Law enforcement consultants release report on New Bedford’s policing

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE)– After being selected by Mayor Jon Mitchell to review the city’s police department, 21st Century Policing Solutions (21CP) released its report on the state of the New Bedford Police Department on Wednesday.

The review focused on strengthening the NBPD’s policies, procedures and practices, as well as whether the city was holding its police officers accountable.

Among the biggest improvements to be made in New Bedford, the review said, were strengthening the selection criteria for supervisors and detectives, updating policies, procedures and the auditing system and developing a clear mission statement for the department.

In addition, 21CP’s review made suggestions to improve the NBPD’s internal affairs division, including making it easier for members of the public to file complaints, ensuring all complaints of misconduct are forwarded to the division for classification and investigation, and restructuring the division so that it would be led by a supervisor reporting directly to the city’s police chief.

The report said that while they did not find any evidence of deliberate decisions not to investigate or punish misconduct, 21CP found “evidence of weaknesses in the system” that could allow for misconduct to go unreported.

According to a city spokesperson, full police reviews had previously been done by consultant Jensen Hughes, but the city brought in 21CP to handle matters related to internal affairs to avoid any appearance of impropriety.