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Date: 5/16/2023
AMHERST — The May 10 meeting of the Town Council, Community Safety and Social Justice, and Committee and Human Rights Commission was the platform for a lengthy series of discussions concerning developments and progress particularly within the Town’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service.
The participants identified and reviewed resolutions raised and proposed from the Town Council meeting on Nov. 14, 2022, which offered a plan for community visioning with a focus on public safety and social justice, suggestions for the creation of a Resident Oversight Board and potentially hiring an assisting consultant.
The November meeting also proposed a review of the public safety protocols as they apply to the response to calls involving community members, including minors. Within those protocols, a plan for their application to CRESS and how their department responds to calls and what those calls are.
Also suggested was the continuation of the movement toward the creation of a Youth Empowerment Center and training for the public regarding racial equity and an ongoing communication plan to bring about awareness within the community.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman praised the formation and development of the DEI and CRESS as well as their directors, Pamela Young and Earl Miller and explained the plan and path going forward.
“We need to establish an effective level of service, we work it, we get good at it, we make sure that it can be maintained and once we’ve got that under our belt, we level up to the next level of service. Each level brings new challenges, complications, negotiations and we continue to repeat that. We set expectations, we meet them and then exceed them, and we are ready to move on. In short, we need to be building these departments so they are sustainable financially and operationally so they will be contributing to the town for years and decades to come,” Bockelman said.
Addressing the first six resolutions presented in the council meeting of Nov. 14, 2022, DEI Director Pamela Young offered an overview of conversations strategies as well as the implementation of protocols and training for staff members who could participate as facilitators for the community. Also was the potential onboarding of a consultant to assist with the formation of a Resident Oversight Board as well as a review of public safety protocols for the response to and handling public safety calls involving all residents including minors in order to recommend changes to those protocols if appropriate.
The review proposal follows the public response, numerous discussions and viral video following a July 5, 2022, Amherst police encounter with nine local youth. The incident which had initially stemmed from a noise complaint, resulted in town investigations as well as a complaint by the Human Rights Commission with the Police Department as well as one to the Attorney General’s Office.
In rounding out the presentation of the resolutions, CRESS Director Earl Miller offered an update and overview on the work and training for the CRESS staff who respond to community needs and incidents involving non-emergency, non-violent situations that police officers would normally be dispatched to handle.
Miller also discussed the department’s interaction with community members including issues involving veterans, seniors and those in need of housing or other emergency services.
“One of the greatest things, the greatest feedback I’ve gotten from a person, we’re a government agency that’s helping them,” Miller said.
Allegra Clark with the Community Safety and Social Justice, and Committee remarked that the seven resolutions emerged following the July 5th, 2022 police incident involving the juveniles.
“We wanted to reiterate all of this Nov. 17 motion came out of the July 5 incident and what we saw as a failure to properly address the harm that had come to the youth as a result of that incident,” Clark said.
Clark also presented the information that came from discussions recommending increased funding for CRESS so that the department could operate on a 24-hour basis.
Deborah Ferreira, a committee member with the Community Safety Working Group raised questions of trust in the community and the need for transparency in selecting a consultant and forming the Resident Oversight Board as well the same needs for the upcoming search and selection for the town’s new police chief.
“That needs to be transparent, again building trust with the community,” she said. “How are you going to build trust with the community when we don’t even know what’s going on? You can’t just go and hire someone quickly, a pivotal position like the chief of police without making sure everyone is involved in the process. If not, you’re going to be creating more problems.”
The meeting went through each of the previously identified resolutions individually to allow for questions and comment from the members present.
Offering criticism of the recent town budget, the town government and of the joint meeting itself, Pat Ononibaku, stated that she is the spokesperson the families of the youth involved in the July 5 incident.
“What are we doing, are we really, really serious about change in our town?” she asked. “I don’t know what to make of this meeting except to call it another show, each time we have this kind of joint meeting, it’s a show to me.”
Ononibaku told the meeting attendees and Bockelman that she hoped the children involved and the families would be “made whole” otherwise the next step would be litigation.
“I am the spokesperson for the group, I am not going anywhere. So, you guys have to make it whole or there will be no peace in our town, there will be no unity in our town because you can’t have all that when some segments of our community are hurting,” she said.
Ferreira expressed disappointment over the intention to wait for the installation of the Resident Oversight Board that would review the actions of the Amherst Police Department before the review of the current public safety protocols.
“I’ll use the word again, I’m flabbergasted about the fact with the report from the town, it is just in a holding pattern, it just says it’s going to wait for the Resident Oversight Board to be in place to address the public safety protocols. This should really be one of the first things that we’re addressing given what happened July 5 and it’s not just July 5,” she said, adding that waiting is not what should happen.
Bockelman said the plan was for the proposed consultant to look at the entire operation, including the review of the protocols and the installation of the oversight board.
“When we make changes, we want to make sure that they stick and that they last for long periods of time. That’s why we’ve been very methodical about every step that we’ve taken. I believe that this approach will be the way that we’re able to institute new protocols that will meet the approval of the town and also will be implemented at the police department,” he responded.
Ferreira asked what the plan would be in the meantime with Bockelman referring her to the existing policies.
Reviewing the remaining resolutions, discussions covered forthcoming staffing and increased responsibilities for the CRESS personnel as well as examination of the APD’s anti-racism position.
The meeting adjourned with the participants agreeing the conversations will continue as the resolution elements are addressed with regular updates from the town manager’s office.