Work establishing a Somerville civilian oversight system for police is in limbo after three years of work. Though groundwork has been laid, including community engagement and research, the proposal has yet to be implemented, leaving officials and residents questioning when reforms will take shape.
Recommendations from the task force are expected to be shared publicly this winter, according to the City of Somerville Department of Racial and Social Justice for Somerville, but no date has been confirmed. The department “looks forward to releasing the Civilian Oversight Task Force recommendations by December,” according to its city website, but December is about to end.
“Next steps include sharing the report publicly and assigning staff to address implementation with all stakeholders, including the Somerville Police, police unions and community stakeholders,” said Amanda Nagim-Williams, the current director of Racial and Social Justice for Somerville, in an email.
In December, the city said reports from its Public Safety for All and Civilian Oversight task forces and an Anti-Violence Working Group would be posted online Jan. 28 and be discussed at a meeting 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at Somerville High School, 81 Highland Ave., Central Hill.
The push for civilian oversight in Somerville was introduced in June 2020 by the City Council and Mayor’s Office in a draft report. This effort followed a declaration by former mayor Joseph Curtatone recognizing systemic racism as a public health and safety emergency.
Soon after, the Mayor’s Office pledged to implement reforms informed by Campaign Zero, a national police reform campaign launched in 2015, and a 10-point plan for change by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and other elected officials of color in the state. The second point of Pressley’s plan includes the establishment of “an independent, civilian oversight structure of the Somerville Police Department with membership representative of the community’s diversity.”
Curtatone set aside $1 million in the 2021 fiscal year budget to support the new Racial and Social Justice Project – funded in part by reducing the Police Department budget by $750,000.
The first director of the Racial and Social Justice Department, Denise Molina Capers, was hired in March 2021 to build out the office. Its Civilian Oversight Task Force, dedicated to this initiative, launched in April 2023 made up of 14 members. Three seats were set aside for community members.
“Done in six months”
That July, the task force held three listening sessions to gather public input on the proposed civilian oversight board. Key themes emerged, including overwhelming support for increased oversight. That aligned with data from a citywide 2022-2023 survey relating to public safety and policing showing strong public backing for police oversight reforms.
It was also evident from the listening sessions that Somerville residents believe a civilian oversight board should have authority to take action and share information with the community as necessary – aggregated data on complaints, detailed summaries of validated cases and updates on active investigations.
Capers said that summer that the task force was given six months starting in June to create a plan. “We are being very intentional to be respectful of the timeline and things that need to get done,” Capers said. “We are very hopeful that we will get this work done in six months.”
That would have meant finishing by 2024, but a year later the work seems to have missed a deadline and is poised to see out another year without a plan.
Police were surveyed
City councilor at large Willie Burnley Jr., a longtime advocate for police reform, attributes a delay in implementation to the city’s decision to conduct a staffing and operations study of the Somerville Police Department.
The Nov. 30, 2023, report just endorsed reforms such as a civilian oversight board and unarmed alternatives to policing, Burnley said. But he expressed concerns about relying so heavily on police input during the outreach process.
“There has been a lot of community input, but I think relying on the police to shape what reforms look like is counterintuitive at best,” Burnley said.
More delay on reforms came from the city’s lack of a permanent police chief for more than three years, Burnley said. While a chief was hired Aug. 16, Burnley criticized the administration’s lack of urgency in moving forward with commitments by previous city leaders. “I haven’t seen the forceful desire for these reforms from the current mayor that would be necessary to get them off the ground,” Burnley said.
Citizen frustration
Somerville resident and citizen journalist Chris Dwan also expressed frustration over the prolonged timeline.
“I don’t know what the [Civilian Oversight Task Force’s] recommendation is going to wind up being,” Dwan said. “What I do know is that it’s put the police in an unfair and untenable position where we’ve got this big reform hanging over them for four and a half years now. We’ve set aside substantial money out of the police budget for four and a half years now, but we haven’t actually put any practical changes in place in terms of the mission.”
`Burnley encouraged residents to advocate for action by contacting city officials, including the mayor, to demand transparency and accountability.
“Members of the community need to make noise,” Burnley said. “If residents want to see something happen, they have to push their elected officials to act.”
This post was updated Dec. 27, 2024, with dates for a report release and discussion.
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Meanwhile the city is steamrolling the public and the law to give the police a new headquarters. This is why the only solution to policing is abolition. All efforts to reform or hold police accountable are stymied while more and more money and resources flow into them.
This isn’t unfair to the police, it is unfair to those victimized by them.