By Lisa Carolin
The Public Safety Board Subcommittee, which has met several times by Zoom in the last two weeks, came to the conclusion that there should be a long-term citizens oversight board in Chelsea.
The subcommittee shared its findings at the Chelsea Community Public Safety Task Force’s May 12 meeting. The findings will be included in the recommendations for Chelsea City Council about the next steps to be taken in response to the BobCat Police Operational Audit of the Chelsea Police Department, which was done in response to the department’s handling of the 2020 racial justice protests.
Some of the subcommittee’s recommendations for the oversight board would be that it consist of 3-5 citizens as well as the police chief and one city council member. The oversight board’s role would include an ongoing review of Chelsea Police Department policies, to develop a CPD social media presence linked to its website, and to develop an annual performance protocol for the police chief. The board would follow any investigations or complaints that would occur.
The other subcommittee, the Strategic Planning Process Subcommittee, also gave an update on its recommendations. The subcommittee believes a strategic plan needs to happen as well as hiring a subject matter expert on policies of the CPD. A suggested budget for creating its plan would be approximately $25,000. The process of creating a strategic plan would include a review of overall police operational functions and identify ways to improve them.
The next step is for the two subcommittee draft reports be combined into one comprehensive draft report that will be presented to Chelsea City Council at its May 16 meeting.
The Public Safety Task Force has its next meeting on Wednesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. at which time feedback from city council on the task force’s report will be discussed.
