Mayor To Form Independent Task Force To Review Newton Policing

NEWTON, MA — The mayor is forming an independent task force to review policing in Newton.

The independent, nine member Newton Police Reform Task Force will undertake a "holistic assessment" of the department and make recommendations on the policies, procedures, practices and overall strategic direction for Newton’s policing effort and report on recommendations every six weeks.

Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the efforts will be based on surveys, focus groups or interviews of what people of color are experiencing in Newton. Areas that the task force will consider reforming include, recruiting, hiring, training and promoting, staffing levels, services, and organization structure, misconduct and discipline, accountability and oversight, she said. The plan is to begin meeting the first week of July.

• Newton Police Chief David MacDonald To Step Down
• Newton Mayor Agrees To Use $200K Of Police Budget To Review Dept
• Mayor's Budget Address: 'Dark Shadows ...
• Newton Group Asks City To Cut Police Budget By 10 Percent...
• Defunding MA Police: What It Might Look Like

The move comes in response to recent outcry among residents to rethink the city's police department and the funding it receives. Earlier this week the City Council sent a resolution to Fuller asking for $200,000 from the proposed police budget to be used to perform a full analysis of the department. She agreed.

Among the most vocal of those groups calling for change in Newton's police department is asking that the mayor go beyond "reform" and commit to redirecting funds toward the community. The group is asking that the task force include in its mandate a three to five year blueprint on how to spend less money on the police department and funnel the funds that would have gone there, toward the community.

"We recognize that change doesn’t happen overnight, but we want Newton to commit to long-term transition and transformation," according to a petition from the group called Defund Newton Police. The group has 10 asks, including for the city to create a firm deadline by which the task force would be required to file that report or have the police department budget face an automatic 20 percent reduction.

Fuller pledged to review the police department's practices "holistically," engage with the broader community and report back with a draft, listen to public comment and revise them.

"We will do better – we will revise our programs, policies and practices, create meaningful change, and drive forward reform in our city," she said in a statement.

Fuller said she's met with the Newton’s Human Rights Commission, the leaders and members of Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ); and the group named the Newton Coalition of Black Residents who banded together early in Fuller's administration to challenge her, Chief David MacDonald —who announced plans to step down Tuesday— and the Newton Police Department to address the impact of implicit bias and racism on policing.

The meetings have "moved the needle a bit," she said, adding there was more to be done.

Fuller said the police department was following in the footsteps of departments across the country and in neighboring communities such as Waltham, Somerville, Cambridge and Boston in adopting the "8 Can't Wait" reforms. Many of those have already been in place in MA departments. The police department is revising its use of force policies. Read more: Newton Police Department Amends Use Of Force Policy

Although the department was considered at the cutting edge of policing in the past, among the first to embed a social worker to help people with their underlying challenges, the mayor said she is considering if there's a way to be more effective.

"Rather than a police officer carrying a weapon and handcuffs, perhaps a crisis counselor responds, armed with social work skills, and ready to call for police backup if needed," she said.

The state’s Civil Service system makes it difficult to hire officers with a diverse background and to hold officers accountable for their actions, she said calling for a reassessment of the recruiting and hiring practices along with investigations and discipline, grievances and arbitration.

"While it feels like an overwhelming task to dismantle a system that in so many ways reflects the structural racism in our society, I can directly influence our recruiting, hiring and training practices and diversity, equity and inclusion in our municipal workplace," she said adding she planned to partner with the city's Human Resources director and department heads on this anti-racism work.

• Newton Police Chief David MacDonald To Step Down
• Newton Mayor Agrees To Use $200K Of Police Budget To Review Dept
• Mayor's Budget Address: 'Dark Shadows ...
• Newton Group Asks City To Cut Police Budget By 10 Percent...
• Defunding MA Police: What It Might Look Like

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.