Policing & Public Safety Reimagined

The 2020 uprising was a critical moment for our nation and for our organizing. From the institution of slavery, affirmed by the U.S. Constitution, and legalized lynchings and segregation, to the war on drugs of the 90s and the mass incarceration crisis, our nation has yet to realize the promise of liberty and justice for all. We can’t even promise encounters with law enforcement that won’t put some people at risk of death.

In June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, our affiliates around the state immediately responded (scroll down for highlights). Through virtual town halls, socially distanced public actions and 1:1 conversations we tapped into the power of the collective to usher in both a narrative and policy change. 

Through our DARR platform, we are still exploring what it means to FUND PEACE, NOT FORCE through DEMILITARIZATION, increased ACCOUNTABILITY of police forces,  REINVESTMENT in the community through police department budgets and to ultimately REIMAGINE how we achieve public safety throughout the Commonwealth. 

April 21, 2021-Verdict Released in Derek Chauvin Trial

We take these powerful words from Rev. Alvin Herring of our national partner Faith in Action to heart as our hands and feet continue to take action. As we “pivot as a nation” so much of MCAN’s work across the Commonwealth is about the reimagining of what policing is going to look like going forward.

Our affiliate on the North Shore, Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), has built relationships with the Lynn Police Department that helped lead to the police force instituting body cams Spring of 2021.

Because of the efforts of our affiliate United Interfaith Action of Southeastern Massachusetts, Fall River police officers are now taking Spanish language training which will open critical lines of communication with the community.

Because of the efforts of our affiliate Brockton Interfaith Community and Brockton DARRCC the District Attorney of Plymouth County will now be using a Brady List so that the testimony of officers with questionable track records will be given greater scrutiny.

Because of the ongoing efforts of our affiliate Pioneer Valley Project, the Springfield City Council has now called on the U.S. Department of Justice to issue a consent decree, allowing DOJ oversight of reform within the Springfield Police Department.

"While this is victory, it is not justice." The work of justice continues.

CLICK HERE FOR SLIDES FROM COMMONWEALTH CONVERSATIONS: POLICING REIMAGINED held on October 22, 2020. 

MCAN Affiliates Honor, Celebrate Black Lives and
Challenge Systemic Racism & Police Brutality

Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC)

BIC, in partnership with the Brockton NAACP and Mayor Sullivan's Office, hosted a prayer vigil led by BIC President Pastor Emmanuel Daphnis along with many local clergy. 

In the midst of our nation's and state's responses to the killing of George Floyd, BIC called together 12 congregations across their city to repent, lament and act so that Black and Brown people of Brockton could feel safer. Three of those congregations broadcast their event on Facebook live and this is a compilation of excerpts from those gatherings.

At the end of July 2020, BIC organized a rally at Brockton City Hall in support of an agenda on police demilitarization, accountability, reallocation of police force funding, and the reimagining of the role of the police presence in the community. Community leaders spoke movingly sharing their stories of pain and experiences with the police and on the case for these policy changes. BIC built allies in launching the D.A.R.R.C Coalition with this action.

Prophetic Resistance Boston (PRB)

PRB hosted “KNEE FOR JUSTICE” to allow the Black and Brown communities of Boston to lament on the injustice of the death of George Floyd who was murdered by four police officers in Minnesota a week earlier.  A series of clergy shared courageous challenges as they led those gathered in the Grove Hall neighborhood through unified lamenting to allow for healing and to begin to disrupt the influence of white supremacy on all of our lives. 

Pioneer Valley Project (PVP)

PVP has held multiple virtual town halls and rallies confronting a history of police corruption and brutality in their city. A rally hosted by PVP Youth Voices United addressed the need to get cops out of Springfield schools. That conversation continued online and included Q&A with Mayor Dominic Sarno and Springfield School Superintendent Daniel Warwick.

Pioneer Valley Project’s power and prophetic vision helped lead to a change in the discriminatory dress code policy at a Springfield restaurant. Click here to read coverage by CNN and click here to read coverage by MASSLive about how our western-most affiliate in the Commonwealth is helping disrupt the status quo there. PVP also held a public reading of the U.S. Department of Justice’s report on its investigation into the Springfield Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau. Read coverage at the following links:

Protest at City Hall asks for more clarity on Springfield’s response to the Department of Justice report, and more accountability for the police
Pioneer Valley Project gather in Springfield to demand police reform

I Have a Future (IHAF)

MCAN’s youth affiliate held a vigil and rally on June 5th, Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday. Click here for press coverage.

Essex County Community Organization (ECCO)

MCAN’s affiliate on the North Shore held a car rally beginning at the county courthouse in Salem, continuing on to the Lynn Police Department, where they were joined by the Mayor, Police Chief and officers, and concluding at the Lynn Commons where those gathered knelt for 8:46, the length of time for which George Floyd was pinned on the ground.

ECCO next supported Victor White, a Black Lynn resident who was recently unjustly arrested on his private property without being told of the charges or his rights. After being forcibly thrown into a police van, verbally abused and physically beaten, he was wrongfully charged with trespassing. While the police investigated this incident internally, it took a month of hard work and advocacy from ECCO before the Essex County Attorney General called for an independent investigation. Additionally, ECCO has taken this opportunity to illustrate how violence could have been avoided by forming a Community Response Team, rather than relying on armed police to respond to a simple noise complaint.

Photo © Aviva Herr-Welber/ECCO 

ECCO went on to hold a third rally at Lynn City Hall, during a council meeting, as part of their ongoing campaign for redistribution of police department funding. As a result, the mayor and city council met one of ECCO's primary demands - to include ECCO and the broader Lynn community in its budgeting process in order to ensure that racial justice is prioritized in the city. ECCO and their partner organizations were invited to be a part of a year-long budgeting process to ensure that the commitment to end systemic racism is reflected in the FY 2022 city budget. The city also allocated $25,000 in FY 2021 to creat the “Equity and Inclusion Assessment Account” which can fund the formation of an unarmed crisis response team. Ultimately, ECCO hopes this process will also include other initiatives addressing existing racial disparities in housing, education and city hiring.

United Interfaith Action

UIA held a community action meeting in partnership with the NAACP New Bedford branch on September 24, 2020. It was a powerful step in the journey toward racial equity and police reform in Fall River and New Bedford. The event was designed to host officials from the two cities, to begin to share personal narratives related to policing and make commitments to action both within and beyond the two cities, as "racism knows no boundaries”. To read coverage of the event, click here.