Review Of Police Department Policies And Practices Final Report Now Available In Town Of Lexington

Press release from the Town of Lexington:

May 3, 2021

After an extensive review of the Lexington Police Department’s (LPD) policies and practices, Town Counsel (Anderson Kreiger, LLP) has submitted their final report to the Select Board. Carmen Ortiz, former US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, took the lead on this work.

Following the national dialog on issues of social and racial equity in the summer of 2020, the Town Manager began a formal process of examining the Town’s policies, procedures, and practices as they relate to municipal operations, beginning with the Police Department. The intent of this review was to identify any unintended bias or discriminatory language in LPD policies and procedures and to make recommendations to the Town Manager.

View the full report

The review of LPD’s policies and procedures included:

• Internal review, which involved interviews with officers and a review of existing policies and data
• Meetings with a number of community groups
• Best practices analysis, including a comparison of LPD’s policies to those of police departments in comparable communities. The goal of the analysis was to identify productive changes that would further promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Department.

The report outlines a number of recommended policy changes:

• Clarify the goals and mission of LPD
• Reaffirm commitment to impartial policing
• Reform process for submitting complaints
• Implement a research and planning policy
• Improve recruitment and selection process
• Improve how promotions are handled
• Strengthen community relations and working with immigrant communities

Next Steps

Moving forward, Town Manager Jim Malloy will be working with Interim Police Chief Mike McLean to develop an implementation plan based on this report.

This press release was produced by the Town of Lexington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.