Advisory Group for Obama’s Pledge (AGOP)

As part of the UniteMalden 2020 initiative, Mayor Gary Christenson answered the Obama Foundation’s call to action by signing the “Reimagining Policing Pledge.” The focus of this pledge is to work with the Malden Police Department (MPD) and the community to review use of force policies. A community advisory group has been formed (the Advisory Group for Obama’s Pledge (AGOP)) to leverage their experiences and backgrounds to provide community input on the current MPD Use of Force Policy. Members of the group are: Jay Bhimani, Kelli Collomb, Isadel Eddy, Ben Hartzell, Karen Colon Hayes, Darren Josey, Tihun Lawrence, Carey McDonald, Yusin Mok, Erga Pierrette, Tamerlie Roc, and Birukti Tsige. Also working with the group are City Councillors Neal Anderson, Amanda Linehan and Stephen Winslow as well as Maria Luise, Special Assistant to the Mayor. The process consists of the following 4 steps:

1. Review police use of force policies (with the Police Department);
2. Engage the Community by including their input in the review whether by a survey or other means;
3. Report the findings of the review to the community and seek their feedback; and,
4. Reform policies by offering recommendations.

AGOP will keep the public updated as the process moves forward and will be asking for community input. There will also be minutes posted on the website and the community is encouraged to reach out with any suggestions at  AGOP@cityofmalden.org.