New England Public Radio

Springfield Activist Says Getting ‘Major Players’ Off The Street Will Quiet City Violence

Friday is the last day of school in Springfield. It’s also been a violent year in the city with 12 murders so far in 2015. To get a sense of what violence prevention efforts are happening as the summer begins, I spoke to longtime Springfield activist Dejuan Brown. He’s the executive director of the organization AWAKE (Alive with Awareness, Knowledge, and Empowerment), which works to steer high-risk youth away from violent crime. Brown says he’s seen some positive results in his work over the past ten years.

To hear the interview with DeJuan Brown, click on the audio player above.

Springfield Police Offer Few Details About Money Missing From Evidence

Springfield police on Friday said they are investigating the disappearance of money from evidence storage.

The department is not saying how much money went missing from the evidence room, only that it was part of a closed case.

A statement from Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri says he ordered a “preliminary inquiry” last month into what happened. Barbieri says he’s also asked the state attorney general’s office for guidance, and is hiring an outside auditor.

In a statement, Mayor Domenic Sarno says he has confidence in the commissioner’s efforts to address the issue.

The city released the comments in response to a public records request from a reporter at the Springfield Republican. Officials declined to release any other information to the newspaper, noting that the investigation is ongoing.

Urban League President: “Ferguson Is Not Isolated”

The head of the National Urban League is claiming the Justice Department report on systemic racial bias by Ferguson, Missouri police and officials is not unique to that city.

Urban League President Marc Morial points out that several police departments around the country are currently under federal consent decrees or ongoing investigations over civil rights violations. While Washington has a role to play, Morial says it will be also up to local players, from mayors and city councils to community activists, to hold police departments accountable.

“It is not necessary to have a safe city, [one has] to have a brutal police department. And those who would suggest that effective law enforcement requires these things, they are not only missing the mark, they are absolutely wrong,” says Morial.

His comments came in an interview with Springfield public television WGBY, and before the latest incident in Ferguson where two officers were shot outside the police station.

 

NAACP’s Talbert Swan: Springfield Police Review Board ‘Is A Joke’

Busloads of activists from western Massachusetts are headed to New York City this weekend to join a protest sparked by the recent grand jury decisions in the killings of two unarmed black men by police. In Springfield, Bishop Talbert Swan, head of the local NAACP, has said, and continued to say this week, that the city has the conditions to become another Ferguson.

After Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson in August, Swan asked Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno to create a commission to look at issues of police-community relations. The mayor responded that the city already has several task forces in place. Swan says that misstates the issue, and says the current police review board is insufficient.

We’ve requested interviews with Springfield’s mayor and police commissioner.

To hear my conversation with Bishop Swan, click on the audio player above.

Blarney Blowout Report Criticizes Police and UMass Response

A new report from Boston’s former police commissioner criticizes Amherst and UMass police for how they handled last march’s blarney blow-out — a student party that spilled into the town and led to 55 arrests.

Thousands of students swarmed to last years Blarney Blowout, a well-known annual party that also attracted many people from out of town. The event got out of hand, when the crowd, many of whom were drinking heavily, threw bottles, and destroyed property. UMass and Amherst police came under scrutiny for approaching the melee with riot gear and pepper spray, and for making a large number of arrests. So UMass chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy hired former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis to investigate what happened. In his 65 page report, Davis acknowledges the challenge of that day and night, but says the university should have taken steps to tamp down the party to begin with — by limiting guests on campus and working more closely with local bar and liquor store owners. He also says town and university police need to coordinate emergency responses more centrally.

“And then, when it comes down to the actual event, and the bottles and rocks start being thrown, if you don’t have sufficient officers, you should pull back, and wait, until there are sufficient officers there, even though there’s a threat of violence,” Davis says.

Police chiefs from both Amherst and UMass –speaking at a press conference with Davis — disagreed with that assessment.

“For what we faced out there, for my perspective, if we had pulled back, community members in danger….would have been negligent, and could have resulted in individuals being injured,” says UMass Police Chief John Horvath.

Police did agree that more officers should be available during parties likely to escalate. UMass and town leaders also say they will follow Davis’ advice to train officers in community policing, to better enforce under-age drinking policies, and to host more non-alcoholic late-night activities on campus.

 

John Barbieri Sworn In As New Springfield Police Commissioner

Five days into his new position as Springfield’s top cop, John Barbieri was officially sworn in Thursday as its Police Commissioner. In a ceremony at Old First Church attended by local, state, and federal law enforcement officials, Barbieri said he is both humbled and proud to serve in his new capacity. He promised to use progressive new policies to battle crime in the city. But Barbieri stressed even the best equipped department must rely on the public to be effective.

“There are people out there that know who the persons are in our communities that carry firearms, the persons in our communities that sell poisonous drugs to addicts who take advantage of their addictions,” Barbieri said. “Don’t they bear a certain moral responsibility to the victims of crimes and their families to come forward?”

Barbieri’s swearing-in comes amidst a spate of recent shootings that have resulted in three deaths in a span of ten days. Police say there have been no arrests in connection with the murders, largely due to what they say are uncooperative witnesses.