Boston Police Reform Task Force wrapping up work, Marty Walsh says

Mayor Martin Walsh isn’t signaling which way he falls on the City Council’s proposed civilian review board ahead of his briefing later this week from the Boston Police Reform Task Force, which he says is wrapping up its work.

Walsh, speaking to reporters at a press conference on Tuesday, said the task force, which has been reviewing department policies since earlier this summer, will present to him on Thursday. Walsh created the task force amid national and local calls for more oversight of police officers and departments.

The mayor reserved judgment on the proposal before city council on the creation of a civilian review board to oversee the department.

“I have not seen that version yet,” Walsh said.

The mayor said the task force had asked him to allow it to expand its review, and he did so. One of the areas it’s looking at is the current Community Ombudsman Oversight Panel — the COOP — which is similar to a civilian review board but has little teeth and rarely meets.

The city council held a hearing on Tuesday about the proposal, hearing from advocates and from some New York City officials on the nuts and bolts of how that city’s board operates.

City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who chaired the committee hearing, said the councilors likely will have another working session on the proposal, and will consider factors including whether the board should have subpoena power and how its members should be appointed.

City Councilor Andrea Campbell, who along with Councilors Julia Mejia and Ricardo Arroyo co-sponsored the proposal, said in a statement after the hearing, “Many folks confirmed in today’s hearing that to have effective civilian oversight and accountability for police requires a board that is independent from the Police Department, which the COOP is not,” Campbell said. “The ordinance we’ve proposed creates a board with independence and investigative authority including subpoena powers to be effective, and that would collect and use data to inform how to shift policies and practices to address and eliminate racial disparities in policing.”

Campbell and other councilors took issue with the fact that no administration officials attended the hearing.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Fn9yDt