Cambridge will ask 40 randomly selected residents to weigh the future of ShotSpotter and other surveillance technology this fall, launching the city’s first civic assembly and one of the first ever municipal efforts of its kind in New England.
Beginning next week, the city will mail invitations to 15,000 randomly selected Cambridge households, more than a quarter of the roughly 57,000 households city officials say are in Cambridge. One person from each invited household can volunteer for the assembly, which will meet for four seven-hour Saturday sessions from October through December.
“This is a really exciting moment for new and innovative approaches to community engagement in Cambridge,” said Jackson Price, Cambridge’s Director of Community Engagement. “We really want to hear from a diverse range of voices on this issue, and it’s a great opportunity for community members to play a role in shaping the future of approaches to public safety and the use of surveillance technologies in Cambridge.”
The assembly follows a tumultuous few months for ShotSpotter in Cambridge. After more than a decade of use the City Council voted in May to discontinue the gunfire-detection system after concerns were raised about its privacy implications, but the debate reignited after 32-year-old Cambridge resident and Department of Public Works employee Xavier Bautista was fatally shot near Sennott Park on July 4.
Bautista’s body was not discovered until roughly an hour after the shooting, when a pedestrian called 911, raising questions about whether ShotSpotter could have alerted police sooner and prompting criticism from residents who felt communities most affected by gun violence had not been adequately heard before the system was eliminated.
On Aug. 3, the council voted 6-3 to temporarily restore ShotSpotter while directing the city manager to convene a civic assembly to consider whether the technology should ultimately be continued, modified or discontinued.
Exactly how long ShotSpotter will remain active is not yet clear. The policy order calls for the city manager to report back within 90 days, but also says ShotSpotter should “remain in operation through the completion of the resident assembly process.” That process will extend beyond the 90-day period, with the final assembly session scheduled for Dec. 5.
An “advisory group” of community members and people with experience designing civic assemblies will help shape what information and testimony participants receive, Price said. Who will serve on the group and how its members will be chosen have not yet been determined.
“We’re still working through those details,” Warnick said. “A lot of this is still being developed as we go along.”
Officials said the assembly will hear perspectives from law enforcement and privacy advocates, as well as testimony from Cambridge residents with firsthand experience of the issues.
“This is not a process intended to influence,” Warnick said
Forming an assembly
Selecting the 40 residents will involve a multi-step lottery. After residents respond to the 15,000 invitations, the city will create 1,000 possible 40-person panels, each designed to meet representation requirements based on demographics and residents’ experiences. One of those 1,000 panels will then be randomly selected as the assembly.
“The value of the randomization is bringing folks from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives who might not otherwise participate in a public meeting or a public process,” Price said.
The city will consider factors including age, gender identity and neighborhood, Price said. The City Council also directed that neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of gun violence receive substantial representation. Cambridge is also working with Bailey Flanigan, an MIT assistant professor of political science and computer science, who is advising the city pro bono on the sortition process and lottery, Warnick said.
The assembly will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 24, Nov. 7, Nov. 21 and Dec. 5. Participants must attend all four sessions, a 28-hour commitment, and will each receive a $1,000 stipend. The city will also provide child and elder care, transportation assistance, interpretation and other accommodations.
After the final session Dec. 5, the assembly will deliver its recommendations to the City Council later that month. The recommendations will be advisory, with the council retaining final say over the future of ShotSpotter and other surveillance technology.
Cambridge is partnering with FIDE North America, a nonprofit specializing in civic assemblies, to help design and implement the process. Cambridge has a contract with FIDE, the value of which has not yet been disclosed, but Warnick said all documentation for the project will eventually be made public.
Other expenses include $40,000 in stipends for the 40 participants, along with child and elder care, transportation, interpretation and other logistical expenses to enable participation. City officials said the total cost of the assembly is still being determined.
Jane Mansbridge, a Harvard political scientist who studies civic assemblies, said four sessions should give participants enough time to understand the issues before them.
“I think that they will be able to master the details of the mechanism, learn about its strengths and weaknesses, and come to understand the different perspectives of different citizens in Cambridge,” Mansbridge said.
A stronger
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