Williamstown's READI Committee Discusses Main Street Incidents
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The director of Williams College's Campus Safety Services on Monday briefed the town's diversity committee on the school's response to a recent uptick in incidents of a harassing nature on Main Street (Route 2).
"Since August, we've had about a dozen incidents or so ranging from alleged harassment to potential bias incidents that have occurred," Jeff Palmer told the Racial Equity, Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. "During that time, we've sent a handful of messages to the campus community, one encouraging them to report and to identify the vehicles and also sharing some of our efforts to mitigate some of that risk with having our officers patrol the area more frequently."
Palmer told the committee that the college's safety team reports incidents to the Williamstown Police Department, which has jurisdiction and the ability to take action against offenders.
But finding offenders and holding them accountable is difficult, he said.
"There have been very few incidents that have had evidence to identify the vehicle, and so there's not much in those realms that can be done unless we can identify the person alleged to have done this," Palmer told READI member Shana Dixon. "It really relies on the Police Department to identify if there's some nuance to the report that would elevate it to a crime."
And Palmer agreed with Dixon that First Amendment protections make prosecutions tricky even when there is evidence.
"As you said, it's protected by free speech," Palmer told Dixon. "But if there are other elements that are reported to have occurred, it could rise to a different level. Harassment is just a violation, and, for the police, they have to witness a violation to have occurred — like with a speeding ticket."
Palmer told the committee he also would be in favor of another way to gather evidence: closed-circuit television cameras.
"Monitoring would assist with identifying vehicles, potentially," he said. "We have had conversations about it and continue to have conversations about it. I'm an advocate for the installation of cameras myself."
Although there have been some incidents on "side streets," the majority have occurred on Main Street, Palmer told the committee.
It is likely that the installation of cameras would involve town action. The land on both sides of Main Street from the Field Park rotary to just east of Cole Avenue is the Town Green. According to the property map on the town's website, the green is at least as wide as the road itself on both the north and south side of Route 2 along that corridor.
At the end of its conversation with Palmer, the committee agreed to invite the Chief Michael Ziemba from the WPD in for a discussion.
"I think cameras are a great deterrent," READI Chair Noah Smalls said. "To hear some of the communications going around of needing witnesses, needing some sort of messaging about what was the car, I think there are clearly some areas there where we might benefit from adding more security.
"We're also not security experts. We're not crime fighters. We're just thinking through what we think might be helpful from the position of parents and vulnerable citizens. It's encouraging to hear this idea of a collaborative approach and the acknowledgement that more is needed."
In other business, the committee members agreed that READI should transition from an advisory committee created by and for the Select Board to a permanent town committee.
Smalls told the group he recently discussed READI's relationship with the Select Board with its current chair, Stephanie Boyd.
Smalls and Boyd also talked about the role of the READI Committee in pursuing the work of equity and inclusion.
"I did speak at length with Stephanie about the limitations of the Select Board's authority as it relates to other committees," Smalls said. "While there isn't the power to force any committee to do anything, we all have the power as committees to invite. We can always open up a dialogue when there's an issue that we're not satisfied that it's being resolved completely. And there is tremendous strength and potential in that.
"I can't force the School Committee or the Select Board or Chief Ziemba or the superintendent of schools to come to these meetings, but I can invite them, and I can encourage them."
Smalls added that if there are any town boards or committees who think their own work could benefit from input from the READI Committee, the panel is open to having joint meetings.
The READI Committee also on Monday discussed the upcoming holiday season.
In response to a communication from a resident asking whether public displays of holiday spirit could be more inclusive than the traditional lighted tree and menorah at the bottom of Spring Street, the committee agreed to find out who is responsible for the current displays and bring the matter back to its November meeting.
In the short term, the READI committee also put out a call for volunteers who would be willing to fill a role that members of the panel formerly known as the DIRE Committee filled during the Holiday Walk weekend celebration Dec. 5-7. In past years, DIRE (now READI) has set up a stand on Spring Street to offer s'mores and hot cider on Saturday afternoon.
At Monday's meeting, Dixon, who has worked at that table the last three or four years, said she would not be able to do it again this year.
Smalls encouraged any viewers of the meeting on the town's community access television station, WilliNet, to get involved and specifically mentioned that the activity would be a good volunteer opportunity for students at Mount Greylock Regional School.
""It's a lot of fun, getting to know the town," Smalls said of the committee's contribution to the townwide celebration. "I'm not from here, and it's one of the best experiences I've had, standing out on Spring Street meeting people. There are sleigh bells. There's caroling. There's a lot of love out there."
Tags: diversity committee, harassment, Williams College,
