“We can all have that dialogue in a less time critical situation,” Proujansky said. “There are people in our meetings who are clearly opposed to this… so the sooner we get this (figured out) the easier it will be to get it to Town Meeting.”
Budine clarified that Minkler is seeking to expand a part time officer to a full time position. Proujansky noted that it’s a decision between sooner or later.
“A part time officer is going away, because of state law, and…in a few years there won’t be anyone who can be a part time officer,” Proujansky said. “It’s really a matter of, do you want to do it now or in a year or two?”
PSOC members took Proujansky’s recommendation to heart and decided to take their questions to residents. Duffy said she will schedule a meeting in March, probably on the 27th, to tap into residents’ thinking on the matter of hiring a new officer. Proujansky also figured out how the PSOC may impact how the combined department operates.
“We use the public forums…to gather insight and input,” Proujansky said. “We take the community sentiment and have it coalesce into one or two thoughts, and translate that into policy of the Police Department…That’s how we bridge the gap.”