Amherst council split over PD pick for anti-racism training

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AMHERST councilors appear united in pursuing an anti-racism culture in all city operations, but there is disagreement over whether to direct the city manager to prioritize such training over service. Amherst police, whose members have told councilors in private meetings that they are continually targeted and feel they are under-attacked.

We could potentially be making a big mistake by focusing on Amherst police, District 5 Councilman Shalini Bahl-Milne said, as the city council continued a discussion about its policy priorities and City Manager Paul’s performance goals. Bockelmann.

The debate focused on the performance objective of personnel management and whether, in relation to the pursuit of anti-racist practices, it should include the clause focusing first on guidance when voting on town councils on November 14, 2022, beginning with the Amherst Police Department. .

This resolution was passed as an ongoing response by City Council to the July 5 incident in which officers interacted with a group of young people in response to a noise complaint, which has been criticized as violating the rights of young people by the city’s Human Rights Commission and the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee.

Bahl-Milne said she fears that continually putting the police under the microscope will affect police employees, as well as their families.

I don’t think shame, for me, is problematic as a value of grace, Bahl-Milne said.

District 1 Councilwoman Michele Miller said the wording of the performance goal was reasonable because the city council had already passed the resolution. But she understands that focusing on the police has become a sticking point following meetings between councilors and officers in the community room at the police station. Miller said these meetings made him reflect on the approach used.

A bit of being in dangerous territory, honestly, she said of the meetings, but added that she learned that the police felt they were being targeted and assaulted, and that the advisers made her privately shared their concerns about how the city council as a whole had handled the response. to July 5 and may need more time to unpack what they have learned from the police.

At Large, councilor Ellisha Walker, who did not go to sessions at the police station, said anti-racism training is important, especially for police.

I see it as an improvement, as something we would celebrate that we do, Walker said.

She said the training should last more than four months, as described in the November resolution.

The act of being anti-racist is the continual work, Walker said. She noted that police can interact with residents in their homes and neighborhoods like few other city departments do.

District 2 Councilman Pat DeAngelis said black, Indigenous and people of color were also mistreated by other city employees.

One of the things I’ve seen at City Hall at various times is some pretty insulting behavior toward our BIPOC residents by city staff, DeAngelis said.

She questioned the need to keep the police in the crosshairs of advice.

Whatever the intent, it continues to hit men and women who feel under attack, and that doesn’t sit well with me, DeAngelis said.

District 1 Councilwoman Cathy Schoen said Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pamela Nolan Young will be looking at the city holistically, so there’s no need to specifically mention the police service in the objectives of Bockelmans.

I would agree to delete that sentence, Schien said.

District 4 Councilwoman Anika Lopes said there needed to be a vision for the whole city and the police already had the most training. They are under the highest surveillance, Lopes said.

District 3 Councilwoman Dorothy Pam, who was unable to participate in a session with police, said she was not comfortable with the idea of ​​private discussions between councilors and police.

There are people in this community who are very upset and also have feelings, and they weren’t part of this conversation, Pam said. I think the police department only talks about what it feels and thinks and whatever it is, just to the city council, if I was one of the people in the community upset about 5th of July I would have an absolute crisis, saying, what do they do, how do they have this special time to talk about their feelings (when) nobody cared about us.

The recommendation on the wording of the performance target will come from the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee, which will use the feedback to present a proposal to the full council, either on Monday or in January.

When they return, people can vote to amend, retain, or not, Council Chair Lynn Griesemer said.

Scott Merzbach can be contacted at [email protected].

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