CAN REPORT ON 1/21/26 POLICE ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
by Amy J. Craig
I attended the January 21, 2026, Police Advisory Board Meeting held at the CPD Headquarters. The meeting began with Chief Todd and City Council President Sputty Cephas welcoming everyone. Lt. McCrae, Sgt. Flynn and Glen Steckman also introduced themselves.
Sue Radcliffe reported that through a $120,000 mental health grant she will be working with first responders to give supportive services and training to meet state standards. There will be biannual screening for officers and wellness screening. She will also be able to offer mental health supportive counseling when there is a tragic event, and first responders suffer mental health trauma. Her first meeting with CPD Administrative staff will be held on February 4, 2026. Sue will be available at CPD for 8 hours a week until June and then full time. The goal is for co-responder help for the community as well.
Sgt Flynn reported on the Professional Standards Report on page 9. Sante Group referrals are being made for MH so that homeless issues can be follow up on.
Chief Todd reported that there were 2 candidates in the academy, and both did not finish. There are currently 2 additional candidates with the hope for graduation in June. Montre Jenkins and Cadet Kozak are also helping with previous officer related assistance. Cadet Kozak has been working on vehicle parking issues in neighborhoods.
School report: There were 209 calls made to MLMS. Officer Joe Jones got hurt and had to have surgery. There were 67 calls to Sandy Hill and 70 calls to Maple. The Sheriff’s office covered CSD. CPD offered assistance in 116 calls for assistance. It is very important to have officers in the schools as a duty assignment. There will also be advanced autism training for officers because of the high number of students in our schools with autism.
CALEA reporting is on page 41. Chief Todd is working towards accreditation in the Spring of 2027. He feels that having that accreditation will assist with recruiting.
There is a need for partnerships for more grant monies to assist with mental health issues. There is the current partnership with the health department.
Lt McCrae gave a discipline report. There were 7 incidents. Two of which were with the police involved mental health incident at Deep Harbour. The use of force statistics is on page 36.
Snow event: A reminder was made that if there are 3” or more of snow that cars needed to be removed from the snow emergency route. Glen Steckman indicated that in order for better snow removal that the City streets really needed to be clear of cars. I relayed that information to Chuck and Alison reported it on facebook page.
Sgt Flynn is working with an interactive dashboard with the IT department. When live the dashboard would be updated every 4 hours. It is the plan to have it up and running within the next couple of weeks.
Mike Steward (Council appointed member): asked about the laws related to ebikes. There are three classifications of ebikes to include scooters. The concern was that they are being operated on the sidewalks and at night you can’t hear them approaching. Response was that state laws allow them to be ridden on the sidewalks. Police are doing enforcement downtown but not in the outlying neighborhoods such as the West End. There is a requirement to have lights on bikes and scooters for night riding. Enforcement is sporadic. The hope is to get public service announcements out to inform the community and such riders. Mike also asked about blackened out car windows. The response was that darkness is subjective because of differing laws in our surrounding states.
Bob Rowe (Council appointee): Express ICE concerns in our City. He asked if Cambridge was prepared to deal with unlawful tactics. Chief Todd responded that they make sure officers are aware of duty to keep peace and people safe. Family concerns have been dealt with. Homeland Security does inform the department if they have to perform any operations. However, ICE does not. Mayor Cephas-Bey responded that she encourages citizens to not engage if an ICE operation occurs. The Chief said that there have been issues of ICE apprehension, and they were never notified. The department has had to arrange for abandoned vehicle removals.
Next meeting will be held in March or April.