AMHERST — As a resident of Colonial Village for the past several months, Timmy Sullivan says he has seen first-hand a heavier police presence at the apartment complex than when he was living in more well-to-do neighborhoods in Amherst.
This experience is prompting him to support the full $2.2 million funding for a public safety alternative proposed by the Community Safety Working Group, known as the Community Response for Equity, Safety and Service, or CRESS program, and cutting the police department, noting that Black Lives Matter protests over the past year following the George Floyd murder have endorsed defunding police.
“It is impossible that we are not abiding by that demand,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan was one of more than two dozen speakers who spent two hours Monday evening telling the Town Council and Finance Committee to invest in the CRESS program, and do so by cutting the proposed $4.86 million police budget by nearly half, while also redirecting more than $300,000 to better support public schools.
The Community Safety Working Group is expected to explain its recommendations, including establishing the CRESS program and immediately reducing the number of sworn police officers from 48 to 43, at the council’s May 24 meeting.
Nearly all who spoke advocated that the $130,000 that Town Manager Paul Bockelman is proposing to seed the CRESS program, using money saved from not filling two police officer vacancies, is insufficient and would be setting up the initiative for failure.
“Our town budget is an opportunity to put our values in action,” said resident Lynnette Arnold.
Katie Lazdowski of Overlook Drive, who provided consulting services to the working group, said the proposed CRESS budget is a “slap in the face” to its members and would serve to uphold racism in the community.
Resident Lexi Monesson-Olson told councilors they would be “negligent” if they don’t follow the recommendation from the working group.
Anisha Pai, a two-year resident who lives in District 4, said Amherst should be a leader in anti-racism work and consider putting money aside for a youth empowerment center and multicultural center. Pai also expressed concern that the town is overpoliced.
Having a Town Council that supports and participates in Juneteenth and Race Amity Day is good, said Kathleen Traphagen of South East Street, but councilors should go beyond that. “This is your time now to do the uncomfortable work,” Traphagen said.
Lifelong resident Mareatha Wallace said it is important to start making a change from police to an alternative public safety response program. As a Black resident, she said there is a different lived experience and that it can be hard to speak truth to an almost all-white Town Council.
Patrica Rector of Greenleaves Drive said a problem she sees in the budget is not enough money for social services and “an approach that is more consistent with our values.”
Two people who lead nonprofit social services serving food insecure low- and moderate-income families and homeless individuals described how police interact with their clients.
Lev Ben-Ezra, executive director of the Amherst Survival Center, said the CRESS program would better meet the needs of the town and those the center serves. She said an alternative responder program with people who bring mental health expertise is needed, noting her reluctance to call police due to the possibility of a situation being elevated, rather than calmed.
At Craig’s Place, the overnight emergency shelter, Craig’s Doors Executive Director Kevin Noonan said police officers have been vital in keeping guests safe and he appreciates that their response has been measured. Noonan, though, said mental health professionals would be a suitable alternative.
