The Massachusetts Legislature's version of police reform — now on Gov. Baker's desk awaiting approval and amendment — would not fundamentally change how Boston Police operates, Mayor Marty Walsh said Friday.
Walsh claimed that city has already enacted reforms the state has not yet finalized.
He told Boston Public Radio on Friday the bill will improve public transparency around "complaints against police officers," but said the bill at the State House includes reforms "taken right out of Boston."
"We have practices for excessive use of force, we don't use chokeholds," he said. "A lot of what's in the bill, even though it'll require Boston to follow state law, we do it already."
The compromise police reform bill empowers a majority-civilian review board to remove officers from service if they're found guilty of wrongdoing and sets use of force guidelines.
In November, Walsh drafted an ordinance for Boston to create its own independent police watchdog office, the first in a number of reforms laid out by the city's police reform task force. Walsh also said Friday the city is creating a public dashboard to track any complaints against police officers as part of the task force's recommendations.
Some city councilors still say there are issues within the Boston Police Department around union contract negotiations. A number of councilors have proposed changes to the contracts, like holding more public contract negotiations and replacing confidential arbitration with a more transparent process.
Walsh firmly rejected the idea of public contract negotiations.
"You can't negotiate a contract publicly like that, it's not going to work," he said. "First of all, it's the law, and number two ... it's not the public versus the union, it's the entity, the employer, the city of Boston, in this particular case."
He also defended arbitration, saying "everyone's entitled to their day in court."
Walsh, viewed as a pro-union mayor, takes a position at odds with previous police commissioners who have complained that aribtration has allowed corrupt cops to stay on the force.
