NORTHAMPTON — After residents asked the City Council to make significant cuts to the Police Department budget this summer, a commission to study the issue and recommend reforms was created.
That group, the Northampton Policing Review Commission, will hold its first public hearing Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
The group will give a progress report and then ask for public comment, according to the meeting’s agenda.
The joint commission of the City Council and mayor’s office is tasked with examining the department’s budget, use-of-force policies, and alternatives to current policing practices, among other issues. Its 15 members will finalize a report with recommendations by mid-March, 2021.
The group started meeting in September, and the entire commission and its subcommittees — Policing Policies and Services, Spending and Contracts, and Alternatives to Policing — have met more than a dozen times in two months.
The Dec. 1 public hearing can be accessed on Zoom at this link: https://tinyurl.com/NPRC121. Information about joining via phone can be found on the city website.
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.