It’s not easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but that’s precisely what law enforcement officials, residents, and others with Newton connections will strive to do during sessions of an upcoming relationship-building program.
The late Newton Police Capt. William L. Spalding was instrumental in bringing this program to Newton. He first learned about Dedication to Community (D2C), the nonprofit that created the program, after he attended the National FBI Academy. He thought it would be a good fit for Newton since one of its missions is teaching how to build and improve relationships between law enforcement and civilians.
Spalding felt “there was a lot of value [in the program,] in terms of creating trust and transparency between the police and the community that they serve,” said Newton Officer Mike Gaudet.
“During these sessions, law enforcement and community members engage in open, honest, raw, and often emotional conversations about the issues that are impacting them, and most importantly, the solutions to those issues,” according to D2C.
Spalding applied for and received a Department of Justice grant to participate. Sadly, the City learned of the funding award only the day after he died suddenly on November 1, 2023.
The department will move forward with Spalding’s “vision of uniting Newton to improve police-community relations,” said Lt. Amanda Henrickson, commander of the department’s Community Services Bureau. Almost all sworn officers in Newton will attend.
Invitation to Sign Up
D2C is offering the public multiple dates for the four-hour sessions titled, Serving in the 21st Century, and the department is hoping residents and those with community ties (for example, business owners who do not necessarily live in the city) sign up.
Residents and others with ties to Newton can register here for either the 9AM-1PM session OR the 3:30PM-7:30PM session on any of these dates: March, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, or 21.
During the sessions, “everyone has an equal voice,” said Gaudet. “The idea is to have a free-flowing conversation about things.”
Henrickson said police from surrounding communities have been invited to participate. She said they anticipate a mix of 40-50 police and civilians will join each session, which will take place March 6-21, in the Newton Free Library’s Druker Auditorium as well as at Lasell University.
“We want to do the hard work … we want to learn how to best serve every resident in the city of Newton,” said Gaudet.
Emotional discussions
M. Quentin Williams, D2C’s founder and CEO, has his own Newton connections since he’s a graduate of Boston College. He also taught Spalding and introduced him to the nonprofit.
As a bi-racial man who is both a former federal prosecutor and FBI agent, Williams has seen both sides of the tensions between civilians and law enforcement. He even wrote a book titled, “How Not to Get Killed by the Police,” before his son was born.
Because “every job I got was a relationship job,” Williams said, he created D2C, seeing it “as an opportunity to change society.”
He repeats the simple lesson that “If you treat people like human beings, it probably solves 95+ percent of the problems all over the world.”
However, right now “the empathy and compassion isn’t there,” said Williams, and that is what the D2C organization tries to build.
At the beginning of the sessions, instructors, some of whom are current or former law enforcement and FBI officials, tell their stories and make themselves vulnerable.
The teachers then facilitate conversations – many of which are difficult – between attendees. They also teach D2C’s curriculum, which offers concrete tools to help participants carry the lessons into their daily lives.
“When [the participants] leave, they have a plan of action that they have committed to doing” so they feel more empowered, said Williams.