Office of the Town Manager Paul Bockelman, Town Manager

Town Hall Phone: (413) 259-3002

4 Boltwood Avenue Fax: (413) 259-2405
Amherst, MA 01002-2351 townmanager@amherstma.gov

Statement by the Town of Amherst

Town Manager and Police Chief
May 22, 2017

The Town of Amherst and the officers of the Amherst Police Department value the diversity of our community and strive to
build strong relationships with all of our community members. Our first and primary mission is the protection of the people of
every age and background who live, work, visit, or study in the Town of Amherst. This is our core mission.

Recently, a member of our community raised concerns about one of the Police Departments practices that has been used as
part of an overall community policing approach to public safety. Specifically, there were concerns about the involvement of
officers making home visits when addressing issues of complaints about youth bullying.

Typically, an allegation of youth bullying made to the Police Department is referred to the School Department, which is where
most allegations of youth bullying behavior are addressed. That was also done in this case. However, since this complaint
originated at the police department and involved younger children, an officer visited all three families involved as a follow-up.
The purpose of the visits was to confirm that the issues had been addressed and that the children felt safe attending school
together.

At least one of the families understood this incident to be a school-based issue only. Therefore, the police visit was very
disturbing for several reasons: the visit occurred in the evening; the parents were not home during the visit; and there was the
concern that the issue had become a police matter.

The officers intention was to make all involved feel safer. The visit actually had the opposite effect and made at least one
family feel less secure for themselves and for the future of their child. They felt that what had been viewed as a school matter
that had been resolved at the school level now looked to have become a police matter.

It was not the intention of the visits to create additional stress and we want to fix that. The Town Manager brought key parties
together including the Police Chief, School Superintendent, and chair of the Human Rights Commission to meet with and
listen to the parents and their support team. We wanted to hear how this incident impacted them and how it could have been
handled better. We asked specifically what other steps could be taken to be more responsive and better attuned to our actions.

As a result and after further reflection, the Police Chief will reexamine when a uniformed police officer makes a home visit to
a child. We understand that such a visit, in and of itself, may add to the stress of the situation. It is also clear that non-
emergency home visits to speak to children are inappropriate unless agreed to or requested by the parent/guardian. And we
will reinforce that home visits of minors should only be conducted in the presence and with the support of the
parents/guardians. We did not do these in this case, and we apologize for that lack of sensitivity.

We seek to continually improve as a Town and Police Department, and we appreciate the opportunity to change so we can
continue to provide the entire Amherst community with the absolute highest level of public safety. We will continue our
efforts at community engagement, but with greater sensitivity to how our actions may be experienced by members of various
communities. We assure you that the intent of the officers was strictly to ensure the well-being of the children involved. They
are saddened that it was experienced differently.

We are very proud of the work of our police officers and we all appreciate the support we receive from the community. We
are resolved to continue the serious work of aligning our community policing work with the many communities in Amherst.

Thank you for your continued support.