Review Board Takes on New Cases

Cambridge's Police Review Board is investigating three new cases, including a complaint from a man who says he was unjustly arrested during the Head of the Charles regatta.

According to the board's executive director, William Golon, one of the new cases involves Boston resident Edward Gray's complaint that a Cambridge officer arrested him unjustly for disorderly conduct during the October 23 regatta.

Gray claims police arrested him because he was taking pictures as they closed down an unlicensed pretzel vendor's pushcart, Golon said.

The incident took place in the crowd outside The Sports Bar on JFK St., Golon said, but he added that he has had trouble finding witnesses.

"No one saw the incident at the beginning," said Golon. He said he has posted notices near the site of the arrest asking witnesses to call him.

Golon said the other two new cases involve motorists' charges that police were discourteous while ticketing them for traffic violations. In one of the two, Golon said, a woman charges that an officer who stopped her car punched her in the chest, while the officer says he was reaching for the car's ignition.

The four-year-old board is the only civilian police oversight committee in New England. It was created following several charges of police racism and was expected to hear similar claims in the future.

However, Golon said yesterday that of the 16 cases the board has heard since it began functioning fully this spring, none involved charges of racism, and only one complainant--a Puerto Rican teenager--belonged to a minority group.