With the current resurgence of interest around police accountability in the wake of the tragic killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among so many countless others, a number of proposals and solutions have begun to circulate from many Organizations, Lawmakers and other key stakeholders.

At the City Level, the solutions with the most support from our survey of policy proposals include a Civilian Review Board and Stronger CO-OP Board to oversee police misconduct which has been suggested since the St. Clair Commission Report released in 1992.

The only other guidance from the BPD on how to file a complaint comes from their FAQ:

To our knowledge the only way to get a physical form is to go to a police station and the forms do not exist in multiple languages.

Since being introduced to Massachusetts in 2016, the idea for Police Decertification or POST took legislative form first in 2019 in H2146 by Rep. Holmes and Vieira which “Resolve[d] to provide for a “Special Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to study and make recommendations concerning the implementation of a statewide Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) system that certifies police officers and enable de-certification for misconduct and abuse.

The other major area of concern at the national or Federal Level is in the hands of the supreme court with Qualified Immunity, which essentially “permits law enforcement and other government officials to violate people’s constitutional rights with virtual impunity” under cover of the law.