Brattleboro Town Staff Response To Community Safety Review Recommendations

The S.A.F.E. plan for disarming police during routine patrols is number 37 in the safety committee recommendations.

The process is like this. The committee submits its report to the selectboard for approval. Instead of approving or rejecting it, the board then asks staff for information. Then staff writes its own report asking for information. It may be worth noting that after selectperson Brandi Starr asked for a motion to approve the full report (Feb 16), there was a recess and the board reconvened with a motion to RESEARCH the full report. The committee was formed, deserving note, specifically without a police member, thus preserving civilian authority over the police and in a manner accessible to the public. I opposed exclusion of the police from the committee, but that is the decision and principle of the committee. It is not appropriate that “town staff” includes Police Chief Carignan, writing a second report in authority over the committee, requiring more information and insulated from the public.

BTW our consultants offered their experience and advice to the board and the police. These were retired officers of Police Scotland with lived experience in non-lethal patrols. No one on the board or at BPD, who are so eager for information, accepted the invitation of our consultants.

Since BCS S.A.F.E. Police disarmament began in 2017, the process involved an extra step. Although the program has a cost-free pilot phase, the board refers the proposal to the safety committee, which wasn’t even ready yet.

Brattleboro Town Staff Response To Community Safety Review Recommendations

— BrattleboroCommonSense.org