CPD Chief: Thoughts on Police Reform

By Guest

By Police Chief Ken Berkowitz

As the national dialogue continues on police reform, I’m listening with a keen ear and I hope you are too. Like any industry or profession, there is always room for growth and innovation. Sun Tzu once said, “In chaos there is opportunity,” and since we definitely find ourselves in a chaotic period, I’m certain there are many opportunities to improve.

Chief Ken Berkowitz

Some of the changes that I have heard, I support and have in fact lobbied for in the past as part of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs legislative committee. A good example of this would be the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST), a licensure commission that certifies police officers. Lots of industries are regulated by the state, so why not police officers? I am also proud to report that many of the best practices being touted have been intact at CPD for many years now.

The infrastructure of any solid organization is sound policies and procedures. Here at CPD, we have comprehensive policies that are constantly reviewed and updated. In 2014, the Canton Police Department earned certification and then a year later, we became one of the first departments in our area — and 36th statewide — to earn accreditation. It was a tedious process that included an on-site, multi-day, complete review by a team of outside inspectors. Not only did they go through our policies and procedures with a fine-tooth comb, but they also interviewed our officers and read over reports to make sure that we were actually doing what our policies mandated. In 2019 we earned re-accreditation, and this coming January we will again be in the process of review.

After the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, there was a lot of talk on the militarization of police departments. The federal 1033 program is a platform where military surplus equipment was transferred to local police departments. The purpose was to transition equipment from military to civilian authorities. I’m pleased to report to you that we have never applied for, nor accepted, a single item from this program. In my opinion, there was no benefit to acquiring any military equipment, as it did not fit in to our everyday community-oriented policing philosophy.

In the last decade, we have seen a marked increase in calls for service involving individuals that are suffering from mental illness. As with so many other things in society, the police are left to deal with these people as in a lot of instances, they are involved in minor crimes such as trespassing, disorderly conduct or simple assaults. As our interactions with this vulnerable population surged, we tried to keep up with it by giving our officers additional advanced crisis intervention training. We were recognized on the front page of the Sunday Globe for our work with a resident who was suffering from schizophrenia. Additionally, we also earned a national certificate for completing the ”One Mind Campaign.” We have established clear partnerships with a community mental health organization and have developed a policy to deal with service calls for a person afflicted with mental illness. In addition, we trained sworn officers in mental health “first aid” and crisis intervention (CIT). Although the standards were to train 20 percent of the department, we trained every member with the basic class and 50 percent received the advanced class.

As the opioid crisis exploded around us and we found ourselves responding to multiple overdoses, we shifted our priorities to treating addicts rather than arresting them. While we still aggressively arrest suppliers and dealers who import death and poison into our town, we also set up an inclusive program to train and “arm” all of our officers with the overdose reversal drug Narcan. Part of the program also includes following up and working with addicts to help get them into much needed treatment programs. Since then, along with our sisters and brothers at the Canton Fire Department, we have saved hundreds of lives.

In 2012, we formed the first ever Canton Police Department Family Service Unit. This unit was established to specialize and focus on issues pertaining to juveniles, instances of domestic violence and victims of sexual assault. To date, we have assisted countless families in crisis to get back on their feet and live in a more stable environment. Our school resource officers (SROs) look to discover the root problems (such as why a young student wouldn’t be attending school regularly) and then try and problem solve with the family members and school personnel.

For the past 10 years, the CPD has had approximately 75 percent of our interactions with the public recorded. We have dash-mounted cameras in every car, and our booking and interview rooms have sight and sound recording. Additionally, both the interior and exterior of our building are wired with devices that capture sight and sound. I am in favor of body cameras. In fact, the vast majority of police officers I have spoken to who work in departments utilizing them say they like having them. The cameras benefit officers as they protect them from unwarranted or false allegations made against them. In this day and age, if we are not recording the event, someone else is. In a lot of cases, they may have come into the call long after the interaction began and therefore are only recording a small part of the incident — which may only tell half the story. It makes sense that we deservedly afford our officers this extra level of protection.

I am very proud of our department and the proactive steps that we have taken before police reform became a cause to celebrate. Our officers are the most valuable resources the Canton Police Department has. They pin their badge on every day through pandemics, life and death crisis, and everyday police work. They continue to perform admirably and carry out the extraordinarily difficult mission of providing professional police service to our town. Every one of them is a leader in our community and I am grateful, as you should be, that they make sound and compassionate decisions daily.

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