METHUEN — Residents of the Arlington neighborhood will soon have a familiar face to report crimes or disturbances to.
The local police department is aiming to have an officer dedicated solely to Arlington, a densely populated, lower-income community in the city, hitting the streets this summer. The introduction of the community officer comes at the same time as more bilingual officers are joining the ranks of Methuen Police and as the department continues to make reforms aimed at improving trust with the community following past scandals.
Despite these efforts, Councilor Neily Soto said some Arlington residents still feel they are being targeted by police, especially when it comes to towing or ticketing and that while the department is becoming more diverse — the diversity has yet to make its way to the higher ranks.
Police Chief Scott McNamara said officers are already encouraged and do interact with community members, he has not yet had the resources to assign specific officers to specific locales in the city. If there are disparities in towing or tickets, he said, it is because certain parts of the city lack off-street parking, resulting in more cars parked on a public way.
According to McNamara, 17% of staff in the department are Latino or Hispanic, while 30% of the city’s general population are Hispanic or Latino. In 2021, the same year McNamara was hired, only 7% of staff identified as Hispanic or Latino. The percentage of female officers has also grown from 9 to 12% of staff over the same period.
McNamara outlined the program and his philosophy on “community policing” to the City Council Monday night and answered questions mainly in reference to the Arlington neighborhood.
“What I would like to do is carve out specific police officers and assign them to specific neighborhoods in our city where they would be free and untethered from the 911 radio to focus on proactive problem-solving, working directly with those citizens in those neighborhoods every single day,” he said.
While Soto actually represents a eastern portion of the city, the councilor said she often gets calls from residents of Arlington because she is bilingual. She explained diversity in supervisor positions is important because those are the officers who are likely to hear resident’s complaints. Despite her criticisms, Soto called McNamara spectacular and praised his efforts.
“He is dealing with a culture that has been there for decades,” she said.
The plan is one of many reforms made by McNamara aimed at improving the department following the tenure of the disgraced former Chief Joseph Solomon whose scandals fostered a distrust of police. Last April, a detective in the department filed a lawsuit against the city alleging decades of racial discrimination against him and members of the community. While the plaintiff Detective Charles DeJesus acknowledged the new reforms, he alleged the mistreatment has continued and some employees responsible for the abuse have even received promotions. The city has denied the allegations and the lawsuit is ongoing.
McNamara said 50% of dispatchers now speak Spanish and three of four dispatchers hired in the last three years were bilingual. Over the course of the same time, the city has hired 28 officers, 47% of whom are Spanish-speaking or minorities.
“We are getting better,” he said.
Linda Soucy, founder of MAN Inc., said residents were already feeling the benefits of a police force they can more easily communicate with, especially when they are calling 911. She said the addition of community officers would make residents feel much more comfortable in reporting crimes.
“A lot of people do not like to call in something,” she said. “They are afraid of retaliation.”
She explained some in the community want to keep their names out of police reports and testimony, and an officer they trust can create a bridge for reporting crimes — while keeping themselves out of danger. Soucy said people are sometimes afraid to report everything as innocuous as loud music to a “drug house.”
Soucy said this is a fear among the more vulnerable members of the community.
“When you are a single mom, it’s different,” said Soucy. “A single mom is afraid to cause any trouble.”
McNamara said there are three officers assigned to a similar duty as the proposed position in Arlington, but they are being used across the city, not in one neighborhood. He added while they do sometimes work in the Arlington neighborhood, “it was not in the vision I had initially hoped for.”
He said the department needs 107 officers to be fully staffed and while the city is budgeted for 102 officers. In reality, the chief said he only has 95 officers to deploy around Methuen. He added four officers are still in the police academy — three of which are bilingual. He explained a lengthy process – about 15 month – is needed to prepare law enforcement officers for the job, including six months of the academy and four months of field training.
He added the department has had officers leave unexpectedly due to injuries or illness, including in the line of duty. As the department reaches adequate staffing, McNamara said more staff would be available for non-911 duties.
But McNamara added community policing is a much broader effort involving all his staff.
“It really is a department-wide effort,” he said. “Every police officer believes it is important here in Methuen to engage citizens on a personal level whenever they can.”
Even officers who patrol the community in cruisers leave their vehicles at least once a day, he said, often more to interact with the community they serve — to what extent was disputed by Soto.
“To me, that’s core community policing,” said McNamara.