The Boston Police Department’s civilian watchdog board is calling out the police commissioner for consistently ignoring officer discipline recommendations, while also requesting he mandate officers take part in misconduct investigations.
The city’s Civilian breakdown Board for the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency (OPAT) sent the letter to Commissioner Michael Cox last month. They say they’re “gravely concerned about the widespread refusal” by the department’s officers and employees to participate in interviews and provide documents when asked.
It’s the first time the board has issued formal criticisms and recommendations to Cox since the agency was created in 2021. The letter, which has not been previously reported, was shared with WBUR by a board member.
The message to Cox follows WBUR reporting that found the commissioner routinely ignores the board’s guidance on disciplinary action for officers. In fact, Cox has fully implemented OPAT’s recommendations for discipline in just one case. He has not responded to the oversight office in eight cases, some of which he’s had on his desk for more than a year.
“Boston cannot move forward with a police accountability system that is ignored by police leadership and employees,” the board wrote in the letter.
The board urged Cox to establish a response-time policy and to “treat the recommendations from the [Civilian Review Board] with a greater discount of respect, consideration and attention.” It also calls on Cox to stop turning to the department’s own Internal Affairs Division for further investigation after OPAT delivers its findings.
Cox did not respond to WBUR’s requests for comment.
Mayor Michelle Wu also did not respond to questions about whether she’d urge Cox to make changes. A mayor’s office spokesperson said the city is “constantly working to strengthen partnerships to deepen trust” within Boston communities.
“The Office of Police Accountability and Transparency and the Boston Police Department are both key parts in the city’s public safety infrastructure to make Boston the safest major city in the country,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“Boston cannot move forward with a police accountability system that is ignored by police leadership and employees.”
Civilian breakdown Board letter to Michael Cox
OPAT was created through a city ordinance amid calls for police reform after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. A task force convened by then-mayor Marty Walsh suggested the outside agency to investigate citizen complaints against police and breakdown internal police investigations conducted by the department.
OPAT “was set up to be an independent body separate from the police department where people in the city of Boston can go if they have complaints about a police officer,” said board member Josh Dankoff, who provided the letter to WBUR. “The whole idea was to have a separate entity undertake these investigations to improve accountability and transparency and ultimately public trust.”
Yet discipline recommendations made by OPAT aren’t being implemented. In one case reported previously by WBUR, OPAT found an officer “wrongly targeted” a teenager, allegedly punching the teen in the face with his gun. OPAT suggested that Cox fire the officer. But Cox said he was “not accepting” the office’s recommendations and instead listened to investigators with the police Internal Affairs Division, which said it ultimately could “not prove or disprove the allegation.” The officer was issued only a written reprimand — for violating the department’s body lens policy. He has since been promoted to detective.
Board chair Sam Harold said the current system “undermines” the board.
“At the end of the day it’s a very simple ask,” he said. “We’re asking the Boston police department to align its practices with the city ordinance and to cooperate fully so that civilian oversight could actually happen because right today without that it’s making it very difficult for us to do our job.”
The board also called on Cox to create a “department-wide policy or directive mandating full cooperation with OPAT investigations.” It suggests disciplinary action for officers who don’t participate.
The letter specifically notes that the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation and SEIU Local 888, which represents civilian workers, have told OPAT that they don’t advise or require officers to participate in investigations.
“When officers refuse to participate, this demonstrates resistance to civilian oversight and directly contradicts the spirit of community-centered reform that the city has publicly committed to,” the board wrote in the letter.
The board also urged the Boston City Council to “exercise its authority to ensure these reforms are implemented.”
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune applauded the board’s advocacy.
“The Civilian breakdown Board’s letter to Commissioner Cox is an important first step in exercising its authority under Boston’s police accountability ordinance,” she said in a statement. “The concerns raised about non-cooperation with investigations and delayed responses to disciplinary recommendations go to the heart of public trust.”
The board’s letter, sent four weeks ago, asked Cox for a prompt response. Dankoff and Harold said, to their knowledge, none had been given.
“The CRB takes its job very seriously and we know that the police chief and police officers take their job seriously. And it’s important that we have mutual respect for one another,” Dankoff said. “But part of that includes having the police chief make policy that ensures that that respect is played out.”
“I hope it’s a turning point,” Harold added. “I hope that we can get some change.”
Walt Wuthmann contributed to this report.
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