For a fourth summer, state police will be supplementing local law enforcement in the Springfield area as part of an anti-violence initiative.
That was one of the takeaways during a town hall Monday, where State Representative Bud Williams introduced Colonel John Mawn Jr., the Interim Superintendent of Massachusetts State Police.
In addition to answering questions, Mawn detailed the focus of the summer partnership, which also occurs in other cities across the Commonwealth.
“We work shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and women of Springfield and we work together to try to make communities that are experiencing violent crime, particularly gun crime and predatory drug dealers, dealers that make a profit off the misery and pain of others, to work hand-in-hand to try to address those things, so people have better quality of life,” he said.
According to the state police head, other communities involved in the initiative include Holyoke and Lawrence.
The efforts continue a year after Springfield saw a record number of homicides – 31 in 2023.
Also discussed, the subject of several questions, was what is being done to bring diversity to the state police force. Mawn called it a priority.
While he noted over 30 percent of the current recruitment class of 227 is diverse, and that those numbers have been sustained over the last few classes, hurdles remain, especially when it comes to the overall state police force.
“We're happy that it's going in that direction and we're happy that we're sustaining those numbers to over time,” Mawn said. “But we also recognize that there's a lot of work to be done, because our overall numbers are hovering around 15%.”
During a question and answer segment, Denise Jordan, Executive Director of the Springfield Housing Authority, asked about several matters, including what the actual makeup of the Springfield state police barracks is along with what’s being down to recruit more people of color.
Springfield’s own police force, according to the department, is the most diverse in the state, with 54 percent of its nearly 500 sworn officers being Hispanic, Black or Asian.
According to Mawn’s staff at the meeting, of the 34 troops at the state police barracks, eight are people of color.
At times, the interim superintendent acknowledged state police cannot close the diversity gap on its own, appealing for residents to encourage members of their community to pursue a career in law enforcement.
The acknowledgement, along with other answers, was encouraging, according to Jordan.
“I was impressed by Colonel Mawn’s answers because one of the things that he acknowledged is the fact that he doesn't have all the answers for Black and brown communities, and that he's going to seek input from those troopers, that are Black and brown, so that he knows what he needs when he goes into said communities,” Jordan told WAMC
Williams had praise for the state police leader as well. The Massachusetts Black & Latino Legislative Caucus chair considered his honesty moving.
“Race is a very, very tough conversation in America, and most people don’t like to have it - it's painful,” he said. “But, Colonel Mawn is a pretty good individual, straightforward, old school, but he's straightforward, and his honesty has always moved me since I've been on Beacon Hill.”
