TheCambridge Record
Agenda Items ▸ Policy Orders

POR 2023-215

Asked the City Manager to work with the Cambridge Police Department to fundamentally change how it responds to situations that could lead to violence and death

How it started
Dec 11, 2023 · Proposed by Councillor Quinton Zondervan: a formal request from the Council to the administration.
What happened
Dec 11, 2023 · Held by charter right the city's note: “EXERCISED BY COUNCILLOR ZONDERVAN IN COUNCIL DECEMBER 11, 2023”
Dec 18, 2023 · Amendment carried Moved by Councillor Paul F. Toner; carried.
the text in “Areas for Growth and Development”. See approved document as amended attached
The clerk's words, from the minutes of Dec 18, 2023, p. 4.
Dec 18, 2023 · Amendment carried Moved by Councillor Paul F. Toner; carried.
the text under the “Rationale” section related to the City Council Relationship. See approved document as amended attached
The clerk's words, from the minutes of Dec 18, 2023, p. 4.
Dec 18, 2023 · Amendment carried Moved by Councillor Patty Nolan; carried 8–1.
POR 2023 #215 by substitution
The clerk's words, from the minutes of Dec 18, 2023.
View the roll call on the amendment

Voted yes (8)

  • Burhan Azeem
  • Dennis Carlone
  • Alanna Mallon
  • Marc McGovern
  • Patty Nolan
  • E. Denise Simmons
  • Paul F. Toner
  • Sumbul Siddiqui

Voted no (1)

  • Quinton Zondervan
Dec 18, 2023 · Amendment carried Moved by Councillor Quinton Zondervan; carried 9–0.
the list to add POR 2023 #215 adopted earlier in the meeting
The clerk's words, from the minutes of Dec 18, 2023.
View the roll call on the amendment

Voted yes (9)

  • Burhan Azeem
  • Dennis Carlone
  • Alanna Mallon
  • Marc McGovern
  • Patty Nolan
  • E. Denise Simmons
  • Paul F. Toner
  • Quinton Zondervan
  • Sumbul Siddiqui
Dec 18, 2023 · ✅ Order adopted as amended, 5–4. The Council's request went to the City Manager.
View the roll call

Voted yes (5)

  • Burhan Azeem
  • Dennis Carlone
  • Patty Nolan
  • Quinton Zondervan
  • Sumbul Siddiqui

Voted no (4)

  • Alanna Mallon
  • Marc McGovern
  • E. Denise Simmons
  • Paul F. Toner
Roll call of Dec 18, 2023 · from the council’s minutes · photos: City of Cambridge
What’s next
⌛ No response on the docket: nothing has been filed back under this request's number. Answers sometimes arrive as other items; this ledger tracks only this one.
The document Agenda item attachment · 1 page
🏛 This item on the city's site📄 Download original PDF

O-1

In response to a 911 call about a man self-harming with a knife, and after a subsequent foot chase by multiple officers, Sayed Arif Faisal was killed by Cambridge Police

Department (CPD) Officer Liam McMahon on January 4, 2023

As expected, the officer and CPD have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, with the judicial inquest into the matter concluding that “Officer McMahon’s decision to fire his weapon was objectively reasonable”; and

CPD has yet to present any substantial modifications to its practices or procedures that would reduce the chances of similar outcomes in the future; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with CPD to fundamentally change how it responds to situations that could lead to violence and death, including but not limited to:

Eliminating the Department’s military weapons arsenal, including the Lenco Bearcat armored vehicle Limiting or eliminating situations in which responding officers are lethally armed Reducing the number of officers who carry a firearm Avoiding foot pursuits as recommended by the Stanford Center for Racial Justice

🗓 The meeting where this was taken up: Dec 11, 2023

Public Comment (5)

5 written comments received (2024-01-08). Letter-writers are named in the city's own agenda and are not republished here, by policy.