On Sunday, April 24 at 7 PM, ORMA and DSA will host a virtual forum on initiatives by Massachusetts cities to fundamentally change the way policing is done in their communities. This forum will focus on creating alternatives to using police to respond to the most common types of emergencies, those that do not involve violence.
Several cities that have already moved to take emergency response services out of police departments will present their plans. In Amherst, Lynn, and Northampton, these services will be moved to other city departments. In Cambridge the leading proposal, called HEART, will create a new, non-government service. We will also learn about Police Scorecard, the first nationwide public evaluation of policing in the United States.
In addition, Representative Lindsay Sabadosa will tell us about a bill that would provide state support for these changes. To learn about these initiatives, from the people who are creating the changes, Click here to RSVP for Sunday April 24 7 PM.