HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-07-10-2020-min (Demographic Change Subcommittee)Town of Lexington
Subcommittee on Demographic Change
July 10, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Present: Margaret Heitz, Albert Huang, Dan Krupka, Peter Lee, Archana Singhal (filling in
for Nirmala Garimella as the IAL representative
Guest: Chief of Police Mark Corr
Action Items (to be reported on at the next meeting on August 14)
• Dan will call the Lexington Human Rights Committee re: progress on the diversity
training series.
Discussion with Chief Mark Corr
• The Lexington Police Department (LPD) includes 48 officers and go employees,
including crossing guards, enforcement, and administrative staff.
• Steps that the Lexington Police have taken to implement recommendations listed in the
Demographic Change Report include
• community outreach to help diversify the department;
• requesting Civil Service lists specifying "Mandarin speaking" ability; and
• requesting lateral transfers of officers w /desired language skills.
• Officer Hsien -Kai Hsu was hired prior to the Demographic Change Report. A female
office has also since been promoted to the rank of Sargeant.
• LPD Human Resources will seek reasons NOT to hire a diverse candidate as a means to
adequately screen each candidate; a high level of maturity and ethical standards
essential.
• The Civil Service lists have not been productive. LPD must now demonstrate a need for
diversity, beyond translation, before they can receive another list. LPD is one of the few
local departments that require Civil Service; one consideration is to leave the Civil
Service system, but that takes time (Town Meeting) and is not necessarily the best
solution (results in political influences).
• Chief Corr eagerly seeks opportunities for outreach in the community and would gladly
meet with community groups to discuss public safety, crime prevention, and identity
theft issues. Other topics could include domestic violence and financial crimes, such as
breaking and entering or home invasions in search of credit cards, gold, and cash.
• LPD is working with the Lexington Human Rights Committee to establish a series of
speakers to present information and stories from and about the Chinese, Hindi, and
Islamic communities.
o Trial program to run a total of four hours; audience would be from all town
departments;
o Format would be for the presenter to share something about their religion/ culture,
followed by a question and answer period. For example, a Sikh male carries a small
knife with him, which holds religious significance. If he is detained or arrested, a
police officer would seek to confiscate the knife. To do so would be of consequence
for the Sikh male; not doing so would be of consequence for the police officer.
• Chief Corr's continuing goal is to diversify the LPD and train existing officers within the
LPD. He looks forward to continuing a dialog as to how this Subcommittee can assist
with
• LPD outreach opportunities;
• cultural sensitivity training for LPD and other town departments; and
• changing the perception of the LPD within the community at large.
Submitted by Peter Lee, August 3