AMHERST — Proposals for creating a Resident Oversight Board, an entity that would review both the Amherst Police and Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service departments, are before the Town Council.
After seven months of work by a so-called “stakeholder group,” the council has competing recommendations for the oversight board that, its supporters say, would ensure equitable and effective public safety that moves toward eliminating systemic racism.
If implemented by the council, both concepts would have a diverse set of residents to serve on the board that centers equity, anti-racism and transparency, but one would provide a review model and the other would provide an investigatory model.
A consultant for the work, Brian Corr, past president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, said either model would work in building trust in the community, ensuring people are being listened to and their experiences are being valued.
“There’s no best model, there’s really a best fit for any given community, based on your history, your circumstances, your budget, the institutions in your community and the types of things your community members are looking for,” Corr said.
The review model, he said, is much more common for smaller communities, and can still drive changes, even with subpoena powers and handling investigations.
The investigatory model could lend more legitimacy, but would need full-time, independent investigators who are trained and either on staff or on retainer.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he has appreciated the frank and open conversations that have led to the recommendations.
These were brought forward by a group that had community members Shalini Bahl-Milne and Anika Lopes, former members of the Town Council, Debora Ferreira, who co-chairs the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee and Rani Parker, who co-chairs the Human Rights Commission; town staff Philip Avila, assistant director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Pamela Nolan Young, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, CRESS director Camille Theriaque and Police Chiuef Gabriel Ting.
Also part of the panel was Officer Lindsay Carroll, president of the Amherst Police Patrol Officers Union, Sgt. Nicholas Chandler, president of the Amherst Police Supervisors Union and and Officer Molly Farber.
Rabbi Debra Kolodny Kolodny, who joined Corr in the consulting role, said that eight, two hour meetings were held over seven months, coming to agreement on an oversight panel that would bring trust, accountability, transparency and fairness and equity, and align with anti-racist practices to make everyone feel safe and secure.
“Those considerations received absolute consensus,” Kolodny said.
Many of the questions from councilors focused on how it would operate and how many complaints it might receive.
Corr said that Cambridge’s panel was typically fielding up to 15 a year, along with 10 to 15 brought directly to the department, but has since gone down.
In New Orleans, though, where he said there is a history of severe misconduct, about 60 to 70 complaints are brought each year.
Kolodny said three to five complaints in the first couple of years would be a good estimate.
Corr said Springfield has a board of police commissioners, the boards are reviewing complaints but discipline is still done by the police department.
At-large member Mandi Jo Hanneke wanted to know what the model is for a community about the size of Amherst.
Corr mentioned the Citizens Police Oversight Committee in Oak Park, Illinois, a city with a population of 50,000 that borders Chicago, and which has had a review model since the 1980s, and the Community Police Board in Ithaca, New York, which has a full investigatory board.
Walker, who served on the working group, said what the CSWG found is that there is a lack of trust in police, especially among BIPOC residents
“There was a lack of trust to even file a complaint,” Walker said.
“What a successful board looks like is a safer community, residents not living in fear (and) improved community relationships,” Walker said.
Council President Lynn Griesemer made the motion to refer to the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee with a report and recommendation by April 1, 2026.
“This is a very, very important conversation for our community,” Griesemer said.
Prior to the discussion, Parker, who served on the review panel, said she endorses a Resident Oversight Board with investigatory powers, where residents can safely bring complaints about police.
Parker said she is urging that there not be delays in getting the board established in a white majority town with a white majority staff, council and police.
“Clearly the experience of white people is different from that of BIPOC residents of Amherst in every facet of society, ” Parker said.