In the wake of George Floyd’s killing in 2020 and the civil unrest that followed, many states and local municipalities passed a series of new laws aimed at bringing more transparency and accountability to police departments.
Boston created the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency (OPAT) that year — an agency whose Civilian Review Board recently sent a letter to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox stating it has seen “widespread refusal” by officers and employees to engage in interviews or cooperate with investigations.
The letter, dated Sept. 11, also states that Cox has “consistently not respected the recommendations made by the [Civilian Review Board] in regards to discipline matters, and some recommendations remain un-responded to for more than a year.”…