While Boston Police Reform Ideas a Strong Start, MET Experts Say Greater Efforts Would Bring Greater Returns

Writing in the “POV” section of BU Today, BU MET Associate Chair of Applied Social Sciences and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin and Rebecca Anne McKnight (MET’21), a graduate student in MET’s criminal justice program, offered their perspective on a new set of recommendations made by the Boston Police Reform Task Force. Appointed by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh this summer in light of the Movement for Black Lives, the task force produced a five-point report that, Cronin and McKnight write, “reflect[s] the broad aim of infusing the [Boston Police Department] with the values of equity, legality, transparency, and accountability—all vital to policing in a democratic society.”

Cronin and McKnight’s review of the report’s findings were largely favorable. “The strongest components will strengthen external control of the BPD and promote legitimacy,” they say. But they also see opportunity to make a stronger impact by empowering community-based advocates with “greater representation, voice, and control throughout the department by recommending other structures, such as formal neighborhood advisory boards with direct access to district-level leadership and management. These should not be simple police-community meetings or forums, but rather boards that would be able to provide direct guidance on priorities and assess practices,” they write.

“This is an important time for policing in America. Social movements have once again rallied pressure on policymakers to make real change and to seriously reevaluate the footprint of policing altogether,” Dr. Cronin and McKnight say.