Police Commissioner Attends CCPD Meeting

Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville Bard joined us at CCPD’s June Commission meeting, addressing questions and concerns of both Advisory Board members and members of the public. When asked about his experience working with people with disabilities (PWD), Commissioner Bard noted that the Police Department (PD) has had numerous trainings in the last few years, including on topics such as disability etiquette, service animals, reasonable accommodations, and working with Deaf/hard of hearing and blind individuals; they have also held a listening session with parents of disabled children. Commissioner Bard reported that the PD makes sure that their officers are well aware of how to work with PWD, and their policies reflect that, as well.

Commissioner Bard explained that about a decade ago, the PD made a shift away from an enforcement persona to a social justice persona; they moved away from the philosophy that they acquire their authority and power through statute to a community policing philosophy in which their power comes through the people they serve. He said that only a small percentage of the people they come into contact with need to the criminal justice system. Far more individuals are better served through a social justice approach. When making this shift, the PD started with youth and have now expanded that umbrella to all vulnerable populations.

Today more than 20% of the PD staff performs social services throughout the City, rather than criminal justice related functions. They collaborate with all the resources in the area to better serve vulnerable populations. Calls associated with mental health issues and other non-crime related matters are increasing, while calls about criminal incidents are going down. They are government’s most physical representative; Commissioner Bard reported that someone who has a mental health crisis is far more likely to come into contact with the PD than the mental health system. The department has several licensed social workers and is adding a fulltime child psychologist to their staff. They do not want to take over for the experts, but they do want to be able to provide competent services until they can get people to the experts.

CCPD Board members expressed concerns over the April 13, 2018 incident outside Harvard Law School in which force was used during an arrest of a black Harvard student. Commissioner Bard gave a synopsis of what happened: There was a call to 911 stating that a man was naked on Massachusetts Ave at Waterhouse and that he assaulted a woman by throwing his clothes at her. Officers arrived and tried to engage him, but he was being uncooperative and verbally abusive. There were three or four officers around him, on the median in the middle of Mass Ave. Officers could tell he was under duress and wanted to get him help. They tried to get him to come with them so they could get him psychiatric services, but he was hostile the whole time. The officers are trained on how to deal with individuals who are in active crisis situations. Commissioner Bard said that at one point, the individual balled up his fists and stepped forward; an officer behind him didn’t know his intentions, whether he was going to run into traffic or assault an officer; he didn’t know what the individual was going to do. He said that the officer at that point made the determination to take the gentleman down and an officer in front of him caught him. The individual was being combative and resisting arrest, and one of the officers punched him five times in an effort to subdue him. Commissioner Bard said that the officer stopped punching him when he realized it was not helping to get the individual under control. The officers handcuffed the individual, covered him with a blanket and he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Mount Auburn Hospital for treatment.

A bystander recorded this incident, and Commissioner Bard immediately reviewed the video, with no context as to what happened; he initially thought the officers must have killed the gentleman. He saw the officers tackle the individual and was worried about positional safety; he was concerned that an officer may have put his body on the gentleman’s in such a way as to restrict his air flow, causing suffocation, but that did not happen. He said he saw the punches the first time he watched the video, but did not see any breach of law or policy. After the video ended, he wasn’t sure what all the concern was about, so he went back and read the comments that had been posted to give him context. The comments indicated that people were concerned about the punches that were thrown. Commissioner Bard explained that state law permits officers to use force to take someone into custody, including protective custody, so the officers’ actions were reasonable within both PD policy and state law. He said that the officers’ goal was to get the individual to help, and they got him to help with very minimal injuries.

Commissioner Bard said that he called the American Civil Liberties Union shortly after the incident in an effort to be transparent. He said he understands why people feel that someone in the gentleman’s situation should not get punched, and that it is incumbent upon him to look at PD policies to see if they need to be changed, but he noted that the officers understood that the gentleman was in crisis and that they had to get him to help.

After any incident involving force, Commissioner Bard looks at what happened and asks whether or not those actions were unreasonable. He said that it takes more than looking at the laws and policies to be transparent and introspective. Any time there is a use of force, policy mandates an internal review of the incident, and the PD aims for a transparent process. Commissioner Bard has hired a retired Massachusetts Supreme Court Chief Justice to conduct a review, as well. Both the internal and external reports are still ongoing. They are interviewing everybody who was at the scene. Commissioner Bard noted that the PD works for society and that society has the right to question everything they do. He also acknowledged that they have to look at these incidents in a historical context, particularly around race relations, and not take the community response as a personal affront. He contended that it is also important to look at all the good things the PD is doing, and not let this incident define them.

The Commissioner agreed that the results of the incident were not optimal, but he said the intent was to get the gentleman to help with the least amount of harm, and the officers did that. He noted that the punches lasted less than 4 seconds of the 7 minute, 4 second video. He agreed that training for the officers on implicit biases is important, stating that as a black man himself, he is treated differently when he takes his police uniform off. He said that the PD is trying to use this incident as a learning experience. During the incident, for example, the officers were unable to cover the naked gentleman until an ambulance arrived with a blanket; there are now blankets in every squad car.

Other issues that came up include enforcement of disability parking and of no parking in bus stops and crosswalks, as well as communicating with individuals with speech disabilities. Regarding parking issues, Deputy Superintendent Jack Albert requested that people call the PD to let them know of violations and they will do the best they can to respond. Deputy Albert said that there was an upcoming meeting at MIT concerning a corridor with two very busy bus stops. They are looking at whether or not they should pass regulations allowing MIT and Harvard police to enforce no parking in bus stops in those areas.

Commissioner Bard encouraged anyone who feels like they have been mistreated by the Cambridge Police due to their disability to call his office directly at 617-349-9397 and make a complaint. Individuals can also call the Police Review and Advisory Board at 617-349-6155 or contact their City Councillor.

The Commissioner said that he considers CCPD a valuable resource that he can count on for guidance around disability issues.

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