WESTBROOK — Police Chief Janine Roberts is working to provide transparency into police policies and said that if city officials instruct her to do so she will explore the idea of community involvement in internal reviews of use of force.

Roberts

The department’s use of force policy and all other police policies were scheduled for a regular review by the police chief unrelated to recent nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, but a July 27 public meeting was added to the process to promote transparency and community involvement, Roberts said.

Some attendees at the meeting, while finding no fault with Westbrook police specifically, said community input when use of force incidents are reviewed and more community engagement with the department are needed to build trust between police and people of color.

“The supervision of use of force, I was wondering if it was possible we extend review to include other people and to check that deadly use of force,” City Councilor Claude Rwaganje said. “The country is at a turning point. This is not about Westbrook. I don’t think we’ve seen anything here that’s prompted this. It’s national and everybody has to deal with it. I want to say that, for the record, Chief Roberts has done great, but I welcome all of us to really feel the pain those victims are going through and accept that and have a dialogue.”

Other speakers, including City Councilor Michael Shaughnessy, agreed.

“It’s not at all about this particular department, but at certain points of history certain professions evolve,” Shaughnessy said. “Now is a time we look at some professions and the police are one of them. I am proud of this department, but I think we can be something that sets a standard.”

While Roberts argued that community boards bring untrained eyes into serious situations, she said that as conversations continue the idea can be further explored.

“Whatever a city wants us to follow through with, I will be as transparent as I can be,” Roberts said.

In Westbrook, each use of force by a police officer and each pursuit of a suspect requires a report that is reviewed and investigated by a supervisor within the department who was not directly involved with the incident. Any deadly use of force is investigated by the attorney general’s office, Roberts said.

Regina Phillips advocates for community input on internal police investigations into the use of force. Courtesy photo

That part of the police policy needs to changed to involve the community, said resident Regina Phillips, co-founder of Cross Consulting Group. The group, run by women of color, provides multicultural training to organizations wanting to know more about Maine’s refugee and immigrant community and people of color. 

“I’m not asking for (a community review board) specifically, but in the process of going through the investigation, there could be community members in the process,” said Phillips, the grants and community engagement coordinator for Westbrook Schools and an adjunct professor at the University of New England School of Social Work. 

“I understand confidentiality, but can they be a part of that? That will build relationships,” Phillips said.

Use of force, based on the policy, ranges from the threat of physical violence, like the use of a taser, to the actual deployment of a restraint or weapon.

The policy gives guidelines as to when force can be used, but investigations ultimately look at the context of the situation and what the officer knew at the time, Roberts said, and the guidelines are not hard rules.

The American Journal has requested the department’s use of force history, including the number of instances and the demographics involved, but it was not available in time for the newspaper’s deadline this week. Capt. Sean Lally has previously said that about 1% of the department’s calls result in officers using force.

Conversations also focused on whether police are expected to intervene if another officer is using excessive force.

“As we saw with George Floyd, those around him couldn’t do anything because the supervisor was the one kneeling down on Floyd,” Rwaganje said. “How could they intervene? What happens in that case?”

Roberts said Westbrook’s policy allows for intervention over excessive force to go beyond rank. Participants questioned, however, whether an officer would feel comfortable intervening with their boss.

“I am concerned about retaliation,” Phillips said. “I’ve been in situations where I haven’t said something. People have to be really brave to say something. I can only imagine if you were there and a subordinate had to take over in a situation where they felt that excessive force was being used. I’m not sure how comfortable people would be.”

Harrison Deah, the city’s General Assistance community outreach coordinator, said he wonders what non-police resources could be used to deal with mental health calls, ultimately reducing the amount of impact police may have in communities.

“We can’t (defund police), but I think what is sometimes missing in that conversation is trying to talk about the fact that police have taken on so much more than what their job is,” Deah said. “They are mental health workers, they respond to mental health crises. I am wondering what can we do to address that.” 

In the meantime, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, the department has been working additional hours to fill unprecedented public data requests.

“Previously, we had not been asked for such information so we do not have established data retrieval processes and we are trying to squeeze the staff hours into our already full schedules,” Roberts said.

Roberts has said she’s received “numerous” public requests for information.