A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 23-09, regarding a report on engaging a third party, independent firm/consultant or university partner to review and examine the Cambridge Police Department’s policies and practices regarding de-escalation methods, mental health calls for service, training, and more

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 125 SIXTH STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02142 TELEPHONE [phone removed] WEB www.cambridgepolice.org FACEBOOK facebook.com/CambridgePolice TWITTER twitter.com/CambridgePolice Yi-An Huang City Manager Christine Elow Police Commissioner To: City Manager, Yi-An Huang From: Police Commissioner, Christine Elow Date: March 15, 2023 Ref.: Awaiting Report 2023-9 – Third Party Review of the Cambridge Police The purpose of this response is to address Awaiting Report #2023-09 that the City Manager report on engaging a third party, independent firm/consultant or university partner to review and examine the Cambridge Police Department’s policies and practices regarding de-escalation methods, mental health calls for service, training, and more. After careful research and consideration, it is recommended that the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) lead this important work. PERF has extensive experience assisting state, county, and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices, as well as federal and international law enforcement agencies. Their breadth of experience includes evaluating law enforcement agencies to ensure they are employing best practices. For instance, PERF has recently reviewed policies and practices (including use of force) for police departments in Paterson, NJ; Fredericksburg, VA; Fayetteville, NC; Virginia Beach, VA, and Washington, DC. Their long history includes working with law enforcement agencies to improve, develop long and short-term goals, and provide measurable benchmarks to track progress. The work that PERF will conduct for the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Police Department will involve three major means of collecting information: collection, review, and analysis of available information; personal interviews; and personal observations. PERF will closely evaluate the CPD’s current training programs - from content to delivery to implementation – and identify areas of improvement, as well as areas of superior performance. To the extent they impact the CPD’s training, PERF will evaluate associated policies, protocols, and practices. Ultimately, PERF will determine whether the CPD’s training sufficiently embraces, instills, and teaches the sanctity of life as its guidepost, and whether CPD officers are able to put their training into action by using the least amount of force necessary to achieve their goals and lawful objectives. Initially, PERF will focus exclusively on collecting and reviewing relevant training protocols and related policies and procedures. PERF will also interview stakeholders around crisis response within the City of Cambridge, such as trainers, dispatchers, and response team members, to determine if and where areas for improvement exist, and how training or additional less than lethal options could be beneficial.

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO 125 SIXTH STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02142 Additionally, once completed, PERF will analyze the fatal Cambridge Police officer shooting of Sayed Faisal on January 4, 2023. An evaluation will be conducted against the backdrop of the incident to determine: - If there is an opportunity to improve the CPD’s crisis response training and specifically what that may entail. - Whether CPD could benefit from additional less-lethal equipment, associated training, or other resources. - Whether the recent fatal shooting revealed how and where community response can be enhanced – potentially by training and protocols that might involve multiple stakeholders in the City of Cambridge. At the conclusion of this work, PERF will detail its findings and recommendations. In addition to highlighting areas that may be in need of improvement and providing detailed recommendations, PERF will also note areas where the CPD meets or exceeds national best practices. A report will be delivered within three months of PERF conducting their last interview and/or receiving their last requested item(s) once the independent inquest has been completed. It will be made available to the public through the Cambridge Police website. We look forward to fully cooperating with PERF and their view of areas of opportunity, improvement, and how we can best respond or support complex, challenging incidents. We hope that this response provides sufficient background and illustrates how thoughtful we intend to be in order to accomplish this important work. If there are any additional questions, information needed or concerns regarding this matter, please let me know. Respectfully, Christine Elow Police Commissioner