Massachusetts representatives and police unions believe the Commonwealth’s police forces are nothing like those bad ones in other states. What happened to George Floyd could never happen in Massachusetts, they say. But as we have seen in New Bedford and elsewhere, there are plenty of problems with unaccountable police. And that includes Springfield.
So when Greater Springfield NAACP Branch President Bishop Talbert W. Swan II spoke out against police violence and impunity, he made an enemy of Police Chief Cheryl Clapprood, who eventually fired Swan from his volunteer position as police chaplain.
But Swan’s battles with the Springfield Police go way back. On July 2, 1996 Bishop Swan received a call from Joseph Bradley, a Springfield police officer, who mocked the burning of black churches in the South. At that time Swan was raising funds to rebuild those churches. Springfield’s Deputy Chief of Police dutifully apologized to Swan and to the African American community of Springfield and Bradley was fired, though he was never charged with harassment or a hate crime. George Eckmalian, an Army National Guard sergeant, then threatened Swan in the name of the “Aryan race,” demanding that Swan retract his charges against the police. In August 1996 the Boston Globe ran a front-page piece on the Springfield PD by Brian MacQuarrie entitled “Racism’s Cutting Edge,” calling the department a “House of Hate.”
A quarter century later, on July 8, 2020, a US Department of Justice study released a report of chronic abuses by the Springfield PD’s Narcotics bureau showing that the PD was still a house of hate. Highlights of the USDOJ Executive Summary:
“Following a thorough investigation, there is reasonable cause to believe that Narcotics Bureau officers engage in a pattern or practice of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.””Specifically, our investigation identified evidence that Narcotics Bureau officers repeatedly punch individuals in the face unnecessarily, in part because they escalate encounters with civilians too quickly, and resort to unreasonable takedown maneuvers that, like head strikes, could reasonably be expected to cause head injuries.” […]
“Against this backdrop, Narcotics Bureau officers engage in uses of excessive force without accountability. For example, in October 2018, the United States indicted a veteran Narcotics Bureau sergeant for color of law violations related to his 2016 arrest of two juveniles. The indictment alleges that the sergeant kicked one of the youths in the head, spat on him, and said, ‘welcome to the white man’s world.'”
One section of the DOJ report describes Springfield’s inability to stop the abuses:
“SPD does not have adequate systems in place to detect, address, and prevent officer misconduct.”
In August 2020 a Boston Globe editorial called the Springfield PD “one of the worst in the country” and pointed out that the US Department of Justice — William Barr’s US Department of Justice — was doing little to stop Springfield’s abuses:
“And yet, contrary to what is common practice, the DOJ did not force Springfield Police to sign a consent decree, or a court-mandated agreement, to ensure reform. Instead, the report concluded with four recommendations for the department: to improve procedures for reporting use-of-force incidents; to implement new use-of-force training; to revise policies for internal investigations; and to implement more accountability mechanisms. These remedies, while urgent steps in the right direction, are mere suggestions without mandated enforcement from the feds. Had the DOJ negotiated and entered into a consent decree with the Springfield police, similar to one of the 14 consent decrees signed by the Obama administration, the reform plan would have been supervised and enforced by a federal judge. Instead, any policing reform is left to Springfield police leadership.”
Five years before the USDOJ report was issued, Police Chief Clapprood earned the ire of the Greater Springfield NAACP Branch after she reinstated five Springfield off-duty police officers who beat civilians in a brawl in 2015. Not only were multiple officers involved in the brawl but virtually every officer in the Department erected a Blue Wall of Silence. Turns out, police gangs don’t snitch either. Worse still, the officers charged were supposed to have been disarmed while under indictment. But the Police Chief simply ignored the law.
NAACP President Swan was furious at Clapprood’s involvement in the coverup, in part because of the Police Department’s disregard for its relationship with the community:
“We hereby, unequivocally denounce the decision to reinstate five indicted officers in any capacity, whether on the streets or working within the department, and call for their immediate suspension, pending the results of their criminal trials. […] To do anything less is disrespectful to the citizens of Springfield, a disservice to the officers who perform their duties with honor and integrity, and a brash determination based on arrogance and disregard for police-community relations, which have suffered long enough under the weight of such reckless decisions.”
In June, following the murder of George Floyd, the NAACP of Greater Springfield and the Pioneer Valley Project of Springfield co-hosted a virtual community meeting on police violence. Chief Clapprood and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno were both invited. But in what has now become common among Massachusetts officials — New Bedford and Fall River among them — both public officials cancelled at the last minute.
Sounding a lot like New Bedford’s NAACP Branch President who faced precisely the same dilemma when Fall River and New Bedford mayors cancelled their conversation with the public, Springfield’s Swan said that, regardless, the show would go on:
“Tomorrow night’s town hall will take place, with or without the mayor and police commissioner.”
The Pioneer Valley Project’s director, Tara Parrish, expressed her exasperation with officials who claimed to be committed to fixing the problem but were nowhere to be found the moment they had to answer to the public:
“They have prayed with people of faith on the steps of city hall this week calling for hope and healing. They have also both repeatedly stood by their decision to bring back five suspended police officers who are facing criminal charges for covering up the assault of four men of color by off-duty Springfield police officers.”
In order to completely control the narrative, Mayor Sarno then decided to hold his own “roundtable” on police accountability, ostensibly to “listen, learn and share initiatives and strategies to maintain the many bridges that have been built over the last 12 years by our community, the Springfield Police Department and the administration.”
But a number of City Councilors, including City Council President Justin Hurst, were not convinced there were all that many bridges the mayor had not already burned, announcing in a joint statement with other Councilors that they would not attend his roundtable:
“It is unfortunate that none of us were consulted regarding the planning of this meeting, setting the agenda, providing input as to the format, or were privy to any dialogue with respect to who would be invited.”
NAACP Greater Springfield President Swan also boycotted Sarno’s event, telling the mayor he should have attended the community’s:
“This was an important opportunity for you and the commissioner to engage with over 1,000 members of the community regarding concerns with police brutality, misconduct, and police/community relations. […] Instead, you have opted to hold your own forum to control the narrative, dictate the agenda, and hand select who is able to participate.”
In September things came to a head with both the Mayor and Police Chief when Swann called for Clapprood’s resignation:
“The NAACP does not have confidence that Commissioner Clapprood can implement the reforms required to ensure accountability and change needed to direct the Springfield Police Department.”
Unsurprisingly, Mayor Sarno responded that he had complete, even better than complete, confidence in Clapprood:
“I support Commissioner Clapprood 110% and she will not be fired.”
In an interview with The Republican newspaper Swann explained why he had called for Clapprood’s resignation:
“She is completely ingrained in the system and the corruption. How is she going to be the one to implement change?”
Barely a month later the Force fired back: Clapprood fired Swann from his volunteer post as police chaplain. A police spokesman claimed that Swan had failed to attend required meetings.
The New England Area Conference of the NAACP (NEAC) responded swiftly to Swann’s firing with a resolution calling for police justice and describing the termination of a volunteer as “idiotic”:
“Such action drips of direct and repugnant retaliation for Bishop Swan’s call for meaningful reform within the Springfield Police Department which was reflected in a recently released, scathing Department of Justice report. Bishop Swan rightfully advocated for needed change that would address problems of apathy, corruption, and the excessive use of force within Springfield Police Department, with the aim to improve the quality of service and to work towards restoring public confidence. In turn, he was rebuked by a system that is blinded by its own need to maintain control while ignoring the unconscionable civil rights abuses of many, and in particular Blacks and other people of color. What is so idiotic about the termination is that it is a volunteer position. Bishop Swan agreed to accept the position years ago to assist the police department in its primary role – to protect and serve.”
NEAC also hinted that legal action could be an option:
“Bishop Swan clearly has legal claims stemming from the police department’s retaliatory termination. A significant element of strength for these legal claims exist because of the severity of the civil rights harm related to the timing of the termination. The civil rights harm is two-fold: first, the action against Bishop Swan for exercising his freedom of conscience by using his legal right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and second, the effective action against the community.”
In August Springfield Mayor Sarno signed a $75,000 one-year contract with retired Supreme Judicial Court justice Roderick Ireland to implement the four changes the Department of Justice suggested:
- to improve procedures for reporting use-of-force incidents;
- to implement new use-of-force training;
- to revise policies for internal investigations; and
- to implement more accountability mechanisms
Whatever specific reforms Sarno and Roderick eventually implement will be accomplished without having to listen to those most affected by the SPD’s chronic corruption and police violence.
And that’s just the way they like it.
