Brookline Edges Toward Police Reform Changes

BROOKLINE, MA— The two Brookline committees formed to rethink the town's relationship to the police department in the wake of calls for social justice and police reform across the country agreed Tuesday to making some changes.

It's the first step forward on the topic after months of discussion, meetings and surveys.

Both the Committee on Policing Reforms and the separate Task Force to Reimagine Policing in Brookline came up with two sets of recommendations to the Select Board last month.

The task force took a more hands-on approach to reworking the police department, the other recommended lighter changes.

What they agreed on:

• Starting a Police Commissioner Advisory Committee (PCAC)
• Employ "Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets" (CAHOOTS) as a consultant.
• Asking police to post more data collection and analysis reporting on its website

Police Commissioner Advisory Committee: The idea behind the committee is that it will help the Select Board when it comes to weighing in on policies and procedures. The Select Board acts as the town's police commissioners, but have largely been seen as a rubber stamp for things related to the police department in recent years. Under the new committee, a member of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations will be designated as a liaison to help community members who file complaints against police and sit in on witness interviews during the investigation.

Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets: The board voted to reach out to the Oregon-based mental health crisis intervention program to review the town's crisis intervention services and make recommendations to fill any gaps in programming.

Data collection: The board voted in favor of asking the police department to find a way to start regularly reporting data in a public way that the task force and committee have asked for.

What they will discuss in June:

• Expanding civilian social services
• What to do about the School Resource Officers at schools, and the police department’s Walk and Talk Program at the Brookline Housing Authority

After more than two hours of conversation the board still two major areas of disagreement: What to do about School Resource Officers or police officers who are assigned to help at schools, and the department's Walk and Talk Program at the Brookline Housing Authority.

The committee sees them both as integral to police work in town, while the task force has said police spent too much time at the housing authority, and it should be phased out.

Both the task force and the committee said they thought it would be a good idea to expand social services for vulnerable populations. But how to do that is still unresolved. Some ideas included channeling new resources into the town’s Health Department to establish a Human Services Division and hiring a new social worker within the police department. Or establishing a new social services agency or hire an administrator to lead a study of Brookline’s social service needs and make a staffing plan to address needs.

Those are set for a vote on June 15.

More resources:

• The full 171-page final report: of the Task Force to Reimagine Policing in Brookline
• The landing page for the Select Board's Committee on Policing Reforms and its 182-page preliminary report.