Boston’s police review board was primed to push for reforms. Years later, its impact is negligible

Howard is quoted in this Boston Globe article: Boston’s police review board was primed to push for reforms. Years later, its impact is negligible. The oversight panel designed years ago to monitor investigations of complaints against the Boston Police Department has had essentially zero impact. Mayor Walsh recently commissioned a task force, which is expected to issue a report in mid-August that may include recommendations on how to strengthen the existing oversight panel. To effectively hold police accountable for their misconduct, the oversight panel must be given more power. The Boston community is demanding a radical change in the way our police department operates. A transformed civilian oversight panel could play an important role in a re-envisioned police department. We must continue to pay attention to this because as the history of the oversight panel reveals, sometime the more things change, the more they stay the same.