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Complaint Review Board Reports

by Bill Dusty

The Mayor’s Office held a press conference on Friday at City Hall to address the progress and activities of the city’s much talked about but little seen Community Complaint Review Board (CCRB).

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno kicked off the press conference by announcing the current Members of the CCRB. They are: H. Edgar Alejandro, manager of Economic and Community Development for Western Massachusetts, and chairman of the CCRB; Terry A. Aberdale, currently retired after a 38 year career in criminal justice; Reverend Amos L. Bailey, pastor of the Christian Faith Baptist Church, Inc., as well as president of the Pastor’s Council of Greater Springfield and chaplain for the Springfield Police Department; Carol Lewis-Caulton, former Springfield City Councilor and Springfield Police Department commissioner; Corrine A. Durham, executive vice president of the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Central Labor Council; Robert Jackson, owner of Jackson Security Company; Stephen M. Reilly Jr., associate attorney at the Springfield office S.M. Reilly Associates; Hector Santos, assistant principal in the Holyoke Public Schools; and Miguel Soto, employed with the Pioneer Valley Educational Cooperative.

Alejandro, Bailey, Lewsi-Caulton, and Jackson are holdovers from the original CCRB appointed in October of 2007 by former Mayor Charles V. Ryan.

Mayor Sarno’s chief of staff, Denise Jordan, is the part-time coordinator of the CCRB. Following Sarno’s introductions, Jordan took her turn at the podium to discuss the role of the CCRB, as well as review the progress of the Review Board since the beginning of the year. She said the CCRB has been busy getting organized and that a couple of community workshops are planned for this August. She said letters have been sent out to various civic associations throughout the city requesting an opportunity for the CCRB to attend their meetings and to explain the complaint review process. Notices on public meetings of the CCRB will be posted as they are scheduled, she said. An open Board meeting is scheduled for August 7th at 5pm, at City Hall, where residents may learn more about the activities of the CCRB. Also in August, there will be two workshops, one directed at youths entitled “Keeping Your Cool,” and a second focused on police and motorist interaction.

CCRB chairman H. Edgar Alejandro clarified the status of two complaints currently awaiting Board review. He said the CCRB reviews cases only after the Springfield Police Internal Investigations Unit (IIU) has completed its own investigation, and that the two cases in-waiting are not currently being reviewed because they are still being investigated by the IIU.

In questions taken towards the end of the press conference, Sarno was asked why it had taken so long (seven months) to get the CCRB running. The Mayor answered that he didn’t think it had taken too long, and that the city was doing its “due diligence” as it moved forward with organizing the CCRB. And on the question of why – since their previous meetings were all organizational and not consisting of actual review cases – were the meetings not posted and made public, Jordan said they needed time to get ready and to find the proper way to handle things. “If you’re going to do something,” she said, “you need to do it right.”

More Information:
The Community Complaint Review Board reviews completed investigations and makes recommendations accordingly. It does not conduct investigations on its own, and its recommendations are only advisory in nature. The CCRB does not have subpoena powers, and does not recommend disciplinary action.

The CCRB has 14 days from the time it receives a complaint to review it and forward any recommendations to the Police Commissioner.

Complaint forms are available at the following locations:
- City Hall (the Mayor’s Office): 36 Court Street – (413) 787-6100
- Springfield Police Department: 130 Pearl Street – (413) 787-6310
- Springfield Police Dept., IIU: 130 Maple Street #235 – (413) 787-6383
- Indian Orchard Citizens Council: 117 Main Street – (413) 543-3172
- New North Citizens Council: 2383 Main Street – (413) 747-0090
- South End Community Center: 507 Main Street – (413) 732-5105
- The Urban League: 765 State Street – (413)739-7211

All completed forms should be returned to the Springfield Police Department or the Mayor’s Office.

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Jul 18th, 2008 and filed under City Hall, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.