police

The city of Boston has filed a request for proposals to expand video surveillance use for police departments in nine area cities, on behalf of a nine-city regional security coalition.

Boston Police officers have contributed more than $1 million to Boston elected officials over the last 10 years, with the lion’s share of the dollars — $456,548 — going to Mayor Martin Walsh, according to an analysis released by the political organizing group Mijente and ACLU of Massachusetts this week.

In two public listening sessions, Boston residents questioned the Boston Police Task Force about body cameras and implicit bias training.

Like many young black men in Boston, Derrell “Slim” Weathers can’t tell you how many times he’s been stopped, questioned, frisked or searched by police. It started, he says, when he was 12 and has kept up into his 30s as often as five times a week.

The killing of George Floyd, and the many other reported incidents of people of color dying or being killed because of the actions of police officers or vigilantes has left us hurting, emotionally drained and dismayed.

Nationwide demands to defund local police departments have reached Boston. On June 10, the Boston City Council will decide whether or not to approve the $414 million allocated to Boston Police Department (BPD) for the upcoming fiscal year.

In response to nationwide protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder, U.S. Sens. Ed Markey, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker have introduced a resolution abolishing qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields officers from certain lawsuits. Markey advocated for the resolution during a June 3 press conference and called for the end of centuries of police violence against communities of color.

Every legislative session, politicians discuss and debate proposed changes to the many policies that govern the nation’s institutions. Taxes, health insurance, education, criminal justice, child care, Social Security adjustments and farm benefits are some of the issues often on the agenda. Notoriously absent, however, is any real discussion on altering the culture of the municipal or state police.

In Boston, and undoubtedly elsewhere, blacks have been hampered from joining the police force. Even today there are only a few black members of the state police. It was not until the 1950s that Samuel M. Range became the first black trooper and he remained until retirement. At Range’s recent funeral, he was honored for his service in breaking down racial barriers.

The City Council last week pressed Boston Police brass on their surveillance of Boston residents.

A Harvard Harris survey in Aug. 2017 found that 57 percent of respondents are unfavorable to the Black Lives Matter movement. Similarly in a CNN poll in Sept. 2017, 59 percent of whites are against the professional football players taking a knee to protest police violence.