25 Investigates: People who reach out to Boston’s police accountability office face long waits

25 Investigates has learned the city of Boston is dealing with a backlog of complaints filed with the office tasked with overseeing police accountability and transparency.

25 Investigates told you how Boston’s Office of Police Accountability and Transparency website, or OPAT, has been largely inaccessible to the public for months.

Now we’re hearing from a local woman who says it’s not just the website that’s broken.

Annemarie Grant described the interaction her nephew allegedly had with a Boston Police officer in October 2023. She says her nephew was arguing with workers at a Boston tow lot when the officer intervened.

“He was angry. He was intimidating. He was bullying my nephew” Grant said.

Grant shared cell phone video with 25 Investigates of the alleged incident. We are not identifying the police officer in question here because the city of Boston has yet to fully vet Grant’s complaint, one year since she filed the complaint with OPAT. Grant shared an email with 25 Investigates showing a confirmation the office received it on November 5, 2023.

“I did receive a phone call from someone at OPAT. She wanted me to verbally tell her what I knew about the situation. I did that and I haven’t heard anything since,” Grant said. “The last response I received last week stated that they are still looking to appoint members to the Civilian Review Board, so they aren’t hearing any cases until that committee is fully appointed.”

25 Investigates first told you in early October, the OPAT website-- that promises data on police complaints, arrests and use of force is a site of broken links. The links haven’t worked since July.

Since we started reporting on the website issues, the city replaced the dead links with this message saying, “we’re currently working to update and improve the dashboards.”

At a public appearance in October, Mayor Michelle Wu told us, despite the inaccessible website, OPAT was still working with the public on their officer-related concerns.

“The department has been able to continue to take in complaint and interacting with residents who have any information to share,” Wu said.

“I think that it’s a waste of tax dollars and resources that they’re pouring into this committee for nothing to happen,” said Grant.

And she’s not the only one.

During an OPAT meeting in December, 2023 a woman told city staff members she too was struggling to get her complaint processed.

“The way that it’s being handled makes me feel that I should have never even put in a complaint. And I’m thinking that if I am feeling this, there must be other people that are feeling this way,” the woman told OPAT staff members during the meeting.

There was no resolution that day for her case. But someone else speaking during that meeting remotely says OPAT strives to handle most complaints in 180 days.

OPAT was formed under former Mayor Marty Walsh in 2020 in response to massive calls for police reform.

Since we started reporting on concerns with how this office is functioning, we have asked repeatedly to sit down for an interview with OPAT executive director, Evandro Carvahlo or Mayor Wu.

Those requests have been denied.

But the city of Boston is now acknowledging a backlog in those complaints.

In a written statement a city spokesperson said “OPAT will host a meeting on November 20 to address a backlog of complaints. Since taking on the role of Director earlier this year, Evandro Carvalho has been working to build out his team during the OPAT leadership transition. Now that his team is together, he is working to spearhead the office’s important work and resume a consistent meeting schedule so OPAT operations can run efficiently.”

The application for the Civilian Review Board is open now and on the city’s website here. Existing members will attend the November 20th meeting to address outstanding complaints.

“We’re still at ground zero with transparency and accountability,” said Grant.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group