New Cambridge police policy requires officers to intervene in cases of excessive force

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville Bard has implemented a new “general order” aimed at preventing police brutality by forcing officers to intervene if they witness excessive force being used in a situation.

According to the order, all sworn members of the Cambridge Police Department should “either stop, or attempt to stop, another member of the Department when force is being unreasonably applied or is no longer required” in a situation.

The order states police officers must attempt to stop another officer either verbally or physically when they witness force being unreasonably applied or when force is no longer required.

Prior to this policy change, officers were only required to tell a supervisor if they saw another officer using excessive force. They were not required to step in and try to stop the situation themselves.

This move comes as police departments across the country are facing added scrutiny following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in Minneapolis on Memorial Day when a white police officer pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest.

Floyd was captured on police body camera footage and video shot by bystanders pleading that he couldn’t breathe as at least three additional police officers stood nearby.

Now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges in his death, and the three other officers have also been charged. A private funeral for Floyd is set for Tuesday in Houston.

To explain the Cambridge Police Department’s new policy, Bard used an example of an officer hitting a person for no reason:

“You observe an officer strike an individual without any reason,” Bard’s statement reads. “If appropriate, you could tell the officer to “cool it” or that you’ll take over the matter and have them step aside. If necessary, step in between the officer and the individual or hold the officer back in order to stop him/her from inflicting more unreasonable force.”

Officers who fail to intervene in an unlawful use of force can be found criminally liable under joint venture law, said Cambridge police public information officer Jeremy Warnick, and this new order clarifies the possibility of penalty directly in its wording, reading, “Failure to intervene may subject a sworn member to disciplinary action, civil liability and/or criminal prosecution.”

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