AMHERST — A community responder system for some calls currently handled by police officers is among ideas being considered by a panel examining new ways to deliver public safety services in Amherst.
The Community Safety Working Group, meeting weekly since early December on alternative approaches to policing and ensuring that racial equity is a focus for officers, is nearing completion of its work.
But a report that sets the stage for the Town Council to make decisions related to the town appropriation for the Police Department in fiscal year 2022 will not be finalized until mid-May, about six weeks past a previous March 31 deadline.
Paul Wiley, chairman of the working group, said this week that the appointed members and the Amherst consultants from 7 Generations Movement Collective have been working hard, doing outreach to the community in the broadest sense to make sure that the voices of the community’s Black, indigenous and people of color are heard, as well as completing research and collecting data.
The working group, Wiley said, has focused on what a community responder system for equity, safety and service might look like in Amherst and what an initial level of intervention might be for people with mental health issues, those experiencing homelessness and others with substance abuse and addiction problems.
“The other piece is a recommendation about providing safety services to all residents, particularly BIPOC members,” Wiley said.
The Town Council this week gave approval to Town Manager Paul Bockelman to extend the timeline of the working group, even though by May 1 he has to deliver a municipal budget proposal to the Town Council.
Bockelman, though, said the extension doesn’t affect the budget process, as he will have recommendations in hand from the working group. Only its final report, fully edited and with a cover page, will be delayed.
Since he sits in on every meeting looking at different models of policing and other services, Bockelman said he understands the approach the Community Safety Working Group wants to take.
“I think I have a pretty good sense of where they are headed on these things,” Bockelman said.
He will decide what to incorporate into the budget — whether it’s a community responder program and other services that might be possible, either within the department or through new programs.
“The substance of the matter has to be done by May 1,” Bockelman said.
Wiley said the working group appreciates that Bockelman needs to develop a budget and wants to ensure that the proposals that get initial funding are able to be preserved. “Long term, we want to see it be sustained,” Wiley said.
The delay in filing the final report, though, will mean that two police officer vacancies will go unfilled for several more weeks.
“The two vacant positions in the Police Department that were identified at the time of the Town Council vote will remain vacant at least until a report is presented to the Town Council,” Bockelman wrote in a memo.
But this shouldn’t be a problem, Bockelman said, as typically it takes a long time to recruit for such positions and the town and department have not yet initiated that process.
