GREENFIELD — Mayor Roxann Wedegartner says she is “keenly aware” of the importance of having a city police force live up to the oath each of its members takes to protect and serve with extreme professionalism and without prejudice.
Wedgartner sent out a written statement on June 3, three days before close to 2,000 protesters took to the streets of Greenfield and marched in solidarity with others throughout the country protesting racism, police brutality and the numerous deaths of black Americans at the hands of some police officers across the nation.
On Saturday, those protesters marched from Main Street to the police station on High Street, where some spoke about so many who have lost their lives, including 46-year-old George Floyd, a black man who died a little more than two weeks ago while in the custody of Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin. Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. said the Greenfield Police Department condemns Chauvin’s actions, and those of the police officers who stood idly by and ignored their oath to protect all life.
“I’m acknowledging that change needs to happen,” Haigh said. “We need systemic change across the country.”
Haigh said he appreciated the protest Saturday, and the good communication between police and protesters. He said protesters and city leaders are looking for certain things from his department, including the reporting of force when it needs to be used, reviews of force and critical incident training.
“We’re doing a lot of this already,” Haigh said. “COVID-19 stopped a lot of our training, but we’ll be getting back to it.
“We will continue to do bias training, mental health training, all that we need to do,” Haigh said. “Even when it isn’t funded, we do it. We write grants or whatever we need to do.”
Haigh said there has been a lot of talk over the years about whether Greenfield should have a school resource officer. The chief has removed the position from Greenfield schools until everyone can agree about what they want.
“There’s so much back and forth,” he said. “We need to know what is expected of us, and until we know for sure, we’ll be there when called.”
Haigh wants to see two or three people from his department handle community relations by meeting regularly with groups, social service agencies and community leaders to talk about issues affecting Greenfield, and to formulate solutions.
“Officers would attend meetings and be part of the discussion,” he said. “Once a solution was found, we could help facilitate it.”
Haigh believes some of those issues would include elder safety, addiction and mental health.
The Greenfield Police Department needs to develop better hiring practices, Haigh said, and that is in the works.
“We need better background checks, as well,” he said. “We’ve got a good department, but we always have to stay vigilant.”
Haigh said the department is waiting to hear from the state as it attempts to leave Civil Service.
“Our department is predominantly white male,” he said. “That’s because we have to choose from a list provided by Civil Service. Getting out of it would open things up and there would be more choices. There could be wider recruiting.”
Haigh has been pushing leaving Civil Service for years, he said, adding that he would like a larger and more diverse candidate pool.
“We need our department to represent our community,” he said. “We’ve got good people here, but we need our department to be more diverse.”
Haigh does not agree with defunding police departments, as has been suggested by some across the country.
“That’s aggressive,” he said. “I don’t think that would end up being a good thing. I think it’s more about identifying someone as a problem before we put a badge on them.”
Haigh said the suicide rate among police officers also needs to be looked at.
“It’s through the roof,” he said. “I think when a cop is having a problem, he or she is afraid to say so because they’re put on paid leave, for instance. Police are under a tremendous amount of stress and it can be ignored by everyone, including themselves.”
Overall, Haigh believes most police officers are good and want to do good.
“When we screw up, it’s front and center,” he said. “We’re loved and hated all at once. We’re human. But what happened to George Floyd was horrendous and disgusting, and that can’t keep happening.”
In the end, Haigh said defunding police only means fewer officers doing more and being put under more stress. Instead, he would like to see everyone work together to figure out a solution.
“People should be outraged by all of this,” he said. “We need to make sure it never happens here or anywhere again. We all need to work together to do something about it.”
Wedegartner said with a city police force at her command, she commits to ensuring Greenfield’s officers continue to be trained in all aspects of community policing, including critical incident training and de-escalation techniques.
“No acts committed by officers that exceed use of force policies and result in extreme injury or death will be tolerated,” the mayor said. “George Floyd. Auhmad Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Sandra Bland. Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. The list is long, and it is heartbreaking every time we are forced to add a name to it as a result of senseless killing of our fellow black American citizens at the hands of police officers.”
There are undoubtedly, Wedegartner said, countless others that people don’t know about because a code of silence can permeate police agencies, and she is tired of having to watch the legal system fail to hold involved officers accountable for their actions.
“We cannot change course until we condemn and confront the racism that gives life to these injustices,” she continued. “In 400 years, we haven’t been able to do it, but we must commit to getting it right this time.”
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.