Pioneer Valley Project & Policing Reform
The fight to reform one of the worst Police Departments in the country by MCAN’s affiliate in Springfield, MA
This is a story of the power of people and the conviction of one community to no longer accept a status quo of brutality and misconduct on the part of their police department. While the deep lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the Springfield Police Department (SPD) is not unique, the response of the community led by Pioneer Valley Project (PVP), an affiliate of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, is. Over the last three years, PVP has held public information sessions, rallies, press conferences, and ultimately meetings with the U.S. Department of Justice that resulted in the delivery of a Consent Decree by the federal agency on the city police department. And the work continues still, because a Consent Decree is not the full and final answer to transforming systemic injustice, harm or a direct line to transparency.
The federal government is now requiring the SPD to make reforms that they refused to make on their own.
Learn how PVP and their partners the Greater Springfield NAACP and Massachusetts Senior Action Council drove police reform up to the highest levels and with the power to impact not just policing in their own community, but their state, and ultimately the nation.
“Our experience and organizing here will grow the discussion of what it means to actually do police reform in this country. We are ready to talk to other communities about how to do this transformational work,” says Tara Parrish, Executive Director of Pioneer Valley Project. “We are fighting fights that they too will fight as this goes deep into police culture. It has nothing to do with a region, but the history of this country.”
To learn more about Tara’s organizing work, click here.
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Contact: Karen Elliott Greisdorf, MCAN Director of Communications
In addition to PVP Executive Director Tara Parrish (pictured above), the following PVP leaders are available for interview.
MICHAEL ANDERSON, PVP LEADER
“As a teenager, I experienced brutality at the hands of the Springfield Police Department (SPD). Walking home during the evening, I was "roughed up" by a couple of Springfield's finest and left in Blunt Park. This would be something that became known in our community. We turned it into a game of "who can make it home before they get you.” This type of behavior has been deeply rooted in the culture of the SPD for decades!” To read more of Michael’s story, click here.
REV. DAVID A. LEWIS, SR., PVP LEADER
“The history and current misconduct and brutality by the Springfield Police Department on the residents of Springfield, specifically the African American community and other communities of color, goes against the shared values of our institutional members.” To read more of Rev. Lewis’ story, click here.
SISTER MELINDA PELLERIN, SSJ, NBSC
PVP LEADER
“Misconduct by the police department grew, and as the years went on the police department felt as if there was no need for any transparency to the citizens of Springfield. If something went wrong, and it became violent, they paid off victims.” To read more of Sister Melinda’s story, click here.
TIMELINE OF
MISCONDUCT & RESPONSE
COST OF
POLICE MISCONDUCT
SELECTED IMAGE GALLERY
June 4, 2020 - Social Media Post
June 6, 2020 - Following PVP’s public action at Nathan Bill’s, the site of an assault of four African American men, calling for police transparency and accountability and the re-suspension of the criminally-indicted officers. LEARN MORE
June 6, 2020 - National Guard Called in response to peaceful action. LEARN MORE
June 26, 2020 - PVP Youth Voices United held public action calling for the removal of School Resource Officers from Springfield Public Schools, starting at Commerce High School, the site of an assault on a student by an SPD officer, who subsequently lied on the police report. LEARN MORE
November 9, 2020 - On the steps of City Hall, PVP leaders held a public reading of the complete 28-page U.S. Department of Justice report, released in July 2020, to remind the public of both its existence and the specific reform recommendations made by the DOJ, to counter the ongoing claims made by Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Clapprood that reforms were already being implemented by SPD. LEARN MORE
November 21, 2020 - Joined by about 50 cars, this action went to Mayor Sarno’s house in Springfield and Commissioner Clapprood’s house in Wilbraham. Brief stops at each location included honking horns and leaders’ amplified voices speaking to the issue of a lack of transparency and accountability to residents regarding vague claims of reforms in response to the July DOJ report. LEARN MORE
January 28, 2021 - This action was the first public call for a Consent Decree as a way to inform the public regarding what PVP knew to be the necessary level of accountability that Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Clapprood needed in order to be forced to reform the Springfield Police Department vis a vis the findings of the DOJ report. PVP also simultaneously held meetings with city council members asking that they join publicly in the call for a Consent Decree. LEARN MORE
January 28, 2021 - PVP calls for Consent Decree
June 18, 2021 - PVP called on the City of Springfield to fund unarmed crisis response model as a mechanism to address the vast increase in mental health-related calls as cited by Commissioner Clapprood and the Springfield Police Department’s demonstrated lack of ability to de-escalate in its interactions with residents, even in non-violent and non-criminal situations. LEARN MORE