CSSJC Continues to Seek Answers From Town Manager on Social Justice Initiatives
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Report on the meeting of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee, July 15, 2026
The meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.
Present
Debora Ferreira (chair), Anna Derby, Lissette Paredes and Erica Piedade. Absent: Everald Henry and Brigid Owino. One vacancy. Staff: Camille Theriaque (CRESS director)
The agenda was familiar. As has been the case in several recent Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC) meetings (see, e.g., here, here, here and here), the committee reviewed a long list of concerns about the town government’s slow response to social justice issues affecting Amherst residents. These include insufficient funding for the town’s civilian responder service (CRESS); unresolved questions about the Amherst Police Department’s (APD) relationship with ICE; the status of a Resident Oversight Board for the APD; funding for and siting of a long-promised BIPOC Youth Empowerment Center; possibilities for a town multicultural center; and filling the open seat on the CSSJC.
CRESS Report
CRESS Director Camille Theriaque reported that Daniel Garcia, former program manager for CRESS, has been appointed the town’s director of senior services, leaving CRESS without a program director. Garcia and Theriaque have begun looking for ways to do more collaborative work among the DEI Office, CRESS, and Senior Services to address the needs of the community.
Theriaque reported that CRESS is now receiving more calls from emergency dispatch and has increased its outreach efforts to help the community understand the services CRESS can provide. Highland Valley Services reported that it used to call police for clients who were not responding but now calls CRESS for well-being checks.
CRESS remains severely understaffed, with only six responders on the payroll.
Theriaque reported that the veterans’ breakfast, held on the first and third Friday of every month, has lost its funding from the town’s Health Department but will be funded by the Senior Center through next June.
Chair Debora Ferreira said the low number of calls coming from dispatch is still concerning. She asserted that any call describing a non-violent situation should be directed to CRESS and noted that this is not what appears to be happening. She asked for an assessment to determine whether calls that should be going to CRESS are instead going to the APD.
Theriaque responded that she has been meeting regularly with Town Manager Paul Bockelman, APD Chief Gabe Ting and the director of the Emergency Communications Center. She believes “things are definitely moving in the right direction. The relationship [between CRESS, the APD and emergency communications] has greatly improved and will surely get better.”
See the CRESS Newsletter for further details.
Theriaque reported that the number of evictions in the area has increased. When there is an eviction, the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Office contacts CRESS with a request to visit the tenant and provide support and resources, including rides to court.
Theriaque emphasized that in order to meet the needs of the community, CRESS needs to expand its hours, which is not possible with only six responders. “We need to continue to advocate for a better budget for CRESS,” she said. She added that the bare minimum staffing for CRESS to do the work it needs to do would be four more responders, for a total of 10, plus an assistant director. “Looking at other communities [with civilian responder services], we are seriously understaffed,” she said. She pointed out that Northampton has 10 responders plus a director, an assistant director, and clinicians. “We are doing a lot with a very small crew,” she concluded.
Resident Oversight Board
Erica Piedade attended the Government Organization and Legislation Committee (GOL) discussion concerning the proposed Resident Oversight Board (ROB) for the APD. GOL had been charged with reviewing the two proposals offered by the consultant: an investigative model and a review model. GOL asked the town attorney for input. Town Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier informed Ferreira that she’d like the CSSJC to review the GOL discussion and the town attorney’s response and provide feedback.
Ferreira said it appears the attorney’s primary concern was risk avoidance on the part of the town. The town attorney stressed that the Community Safety Working Group’s (CSWG) guidance for police oversight was created before the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) was established and that POST should be able to address any and all complaints about the APD that might otherwise have gone to a ROB. Ferreira said the attorney seemed to suggest an ROB is not needed and that its work might even conflict with a POST investigation. The attorney pointed out that POST has the power to decertify and sanction officers in ways an ROB could not but Ferreira noted that POST typically handles grave complaints and not the kinds of things that might come up locally in Amherst.
Devlin Gauthier said she would get in touch with communities where POST is currently operating and communities where ROBs are up and running.
Piedade felt the attorney was oriented toward why the town can’t do this, rather than what is possible.
Ferreira said, “I’m concerned that the attorney is just coming back to us with all of the APD’s original objections to oversight. She’s arguing that an ROB can’t have access to records or subpoena power but has yet to show us why. It’s all about what we can’t do — but without explanation.”
Piedade reported that Devlin Gauthier asked several times what an ROB could do, but the attorney did not answer those questions.
Ferreira concluded, “The town appears to be doing everything it can to prevent this from happening. But it is the BIPOC residents of this town who suffer most unjustly at the hands of the police, and we need to advocate for them so that there is some accountability.”
Committee Still Waiting on Town Manager’s Response to Its Queries
The CSSJC and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) have submitted questions to the town manager regarding the town’s policy on engagement with ICE (see also here), as well as questions related to CSWG recommendations that have yet to be implemented, but responses have not been forthcoming. Ferreira contacted Town Council President Mandi Jo Hanneke, who said there will be a public presentation at the next Town Council meeting, on July 20, at which those questions will be answered.
Ferreira reported that she had reached out to Bockelman to ask what is happening with the $450,000 earmarked for a youth empowerment center. She also asked about space allocation and possible available space at Wildwood Elementary School, once that building is taken out of service this summer. She reported that Bockelman has not responded to these or essentially any questions from the CSSJC, and she suggested the committee follow up with the Town Council to get these concerns resolved.
Response to Racist Flyer
The committee is still waiting to receive a formal response from the APD regarding the circulation of a racist handbill on April 29. Bockelman was reported to have said at the most recent Cuppa Joe that he would follow up with the APD and request a concluding report.
Committee Vacancy
The CSSJC is short one member, and all were asked to recruit people to apply for the open position. Ferreira reminded that the committee endeavors to fill one seat with a youth representative and that the committee has lacked a youth member for some time. Piedade emphasized that the committee needs more members to take on all the work in front of it and asked whether it is possible to expand the committee.
Announcements
Anna Derby announced a rally, held Thursday, July 16, at Sweetser Park, to protest the recent ICE killings and call for accountability. She also reported on updates from Town Councilor Jill Brevik (District 1), who has submitted follow-up questions to Town Manager Paul Bockelman on CSSJC concerns that have yet to be addressed and is awaiting a response.