Now ex-chair Ellen Maxon spoke to WAMC about the members’ decision to vacate the board Thursday morning.
“Right now, I'm feeling relieved, because I'm not putting effort into something that doesn't result in anything," she said. "So I'm actually feeling relieved. And it's something that some of us have considered for a while, and this last event just was the final straw if it provides resolution for at least a few of us.”
Maxon says that final straw was the body being blocked from reviewing an internal report on the police killing of Pittsfielder Miguel Estrella in March.
“Well, as you are aware, there's been frustrations pretty much from the beginning, but maybe after about the first year of the limited powers that we had," Maxon told WAMC. "And I think when we found out that we were not going to be reviewing the Estrella investigation, that was what tipped us over the top, in part because the board was reconstituted to address the Gillis killing. And then it turns out, we can’t even review the types of cases that we were reconstituted for.”
In 2017, Daniel Gillis was also shot to death by Pittsfield police during a mental health crisis. In both cases, the officers involved in the killings were absolved of all responsibility by both the police department and the Berkshire District Attorney.
Even before the board first met in April 2019, critics described it as toothless, without meaningful oversight abilities. Just months into its existence, the body was already confronting questions about its purpose given that it is only capable of issuing advice on cases that had already been closed.
“There were other situations where we felt both the city council and the mayor's office weren't including us, or we kind of got the feeling weren't paying attention to us," Maxon told WAMC. "In part, we sent a report to the council and the mayor when it was just three of us last year – or the beginning of this year, I forget the exact date – that we kind of outlined some of our concerns, and got no response from either place. And that was frustrating.”
She says the struggle for Pittsfield to keep the board fully staffed is more evidence of a lack of faith in its abilities.
“It's one or two reasons, or it's a combination: It's either the citizenry of Pittsfield does not feel the board's worth it, or the mayor's office hasn't put the effort in to fill it," said the ex-chair. "And I don't want to say which it is, because I don't know. But to me, those are the two reasons, or a combination of those reasons, why it's not filled. That tells us something. Annual reports- Once we were asked to come to the council meeting. I had one question and that was it. So it just doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of interest in the board.”
Maxon says while the city is subject to some legal limitations in what it can share with the board, without any actual authority, it’s largely symbolic.
“What I think would be really helpful is if they figured out some way to include a member of the board in the predetermination process of complaints," she said. "And I know, that's not the way it was done. But, you know, I would want them to try and be creative and figure out a way to have some input from this diverse group of people into all investigations.”
Mayor Linda Tyer opposed granting the board oversight powers when she and Police Chief Michael Wynn submitted the plan to the city council back in 2018. At the time, it was Pittsfield’s third attempt in four years to create some kind of civilian voice in how the city conducts policing.
Despite the board’s disintegration after years of frustration – citing almost the exact same concerns that its previous incarnations voiced – Tyer says she has no regrets.
“We have limitations in terms of their ability to conduct oversight," she told WAMC. "In other words, for example, if they wanted to be able to discipline police officers, or terminate police officers, if that's their definition of oversight, that's a very difficult thing for us, too, and nearly impossible, quite frankly, for us to implement because we are still a civil service community and we do have collective bargaining contracts. I think there was a middle road between what we have today and what some people would like to see. And I was hoping that we were going to find that path, still committed to doing that work. So we'll see where this leads us next.”
Tyer says she felt that she was in regular contact with the board despite Maxon’s comments, and says she has no immediate plans for the now practically empty body.
“I don't think we will move quickly to reappoint or find new appointments to the board," she told WAMC. "I think one of the first things we ought to do is take a look at the ordinance to see if there are some changes that we can make so that the board, the future members of the board will feel that they have a bit more authority than the way the board is structured now.”
It’s unclear when the board – currently comprised of solely Lt. Col. Thomas Grady – is scheduled to meet next.
