Newton Group Asks City To Cut Police Budget By 10 Percent

NEWTON, MA — Since May, when George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes, the country has felt the reverberations. Millions have taken to the street to protest racial injustice, including in Newton.

One of the ideas that has come from the Black Lives Matter movement is to "defund the police," a shorthand way of asking that cities reduce police department budgets to reinvest in mental health services, social services and areas where historically underrepresented Black communities could benefit.

A group led by young Newton voters followed in the footsteps of groups in Boston and across the country to implore the city council to stop the budgeting process to do just that and reduce the police department's budget by at least 10 percent.

More than 250 people, appearing to be all, logged onto a Zoom meeting at 4 p.m., to explain their ask to at least 15 of Newton's 24 city councilors

"We are here to help our city be anti-racist," organizers said during the meeting, noting that some 1,500 people had already signed a petition this week in an effort to defund the Newton Police.

The group is asking that the city freeze hiring and recruiting, a proposal that could save $272,740, not approve purchases for new cruisers, and develop a plan to reallocate money and transfer services, such as mental health, addiction, and other social services to the health and human services departments. The group is also asking that the police union negotiations get reviewed by the community.

"We have heard from a few City Councilors that budget review will likely be pushed back a week," said organizer Sofia Perez-Dietz, a Newton North grad and student at Colgate University, in an email to supporters ahead of the meeting. "The longer we stall the budget review the longer we have to share our message and demands. We are hoping today that our request for a public meeting will be granted so every Newton resident can speak face to face with the Mayor and City Council."

Achille Van Ricca, a student at Ithica College, said he has seen racism "run rampant," in Newton, at schools and through the actions of city council.

"There's a disconnect between the values and actions," he said. "But we have a chance to live up to the values we express... and follow in the footsteps of Minneapolis," he said, "to defund the police and reallocate those funds."

Several people referenced Newton's response to former Northeastern Athletic Director, in which at least one officer drew their weapon on the man while he and his wife were walking to the grocery store, because police suspected he was a murder from Boston. The athletic director is a Black man.

Read more: Newton Police Draw Gun On A Former Northeastern Athletic Director

Samuel Ntonme, an attorney from Newton said the city should evaluate what the Newton Police is doing, and whether some of the things they're doing could be done better by other organizations.

"It's great that the NPD is talking about doing better, but until we can see better, we really shouldn't spend additional resources on them," Ntonme said.

Councilors said the budget process for the police had been put on hold as they waited to hear more about policies and procedures.

Council chair Susan Albright said there were five items before the city council to determine just that. She also noted that she felt strongly that the city would need to have an independent review of the police department from bottom to top, per the Newton Police chief's suggestion. She didn't say how the city would fund that.

City Councilor Alicia Bowman said long-term systematic changes needed to happen.

"If this were a normal budget year and money was not quite as tight, we wouldn't be as passionate about this. Money is tight and is likely about to be tighter next year," she said.

The movement to defund the police has a history in the states, activists reminded councilors on the Zoom call.

"No individual in Defund the Newton Police [group] thought of this, rather we are putting our collective education and passion behind this movement," said Perez-Dietz in an email to Patch.

"Here in Newton we are not an organized group, rather a collection of Newton residents who feel it is our responsibility to hold our city accountable to its words that it is inclusive and diverse and that we believe Black lives matter," she said.

The collective has work to do, she said, and is pushing for a meeting with the mayor.

Find more about the group: Defund NPD on Facebook.

This week in Newton city councilors have been combing through the budget to see if they can make any further cuts before approving it. The council has the authority to approve the mayor's budget, make cuts, or deny it.

The mayor released the $440M Newton Budget late last month after having to go back to make additional cuts in light of the pandemic.

The Full City Council began discussing the proposed FY2021 budget on Monday night.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday the Committee of the Whole was scheduled to continue budget deliberations, with the possibility of a vote. That could continue a third day to Thursday.

Read more:

• $440M Newton Budget: Cuts, But Not 'To The Bone ...
• Newton Fiscal Year 2021 Budget: Revenue Takes A Hit

• Mayor's Budget Address: 'Dark Shadows ...

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, opinion piece.