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Date: 12/21/2021
AMHERST – The Town Council officially approved the formation and establishment of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety, and Service (CRESS) program and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
During their Dec. 13 meeting, the Town Council voted 10-0-0 with three members absent in favor of approving the reorganization plan to of the town manager to establish the CRESS program. The reason for creating this agency is to provide the community safety services in situations that don’t involve violence or serious crime and will create a civilian, unarmed alternative to calls that might otherwise require a response from the Police Department.
The CRESS program was recommended by the Community Safety Working Group (CSWG) who spent the last year working and researching to find better ways to implement public safety within the community and provide skilled, unarmed responders to calls for service that involve mental health, substance abuse, homelessness, trespass, wellness checks, youth, and/or the need for de-escalation, all to reduce unwanted contact between the Amherst Police Department (APD) and the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community. The CSWG has ended their time as a group, but the formation of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC) will serve to fill in many of the roles the group was playing.
Councilor At-Large Mandi Jo Hanneke gave a big thank you to all the work the CSWG did to help get the town to this point and praised the work of the town for working toward necessary change.
“I want to thank the CSWG for doing a massive amount of work on rethinking what community safety is,” Hanneke said. “Thank you to the APD to be willing to work with the community. Their jobs have changed over time to encompass more than what police departments are meant for. They have been asked to be social workers and so much more. [The APD] stepped up to the challenge in all these roles and responded with professionalism. They should have never put the responsibility of being social workers on the police.”
The council then approved in another 10-0-0 with three absent vote to establish the DEI office. This office will develop, recommend and implement a strategic plan that will advance a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture for the town and establish priorities that provide opportunities to build diversity and inclusive practices into the town’s operations.
The official formation and approval of these two groups from the town manger’s plan are seen as big accomplishments for the Town Council as they made it a priority to work toward social change within the town following their affirmation to the BIPOC community to work toward making the necessary changes within the community to build relations.
Councilor-Elects Join for Orientation
The Town Council met with the new councilor-elects to host an orientation for the incoming councilors before going over a wide array of topics for their Special Town Meeting.
Councilor Elects Pam Rooney, Jennifer Taub, Anika Lopes, Ana Devlin Gauthier, and Ellisha Walker joined the virtual meeting and listened to presentations and were welcomed to ask questions as town staff gave a rundown of what its like to be a councilor and the responsibilities that come with it.
Councilor Dorothy Pam expressed her pleasure to be able to virtually meet and see the new councilor elects and offered help and advice to anyone at any time.
Hanneke second Pam’s comments and added that this incoming council had the privilege of having a previous council to refer to as they transition in their new role.