The Cambridge Police Department has announced that they will reduce weapon inventory of long guns and less-than-lethal weapons and will also retire officer’s camouflage uniforms.
According to The Harvard Crimson, this move took place after speaking with an activist.
The move happened after a turbulent summer for law enforcement and calls from Cambridge residents to demilitarize the city’s police force.
Last July, the Cambridge Police Department made it public that their inventory consisted of armored Lenco BearCat vehicles, sniper rifles, 64 M4 assault rifles, and tear gas.
At that time, several city councilors expressed their concern on the CPD’s weapon inventory.
This inventory list has also contradicted the earlier statement by Cambridge police commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr., who had claimed in June CPD possessed “no” military equipment.
Cambridge resident and activist Loren Crowe, in an interview, said that CPD’s decision to retire camouflage uniforms and the identified weapons marks a step toward demilitarizing the police.
“It kind of boils down to the concept of ‘dress for the job you want,’” Crowe said. “If you start dressing your police like the military and arming them like the military, they’re going to start to act like the military.”
While the Cambridge Police Department has not revealed any timeline for the above-mentioned updates, there was a growing concern over the auction of unwanted weapons, which could result in them ending in the wrong hands.
“The date is TBD as we are currently working with the City Solicitor to determine if it is possible to destroy the retired weapons versus have them auctioned off and potentially end up in the wrong hands,” CPD spokesperson Warnick wrote.
