More than a week after Cambridge City Council voted to reinstate ShotSpotter for 90 days and form an assembly of residents to assess it, it remains unclear when either will happen. However, that 90-day clock started ticking as soon as the council voted on the policy order, a city spokesperson confirmed.
The Cambridge Police Department said it does not yet have a timeline for when the acoustic sensing technology will again be operational. Spokesperson Jennie Lopez noted that there are different technical and operational steps required to restore it to use, and the city has been in discussion with SoundThinking, which makes ShotSpotter.
The city also is continuing to work on establishing its civic assembly, something it has not used before. Civic assemblies bring together randomly selected representatives from a community to discuss public policy and provide local governments with insight and recommendations from the community. The approach has been used in cities like Lexington, Ky. to discuss improvements to local government and Edgewater, Colo. to consider using automated license plate readers.
Jeremy Warnick, a city spokesperson, said details on the structure of the assembly and how it might be formed were not yet available.
Civic assemblies or community canvassing?
Councillor Denise Simmons has been vocal throughout the debate over ShotSpotter about ensuring that the city engages more directly with community members in The Port.
“I don’t believe [civic assemblies] to be the only method,” Simmons said.
She said in an interview much of the city’s efforts at public participation only work for those who have the benefit of time.
She would like the city to consider canvassing in communities, noting that the city did something similar about a decade ago when the police department, fire department and other social services staff went around the Jefferson Park housing development to talk with residents.
A focus on community policing
Acting Police Commissioner Pauline Wells emphasized that ShotSpotter is “just one tool” for public safety. She said everyone in the administration and the department is aware that the technology isn’t perfect, but if it can help police give aid to even one person, it is worth using. She said “We’re not interested in violating people’s rights with technology or anything else, you know? We just want to do what’s best for the people who live here. I mean, I grew up here, too.”
Wells, who has worked at CPD for 33 years, said community policing at one point was an initiative. Now, “It’s woven into who we are [and] what we do everyday,” Wells said. She pointed to events that bring police into the community such as weekly game nights in the summer, the National Night Out and a youth boxing and fitness program.
The police also are invested in a Safety Net collaborative, which works to foster positive youth development. Through this collaboration, there’s been a 80% reduction in juvenile arrests, according to Wells.
CPD works with a variety of entities throughout the city for different aspects of community engagement. Wells said that during the summertime months the department increases police presence within areas with an uptick of gun violence, adding between two and five additional units between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.
“It’s intended for visibility more than anything, and just to let the people in that particular area know that we’re there, we’re around, we’re visible,” Wells said.
In addition, in the wake of the shooting of Xavier Bautista, on July 23, the District Attorney’s office released a statement that there would be more police presence in and around The Port.
Social media has changed views of policing
“We consider ourselves part of the community and we want what’s best for the community that we serve and that we live in,” Wells said.
Over the years, the public’s reaction to policing has changed because of social media and other technology, said Wells. The CPD is trying to keep up with the changes in an effort to be transparent with the community.
While most of her conversations with residents are positive, she’s aware of the optics surrounding policing.
“I’m pretty proud of how progressive we [Cambridge police] are but sometimes it’s a bummer to be lumped in with people who might not be doing the right thing,” Wells said. Her goal, she said, is for the police to be viewed as “just part of the community, just like any other city department, and I really want people to look at us that way.”
This story was updated to correct the name of ShotSpotter’s maker.
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