Springfield City councilors at odds over appeal for consent decree

Feb. 10, 2021 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – A group of city councilors have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to force the Springfield Police Department into making recommended reforms through a consent decree.

The letter was not the product of a vote by the council, Council President Marcus Williams explained to Reminder Publishing. He said such an issue deserves discussion.

 Reacting to the letter, Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a written statement, “Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood, City Solicitor Ed Pikula and our Law Department, myself and my special advisor retired state Supreme Court Justice Roderick Ireland have worked and will continue to diligently work with the DOJ on our continued implementation of police/community initiatives and police reforms. We interact with the DOJ nearly every week and look forward to coming to a plausible and mutually beneficial written agreement for the betterment of our police department and of all in our city in the near future.”

The letter was sent by councilors Justin Hurst, Adam Gomez, Orlando Ramos, Tracye Whitfield and Malo Brown. Gomez resigned from the council shortly after this letter.

The letter read, “The undersigned city councilors are requesting the Department of Justice take the necessary steps to mandate the city of Springfield into a consent decree that makes certain the city and the Springfield Police Department will remedy the constitutional violations highlighted in your report on July 8, 2020. While we appreciate the thorough investigation undertaken by your office to reveal a pattern or practice of excessive force by the Police Department and are in complete support of your recommendations for increased accountability and training, we are not convinced that this can be achieved with fidelity and a sense of urgency unless there is substantial oversight from your department.

“As a result of the Springfield Police Department’s checkered history coupled with an unnerving level of complicity from our current administration to allow injustices to occur to many of our residents at the hands of the Police Department with little to no accountability, we feel that true reform cannot be accomplished by leaving our mayor and police commissioner to police themselves. There is a reason why our Police Department was the only department investigated under President Trump’s tenure, which makes it even more important that we not leave meaningful reform to those who have proven to be part of the problem and bear much of the responsibility for the Department of Justice opening an investigation in the first place.

“Over the past 15 years, the city of Springfield has shelled out millions in police misconduct lawsuits and the longer it takes for the Police Department to implement the Department of Justice recommendations, the more it will cost our taxpayers. Further delay also serves to make the jobs of those officers who hold themselves to a higher standard that much more difficult. Finally, we cannot underestimate the traumatic impact that this misconduct has on our communities, furthering distrust, rather than strengthening relationships. Our residents need assurances that systemic change is occurring and thus far that has not been achieved.

“A previous consent decree issued in 1975 (Castro v. Beecher) that ordered the Springfield Police department to hire one minority officer to one non non-minority officer stemming from discriminatory hiring practices by the city has produced tremendous results over the years and has been extremely effective in diversifying our Police Department. We believe that a consent decree, unfortunately, is just as warranted and necessary now to increase training and accountability as it was back then.

“Finally, we appreciate and are fully supportive of the NACCP and the Pioneer Valley Project for their efforts in calling for a consent decree last week and are happy to join them in solidarity.”

The letter was a reaction to the DOJ investigation that was released July 8, 2020. In its summary the DOJ report noted in part: “Specifically, our investigation identified evidence that Narcotics Bureau officers repeatedly punch individuals in the face unnecessarily, in part because they escalate encounters with civilians too quickly, and resort to unreasonable takedown maneuvers that, like head strikes, could reasonably be expected to cause head injuries.

“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.”

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