Public Safety

Apr 13

Transition Policy Committee Summary of Findings

Committee Name

Public Safety

Committee Members

Joe Curtatone, Brenna Broderick, Anand Patil

Key themes and trends:

Public trust and safety are interdependent, and trust cannot be maintained without accessible oversight mechanisms led by and accountable to community members.
Community engagement must be ongoing, multilingual, and intentionally structured to include historically underrepresented populations.
Oversight requires independence, meaningful access to police data, and authority to publish findings and issue recommendations.
There is strong community support for civilian oversight, and multiple studies and surveys have found community demand for transparency and accountability in policing.
It is crucial at this moment to invest in public safety infrastructure to maintain excellence and competitiveness in Somerville’s public safety.

Existing initiatives:

Professional Standards Division within SPD investigates misconduct internally.
Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission provides statewide oversight, including certification, suspension, decertification, and public records of officer status.
SPD is certified and accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, requiring adherence to best-practice policy provisions.
City-led outreach and education efforts on oversight topics began in 2021 through RSJ Department webinars and community meetings.
SFD has instituted automated dispatching which has resulted in faster dispatching of units to incidents.
Response times are below national recommendations.
SFD is conducting real-life testing with Mobility on traffic calming measures to ensure emergency vehicles can operate.
SFD is ordering apparatus far in advance in response to nationwide fire apparatus delays, which has resulted in minimizing delays.

Gaps:

Only 30% of adult residents would know how to file a complaint, and roughly 1 in 5 Black or Hispanic residents would feel “very uncomfortable” filing.
No local civilian oversight body currently exists to complement POST or SPD’s internal systems.
Complaint processes lack universal accessibility, including translation and accessible routes for submission.
Current mechanisms do not systematically collect feedback, commendations, or improvement ideas from the public.
Existing structures are primarily reactive, focused on discipline rather than policy and practice improvement, mediation, or preventing future incidents.
Public safety buildings have not received adequate upgrades and basic maintenance is slow.
For SPD, the pool of prospective personnel has significantly decreased, which has hindered the ability to expand staffing to additional areas the community desires.
Radio infrastructure is outdated, unreliable, and fails to reach all areas of the city.

Opportunities:

Establish a Public Safety Oversight Commission with independence, subpoena authority, access to police data, and responsibility for community listening.
Create multiple complaint submission pathways including digital access, phone, and physical locations, paired with administrative support.
Develop mediation and dispute-resolution options as voluntary alternatives when appropriate.
Publish anonymized public databases of complaints and commendations, updated regularly.
Hold regular public meetings across neighborhoods, increasing reach and trust.
Review SPD policies and practices continuously, allowing proactive recommendations.
Invest in public safety infrastructure and work to make Somerville a competitive place to work compared to other cities/towns in the Commonwealth.

Recommendations for action:

Short-term recommendations (first 100 days):

Establish a Public Safety Oversight Commission structure with 9 Commissioners, 6 appointed by the City Council and 3 by the Mayor, supported by an Executive Director.
Implement accessible complaint intake routes, ensuring technical and translation support.
Launch community listening efforts including meetings with neighborhood groups to solicit concerns and ideas.
Work with DPW to streamline station repairs.
Develop a plan to fulfill time-sensitive grants.

Medium-term recommendations (first year):

Publish an anonymized database of complaints and commendations, and hold quarterly community-facing public meetings.
Conduct policy and practice reviews and issue written recommendations to the Chief of Police, Mayor, and City Council, with required written responses.
Pilot mediation and alternative dispute resolution pathways alongside POST processes.
Identify a new site(s) to replace public safety buildings located at 220 Washington St.
SPD: Develop a plan to fill vacant positions, making necessary policy changes to the alternative hiring process, reserve list, and civil service process to maximize the recruiting pool, as well as develop a contract with competitive benefits.

Long-term recommendations (entire term):

Build mechanisms enabling non-arbitrable disciplinary recommendations, developed through future collective bargaining processes.
Institutionalize continuous training for Commissioners, including cultural competency, confidentiality, and police operations.
Commission an independent external review after five years to assess effectiveness and modify structure as necessary.
Replace radio infrastructure.
Develop a plan to upgrade traffic signals to add GPS & line-of-sight emergency vehicle preemption.
Work to implement recommendations as feasible in the Public Safety for All Taskforce.

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