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Springfield Board of Police Commissioners hopes to 'build trust' with community

Springfield Board of Police Commissioners member Madeline Fernandez (left) speaks with residents after the first meeting of the board held Monday, April 11, 2022.
Elizabeth Román
/
NEPM
Springfield Board of Police Commissioners member Madeline Fernandez (left) speaks with residents after the first meeting of the board held Monday, April 11, 2022.

The newly formed Springfield Board of Police Commissioners held its first meeting Monday night at City Hall.

The organizational meeting included a vote to make Gary Berte, a professor of criminal justice at Springfield College, chair, for one year.

Berte said one goal of the board is to work on building trust with the community.

"It's been 18 years since the city has had a police commission and times have changed," he said. "We have a lot more authority to direct an investigation, we have subpoena powers now...and we can compel police officers to come in and testify."

Springfield Board of Police Commissioners member Albert Tranghese (left) speaks with a resident after the first meeting of the board, held Monday April 11, 2022.
Elizabeth Román
/
NEPM
Springfield Board of Police Commissioners member Albert Tranghese (left) speaks with a resident after the first meeting of the board, held Monday April 11, 2022.

Member Madeline Fernandez said community trust will come from meeting residents on their own terms.

"It's important that we are not just hiding behind a table here, that we need to be out in the community and let people know that here is a board that really cares and wants to make a difference," Fernandez said. "I'm looking forward to earning that trust again."

Berte said the new board has more authority and can make a determination without approval from anyone else.

"We have a lot of training to go through, a lot of documents to review, a lot of deliberation and a lot of time to reflect," he said. "We need an opportunity to hear from the citizens as well as the city's police officers."

The five-member board also voted to hold a meeting every second Wednesday of the month in different neighborhoods throughout Springfield.

Elizabeth Román edits daily news stories at NEPM as managing editor. She is working to expand the diversity of sources in our news coverage and is also exploring ways to create more Spanish-language news content.
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