Policing the Police

THE CAMBRIDGE City Council tonight will consider the establishment of a citizens' panel charged with overseeing the police force. Although the proposed Cambridge Police Review and Advisory Board would be limited to making recommendations, it is a first step toward monitoring the behavior of the local police. Unfortunately, however, it is too small a step to have any real impact on the serious problems within the Cambridge Police Department.

The current interest in the department first erupted last January, after parents of 10 Black youths accused police of an unjustified roundup of their children because they are Black. The youths, aged 12 to 17, were arrested and booked in Central Square following a charge that two Blacks assaulted a white bicyclist. Parents said the arresting officers did not allow any of the children to call their parents (Police officials contend the youths chose not to call home, but were offered the chance to do so). Within just weeks, the police were involved in a similar incident of alleged harassment.

The city has waited long enough to act on the problem of police violations of the civil rights of Cantabrigians, especially those of Black youth. Councilor Saundra Graham's current proposal to install a law enforcement watchdog comes after nine months of discussion among residents, police officials and city authorities. Currently, it is the only firm proposal in a whirlwhind of rhetoric about police violations.

Sadly, though, the proposal is ludicrously weak. Although the ordinance would give the five-member panel power of subpeona to compel witnesses to testify in its investigations, its conclusions will not be binding on the police force. Furthermore, the city manager--the same person who appoints the department's leadership--will select all the board's members.

Last spring the city manager, asked by the city council to look into the accusations, merely ratified the department's own internal investigation into the incidents. This despite the fact that parents disagreed with the findings, offering convincing examples of discrepancies and inaccurate information within the official report. This exchange underscores the fact that the city manager, who is after all in the end responsible for any police wrongdoing, should not also be responsible for choosing the committee that will examine charges of police misconduct.

Cambridge needs a police commission the public can have confidence in--one completely independent from the city manager and the police hierarchy. The idea is hardly radical since many cities have such independent commissions. Instead of the proposal before it, the City Council should pass an ordinance creating a police commission appointed by the council and should give that panel the power to act on its findings.