City Councilors in Springfield, Massachusetts say they’ll advocate for the needs of the new civilian Board of Police Commissioners.
Meeting Monday with the Springfield City Council Public Safety Committee, Gary Berte, the chair of the civilian board responsible for adjudicating complaints of misconduct against Springfield Police officers and deciding discipline, said the commission needs support including a staff, supplies, and perhaps its own office space.
“We would welcome any support financially, administratively, or personnel-wise that we could get in order to move forward with the changes that are needed,” he said.
The exact administrative and physical needs of the commission are still to be determined, said Berte, who noted the five-member board of unpaid volunteers has only been in existence for a few weeks.
“ We’re just getting started,” he said.
Berte said board members are ready to hear misconduct cases. He said a series of trainings is planned for the commissioners to help them better understand their duties under the city ordinance that created the board as well as the consent decree between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice that requires specific reforms at the Springfield Police Department.
City Councilor Victor Davila, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said he’ll go to Mayor Domenic Sarno to lobby for the commission to have its own line item in the city budget.
“(The board) has to be an island in and of itself,” Davila said. “An island where you are not subject to political interference.”
Four of the five police commissioners attended the meeting with the City Councilors. Berte, Norman Roldan, Madeline Fernandez, and Robert Jackson each spoke briefly about themselves and why they opted to accept appointment to the new high profile board.
The City Council passed the ordinance to create the board in 2018 touching off a long legal battle with Sarno who objected to ceding his authority to appoint a single police commissioner to oversee all aspects of the police department. Earlier this year, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled in the Council’s favor and Sarno appointed the five board members.
Given the history, City Councilor Mike Fenton said the first ever meeting between Councilors and police commissioners was “a cool moment.” He pointed out that unlike an earlier civilian review board that lacked any real authority, the police commission has subpoena power.
“I just want to highlight that as a tool that I hope you never have to use, but I know you will and trust you will do it judiciously and effectively,” Fenton said.
While much of the work of the Board of Police Commissioners will be done out of the public eye – since police officers have a legal right to have disciplinary hearings held in private – Berte said they are planning to hold a series of public community meetings. The first is this Wednesday at the Indian Orchard Citizens Council.
