Social Justice Committee Raises Alarm over Cuts to Cress

Report on the Meeting of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC), June 11, 2025

The meeting wwas held over Zoom. Find the recording here.

Present
Debora Ferreira (Co-Chair), Allegra Clark (Co-Chair), Erica Piedade, Everald Henry, Lissette Paredes
Staff: Camille Theriaque (CRESS Director, Committee Liaison), Pamela Nolan Young (Director, Office Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)

Two members of the public attended, Martha Hanner and Pat Ononibaku.

Recap 
Co-chair Debora Ferreira highlighted the impact of ICE raids on the local community (see also here), especially children, and the necessity of support for CRESS, the town’s unarmed public safety department that launched in September 2022, and is rooted in trauma-informed and anti-racist frameworks in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. 

On June 16, the FY26 budget proposed by Town Manager Paul Bockelman and endorsed by the Finance Committee was approved by the Town Council by a 10-3 vote. The budget freezes two of the three currently vacant responder positions (out of eight total) and eliminates the implementation director position that was previously funded by a Department of Public Health grant.

The current grant for CRESS through DPH will end on June 30. Town Manager Paul Bockelman informed the Town Council that six full-time positions across various town departments, including fire, police, Public Works, and Town Hall, have been frozen, along with a part-time role in Recreation according to reporting in the Daily Hampshire Gazette .

Ferreira noted that she is personally mobilizing via social media, contacting town councilors, contacting her district councilors, and sending emails to her network to ensure CRESS positions do not get frozen, and that the implementation manager position gets filled by alternative funding. 

Ferreira emphasized that the community is fear-stricken with the recent ICE raids and that CRESS’s presence is essential in these times. However, freezing two of the three vacant positions at CRESS limits their capacity for the expansion necessary to address community concerns, such as their youth programming initiatives, that would help alleviate some of the distress from these circumstances.

Pamela Nolan-Young, Director of the town’s Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), reported on recent DEI department events, including a Pride flag raising, a Youth Hero Award ceremony, and a liberatory visioning session with Dr. Barbara Love. She noted upcoming events, including an inaugural Pride Parade, a reading of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” and a Disability Pride Month film festival.

Nolan Young also discussed ongoing work with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission on storytelling and narratives of BIPOC communities. The four sessions have been geared toward education on how to better share those narratives in an equitable manner that is not exploitive of the individuals whose stories they are trying to tell.

CRESS Community Needs Assessment and CRESS Connections
The CRESS Community Needs Assessment, implemented through a Department of Public Health grant, will be conducted to gather community input on supporting public safety. Small group sessions will use deliberate engagement where participants will hear bold statements, discuss why these statements matter, explore what works, what doesn’t work and identify needed changes. Registration is encouraged but not required and dinner will be provided during 5-8 p.m. sessions. They aim to hold sessions in community gathering spaces, using locations like Emmanuel Lutheran Church. 

CRESS director Camille Theriaque reported recent activities for CRESS’s youth programming initiative called CRESS Connections that included reading “The Wild Robot” and building robots and reading “My Mouth is a Volcano” and creating positivity jars. The program is led by Vanessa Phillips, a CRESS responder and they focus on encouraging reading and community building by providing books and healthy snacks. This work is part of DPH grant-funded “Equitable Approaches to Public Safety” which emphasizes BIPOC-led programming and aims to encourage youth engagement and community connection. Read more in the CRESS Newsletter.

Fereira noted that there has been a lack of attendance from local youth at these events and highlighted the need for partnerships with people who have been working with these populations for a long time. She added that the younger community is very hesitant right now and they may need grounding from trusted adults to increase participation.

CRESS’s Independence and Challenges
Concerns were raised about potential Town Council efforts to undermine CRESS by delaying the approval and implementation of dispatch protocols and integrating them with the APD (Amherst Police Department). The committee stressed the need for CRESS’s independence and effective community engagement.

The discussion highlighted significant tensions between CRESS’ vision and the town’s approach to community safety. At the June 3 Finance Committee meeting (recording available here), town councilors suggested folding CRESS under APD jurisdiction as a co-response team, yet this contradicts the original CSWG (Community Safety Working Group) recommendations. Their recommendation was for an independent alternative to policing as non-violent situations can benefit from unarmed, interpersonal response.

At the Finance Committee meeting, the APD dispatch supervisor claimed no calls have been dispatched to CRESS due to lack of complete protocols and pending legal approval of CRESS which creates an unresolved liability issue.

Theriaque explained key differences between CRESS and police co-response, noting that in co-response situations, a police-based clinician works under police control. Police are to clear the scene first, before CRESS is called to the scene, and can involuntarily “section: individuals (that is, to detain or otherwise remove an individual in response to mental health concerns).

Allegra Clark noted that people with mental illness in a state of crisis who have the police called on them are 16 times more likely to be shot than the average person, emphasizing the risk of armed response in situations that benefit from deescalation rather than the potentially exacerbating alternative of sectioning.

Everald Henry asked for clarification about Theriaque’s aversion to sectioning when discussing the downsides of a co-response model, suggesting sectioning was the reason the APD had a clinician.

Theriaque said only that certain people are qualified, you have to be a licensed clinician in order to section someone and it has to be a part of your job description.

Piedade clarified that sectioning only mandates the person is sent to the hospital. It doesn’t mean they will stay or receive treatment, and this response model runs the risk of the sectioned person ending up back at square one without support. Alternatively, CRESS is consent-based, unarmed, and focuses on de-escalation; they cannot section people.

Ferreira argued that the town is deliberately creating bureaucratic barriers, delaying protocol development, and attempting to undermine CRESS’s effectiveness in an attempt to ultimately eliminate the program.

Ferreira argued that the town is deliberately creating bureaucratic barriers, delaying protocol development, and attempting to undermine CRESS’s effectiveness in an attempt to ultimately eliminate the program.

She said that despite all the hard work, delay tactics are being used by the town council.”You all aren’t being given the tools. You all aren’t being utilized fully. You all are being resisted,” she said.

Theriaque emphasized that despite these hindrances, CRESS receives direct calls from other departments and continues working in the face of dispatch challenges. CRESS has been called by schools to mediate student conflicts and has responded to potential fights. She also mentioned the community’s growing recognition of CRESS and the increasing number of emails and calls they receive.

Ferreira shared insights from a recent conference about alternative response programs. She highlighted discussion from the conference around how community programs can best support each other. There was emphasis on retaining staff, retaining employees, and obtaining funding as well as discussion around different community models.

She addressed Durham’s three-tier system with co-response, alternative response, and aftercare. She also highlighted Newark, New Jersey’s approach.

Fereira emphasized that learning about different alternative response models across communities, sharing best practices and understanding how other programs are addressing similar challenges can help influence our own. 

She suggested inviting the public to training sessions like CPR and de-escalation, focusing on youth engagement through programs like CRESS Connections and changing community culture by highlighting the importance of training the public in de-escalation and mediation. She reflected on the current state of policing and the potential for a pendulum swing in public perception, similar to 2020.

Henry asked about the future of CRESS with the two positions being frozen. Theriaque responded, “We still continue to do the work, there will just be less of us to do the work.” She said that this would be detrimental to their mission however, and they will be searching for other grants.

Piedade added that the call volume measurements were being done as part of the DPH grant report along with notes on the work CRESS has done in the past two years.

Henry asked what measures needed to be taken to get them in front of the Town Council, and if the report may assist in this case. “I think the conversation needs to happen first where money is not part of the agenda. And I think it’ll also be very good to have that APD data,” said Henry.

Fereira said she has reached out to their town counsel liaison, Lynn Griesemer, saying CCSJC wants to meet with them, but she was told there is no time to meet with them and that she receives a report from the town manager on the operations of CRESS. Fereirra believes this is not enough, saying the council needs to hear reports directly from  CRESS because they are the ones who are in touch with the community.

The meeting concluded with plans for a retreat that occurred this past Saturday to strategize and prioritize goals.

Public Comment
Martha Hanner from District Five highlighted her concern about discussions at the June 3rd Finance Committee Meeting and the loss of Katherine Newman, implementation manager at CRESS. She was creating the dispatch guidelines that will now fail to go into effect with the freezing of her position.

Pat Ononibaku accused the town of long-time practice of racist and White Supremacist policies.

The next meeting of the CSSJC is scheduled for July 9, with expected absences of members noted for July and August. The group also discussed the importance of attendance at the upcoming Town Council meeting to voice support for CRESS.