SPRINGFIELD – Last week, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood was under increasing criticism for her remarks made in a letter from May to Mass Senior Action.

That letter referred to comments made during an online meeting with members of the group and Clapprood on April 29.

In the letter, Clapprood wrote, “My department is not racist nor do we suffer from systemic racism as we save many lives weekly and we consist of the same backgrounds, races, religions and origins as our community. My department is not implicitly biased. We are caring, intelligent and sensitive individuals from the community and a multitude of backgrounds and differences come together to serve its residents. It is inherently unfair to be characterized in this manner and not be able to defend ourselves because we are labeled without proof. The numbers of complaints and incidents based on racial decisions do not sustain the label of racist or biased police.”

Members of Mass Senior Action gathered on the steps of City Hall on June 9 calling for Clapprood’s removal.

“The current national reckoning with systemic racism and police brutality has led our community to a similar place,” said Mattie Lacewell, Springfield Chapter president of Mass Senior Action. “Racial bias provides the foundation for police overreach and abuse. We need to speak the truth: Police brutality occurs in Springfield, and we must root it out.”

In response to the criticism, Clapprood wrote, “I am a strong and unwavering advocate for the 500-plus women and men serving in one of the most diverse police departments in New England.

“Our staff and officers comprise a hard-working, dedicated group of people who devote their lives to public safety and service. The Springfield Police Department (SPD) has made great strides in recent years as we seek to become a more modern and progressive agency that is in line with the best practices expected by our public.

“We acknowledge the endemic problems including systemic racism that have plagued the criminal justice system for far too long. We are committed to being an active participant in the conversation and movement to create not only a more fair and representative criminal justice system but to create a more open and inclusive society.

“I will continue to speak up in advocacy of our agency and the good work it does. Our stated goal is to move the department forward. We welcome efforts nationally and here in Massachusetts to improve the profession of policing, and I pledge an open door policy and promise an open and honest dialog with anyone who shares these goals in earnest.”

City Council President Marcus Williams met with Mayor Domenic Sarno to discuss the on-going concerns some residents have about Clapprood and police reform. Williams posted about meeting with the mayor on Facebok on June 8, “I am going to say this and leave it there. When the opportunity to have an open dialogue is present I will take it. My job is to seek insight realizing we are all working members of the city and I owe it to my constituents at the very least to try and work with those who I do not see eye-to-eye on for every issue. That does not mean kissing ass, not does it mean attacking. It means doing the work.”

William’s actions drew the criticism of Bishop Talbot W. Swan II, the president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP.  Swan posted on his Facebook page in reply, “If open dialogue is your goal as city council president, why did you only have open dialogue with the racist dysfunctional police commissioner who claims there is no systemic racism in a department under review by the Department of Justice and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court with 15 police officers being prosecuted by the Massachusetts Attorney General for beating Black and Latino residents and the mayor who protects her and not the residents what have raised concerns about this rogue Police Department that has been labeled by the Boston Globe as the worst in the nation?”

To clarify, the Boston Globe did not call the Springfield police the “worst in the nation.” The Globe quoted Matthew Segal of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts who said the Justice Department “didn’t pick Springfield to make an example of them.” It was chosen, he said, because it’s “one of the worst police departments in the country.”

City Councilor Justin Hurst released a statement that read in part, “I was present at the virtual meeting held by the Massachusetts Senior Action Committee (MSAC) of greater Springfield on April 29 with Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood to discuss police reform and listen to a myriad of recommendations from our seniors who have a wealth of lived experiences that we all can learn from. Unfortunately, much of what our seniors had to say fell on deaf ears. Not only was the commissioner not receptive, but her responses to questions around racism, systemic racism, implicit bias, and privilege were insensitive, out of touch and quite frankly dangerous to the community she serves.

“What disturbed me most however, was not that the commissioner harbored these views, but that she felt comfortable enough to espouse them publicly and then had the audacity to ‘double down’ by putting them in writing in a letter to the (MSAC), which I have attached. We all should be appalled by the letter from Commissioner Clapprood as it speaks to the larger issues in leadership that we have in this city.

“Finally, this letter has the potential to divide our Police Department internally and is a smack in the face to the many police officers of color who have been passed over for promotions, disciplined unfairly, or even fired by the very systems that the commissioner claims do not exist in ‘her’ police department. I am hopeful that the same police officers who I have spoken to personally as well as those who have written to me anonymously will find the courage to speak out so that we can address the inequities of these systems together.

“This call to action is not new. Other concerned citizens and organizations have also called for Commissioner Clapprood’s resignation in the past. However, when an organization that represents a population of people who are least likely to experience a negative interaction with our Police Department are speaking up, this is significant. It should signal to everyone that a change is necessary and the time is now!”

In his written statement, Swan wrote, “The delusion of this commissioner and her disrespect for the Black community and the residents of the city in general, make her woefully unqualified to lead any efforts toward substantive police reform. How can a commissioner who continues to deny the existence of racial disparities and police corruption in her department be the catalyst to change a department that is being scrutinized at the highest levels of government, including the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, for the very things she denies?”

The Springfield department has been under greater scrutiny since a Department of Justice report issued last summer concerning the use of excessive violence in the Narcotics Bureau. The report noted in its introduction, “This pattern or practice of excessive force is directly attributable to systemic deficiencies in policies, accountability systems, and training. For example, unlike most other police departments, SPD policies do not require officers to report “hands on” uses of force such as punches and kicks. This practice enables Narcotics Bureau officers to routinely avoid reporting any use of hands-on force or to submit vague and misleading reports documenting their uses of force. We also found examples where Narcotics Bureau officers falsified reports to disguise or hide their use of force. Supervisors fail to effectively review uses of force that Narcotics Bureau officers do report. Deficiencies within  SPD’s broader systems of accountability exacerbate these issues. For example, although SPD policy requires that senior command staff refer to SPD’s Internal Investigations Unit (IIU) any questionable force incident resulting in injury, from 2013 to 2018, command staff did not make any referrals in cases involving the Narcotics Bureau; indeed, not a single such referral was made throughout the entire department. Further, while IIU has investigated some excessive force complaints made by members of the public, its investigations lack critical content needed to determine if an allegation should be sustained. This has resulted in zero sustained findings of excessive force against any Narcotics Bureau officer in the last six years.”