LYNN — The Lynn City Council passed an order this week that urges Mayor Thomas M. McGee to look into several policies and programs that would reimagine policing in the city.
The council order recommends that McGee review the “advisability, feasibility and utility” of requiring Lynn Police officers to wear body cameras; establishing an unarmed civilian response team that would respond to non-violent or non-emergency situations; and instituting a civilian review board to review police policies and procedures.
The three policies the City Council has asked McGee to evaluate are the main components of a citizens’ petition — submitted by several community groups over the summer and authorized in late July — that will be discussed during a council public hearing centered around social justice and police reform on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m.
Under the City Charter, the city is required to hold a public hearing if a petition requesting such a hearing garners at least 150 signatures from registered voters in the city, but the council is not required to vote on the petition, according to Assistant City Solicitor James Lamanna.
“They want to come and make the council aware that they want us to implement these things,” said City Council President Darren Cyr. “A lot of the things they want us to implement all fall under the mayor’s jurisdiction. We’re giving them the opportunity to have their public hearing.
“(We’ll be) listening to their concerns and the different policies they want us to put in place and the different things they want us to implement. We’re not looking to implement anything because it doesn’t fall under our jurisdiction.”
Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan added that the council wanted to put out an order ahead of the public hearing, which is aimed at giving the public an opportunity to voice their concerns while the city council listens.
“We’re supporting some of the things they’re doing and between the city council and the mayor’s office, we’re willing to work on some of these things,” said Hogan, who proposed the order to the council.
“Myself, I’m in support of a lot of the things. I’ve been working hard with these organizations just to bring racial equality to our city. I think these are important things in times like this here. It’s very important for a city like ours to work on things like this.”
The public hearing comes at a time when racial-justice conversations are ongoing among city councilors and six community groups — Diverse People United, Essex County Community Organization, Lynn United for Change, New Lynn Coalition, North Shore Juneteenth Association, and Prevent the Cycle — which began after representatives from those groups lobbied for a reallocation of Lynn Police Department funds during a City Council budget meeting in July.
The petition that prompted next week’s public hearing was submitted by the same six community groups, according to Adriana Paz, a member of Prevent the Cycle, who noted they were able to garner more than 235 signatures.
“It’s important to understand that the way things are working is not benefiting all of the residents of Lynn, so we need to start talking about, how can we fix things (and) reimagine policing so it is working for everyone, so everyone feels safe and that they benefit from having police in Lynn,” said Paz.
“We’re hoping for the conversation and we’re hoping for them to take a stand and let us know where they stand on these issues.”
Paz said she is hopeful city officials will ultimately choose to carry out some of the policies included in their petition, which will be discussed during the public hearing, as she believes they are “needed for the benefit of Lynn.
“It’s to get them to hear from Black and brown community members and have this done in a public way so there is more transparency,” said Paz. “I just want to stress that this is for all of Lynn. This is to benefit all of us. We’re not talking about defunding the police. This is just about reimagining policing so it benefits all.”
Under their order, the council has asked the mayor to take several factors into consideration during his review, including the monetary costs of the proposed programs or policies, and the necessary loss of other essential services if funds needed to be redirected to accommodate such policies or programs.
In addition, the mayor is asked to consider whether public safety would be served with those programs, or if their implementation would unnecessarily endanger the lives of municipal employees and/or the general public; whether the proposed policies or programs would conflict with state and federal law; and whether the proposal is in the best interest of Lynn residents.
Cyr said the council is not looking for McGee to provide those answers before next week’s public hearing, noting that assessing the feasibility and whether the funds are available for those programs will take “some time.” Some of those policies would require negotiations between the police union and mayor, he said.
On Wednesday, McGee said that over the past several months, he has started to talk with local advocates, public safety officials and the city council about “how we can achieve the objectives outlined by residents in their citizens petition scheduled for a public hearing on Oct. 24.
“I am committed to making structural change and will continue to work with them on how we achieve meaningful reforms in a number of areas including law enforcement, municipal hiring, and eliminating the racial wealth divide,” said McGee.
“That’s why I aggressively pursued the opportunity for Lynn to participate in the Racial Equity Municipal Action Plan (REMAP) program, which will give us the resources and technical assistance needed to make many of these reforms a reality. I appreciate the council’s resolution and look forward to partnering with them, and all those that would like to be involved in finding solutions that lead to racial justice and equity for all Lynners.”
Neil Whittredge, a community activist who was involved with pushing the citizens petition forward, said he’s indifferent to the council order passed this week, as it doesn’t represent a clear stance on their proposed policies and programs related to law enforcement.
“We’ve been talking about it for several months now and we haven’t been able to get a firm position from them,” said Whittredge. “It does come down to the mayor at the end of the day and his negotiations with the police union, (but) it would be nice if we could get the support of the council.”
