By Dinah Alobeid
Boston Police Department Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole is giving it the old college try.
Commissioner O’Toole has asked Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for the College of Criminal Justice Jack McDevitt to look into the possibility of a Citizen Review Board. The board would look into allegations of misuse of force by the BPD.
McDevitt, who is also director of Northeastern’s Institute on Race and Justice, received $40,000 in federal funds from the Community Oriented Policing Services program, a part of the United States Department of Justice in Washington.
“We’ve worked with the Boston Police Department for over 20 years and this project is one that we are excited to research,” McDevitt said.
The research project will not only include looking into the creation of a review board, but will also review the process citizens go through to make complaints against the entire department. McDevitt will look into everything from the physical filing of grievances to the resolutions reached by complaints found to have merit. The institute itself will look at areas within the BPD where improvements can be made.
“We are simply trying to identify where things are working well in the Boston department and to look and see if there are other models throughout the country which would benefit the department so we can adapt them here to improve the whole process of complaints made against officers and the entire department,” McDevitt said.
What authority the board would have or what complaints it could bring against members of the BPD has not been decided yet, and would be up to officials in the department, McDevitt said. However, O’Toole has announced the board will not have the power to subpoena officers.
“If there is a board, because there may not be one, we are just making suggestions. All the details we identify in our research will be made as a recommendation to the police commissioner who will then decide what responsibilities or powers the board may or may not have,” he said.
Recently, O’Toole launched an investigation into the death of Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove. The 21-year-old was killed after being hit in the eye with a pepper ball fired by police while she was on Lansdowne Street the night the Red Sox won the American League Championship Series.
BPD officials said they are awaiting the results of McDevitt’s study before commenting on the board. McDevitt said he expects results to be available by the end of the summer.
