Comité Asesor Comunitario de la Policía – 20 may 2026

Police Community Advisory Council Monthly Meeting

Date of Meeting: May 20, 2026

Location of Meeting: Malden City Hall Room 113 (Anderson Room) and virtual via Microsoft TEAMS

MINUTES

Welcome/Attendance/Roll Call

• Meeting was called to order shortly after 7:00 pm.

| Council Member Name | Present Y/N | Virtual/In Person | |---|---|---| | Chloe Cheung | Y | In person | | Kevin Graham | Y | Virtual | | Jayden Ddhir | Y | Virtual/In person | | Kevin Small Jr. | N | | | Brittany Torelli | Y | In person | | Nour Jaayfer | N | | | Manny Perez | N | N |

Additional Attendees

| Name | Virtual/In Person | |---|---| | Carey McDonald | In Person | | Lieutenant Powell | In Person | | Commissioner Murphy | Virtual |

Approval of Meeting Minutes

• March meeting minutes approved with no edits, Chloe motioning to approve meeting meetings, seconded by Brittany and approved by rest of council.

Feedback from the Community

• No new updates or feedback reported by the council.
• Carey shared that the feedback/questions they have received relates to Chief Cronin's retirement but as it is a separate item will discuss then.
• Brittany confirmed feedback that the council has received thus far has been shared to the MPD through Lieutenant Powell, additionally any lingering/unanswered questions sent for responses and all answers received updated on the shared drive accessible to members.

Chief Cronin's Retirement:

• Chloe confirmed Chief Cronin's retirement and raised the idea to the council that it may be appropriate to send an email to Chief Cronin to extend appreciation for ongoing collaboration with the council and the MPD. After discussion brought to a motion, all council members approved an email be drafted to review at next council meeting.
• Commissioner Murphy confirmed the chief's retirement and shared his last day is 6/30/2026 and that the search for his replacement is underway.
• Brittany asked about the process for selecting a new chief.
• Commissioner Murphy shared a brief overview of the process, shared that they start internally, anyone within the ranking of lieutenant up to captain can apply and there is a selection committee established that interviews and speaks with candidates.
• Carey confirmed with Commissioner Murphy that there is a new charter that the City Council will sign off on a recommendation and share with the mayor, Commissioner Murphy confirmed.
• Kevin G. asked about the consistency in transparency during such a transition, inquired if there is an understanding that the new chief will be as open and transparent as the old one.
• Commissioner Murphy shared that it is an ongoing expectation that the chief of the MPD upholds certain standards that should not change person to person and that the selection committee is doing their best to ask a broad range of questions and get insights that do include transparency and communication.
• Carey encouraged the PCAC that if there are any points of feedback or items that they feel the selection committee should be considering to send to the committee as soon as possible as the process is already under way.

Proposed Staffing Cuts at MPD

• Chloe raised to the group the proposed staffing cuts at the MPD within the mayor's proposed budget, referred to page 6 for overview and more detail further along in the document.
• Carey reviewed the specific proposed cuts, outlined the proposed reduction in the budget. Chloe opened the floor to comments, shared her worry about the cut to school resource officers and shared that she is relieved it was not part of the current proposed budget.
• Chloe stated that the cadet position typically included administrative work and that it is possible now that the officers will need to take on more of this, shared as an implication to consider.
• Carey shared that they had a finance committee meeting in which Chief Cronin was present and was asked about the impact, shared that Chief Cronin reported to the committee that the priority is that the staffing needs are met with officers and that they continue to support the call need in the city. Shared that Chief Cronin was confident that the department would be able to shuffle duties to cover the front desk and related administrative tasks. Carey shared that the proposed budget prevents worse case scenarios, shared the view of a multi year approach instead of doing it 'all in one go' if other types of finances do not become available then there may be more drastic impacts in the future, shared the goal is to preserve services as much as possible for constituents.
• Kevin G. asked from a financial standpoint if there were any additional loan options to consider for the city.
• Carey shared that the city cash reserves are the reserves for everything, including court settlements, emergency repairs, etc. that it is all the same set of cash reserves so if the balancing the budget fails, it impacts the credit rating of the city and it can impact the city's ability to borrow money. Shared that the sense is no at this point, that the gap has been closed slightly with the proposed budget but there is still work to be done.
• Lieutenant Powell sharing at this point that he cannot comment as he is not privy to conversations around finances, budget, etc.
• Carey provided Chief Cronin's quote from the minutes from the finance committee meeting he was at previously to share specifics from him.
• Detailed example of shifting within the department with loss of cadets
• Commissioner Murphy shared that it is important to distinguish what 'service' means, outlined that the 911 calls and responses will not be decreasing or no longer accessed, it means instead that there will be a possible delay in 'service' related to documentation, accessing accident reports, etc. from the department.
• Kevin asked what if anything the public would be able to do to step in to help in any capacity, suggested retired individuals or those with extra time to sit at the desk to help.
• Commissioner Murphy shared that it could be a consideration, shared that there are challenges to filling positions across the board, is unsure what next steps would look like if pursued but will raise it as a consideration. Shared that in addition it would be helpful for the community to be patient with the police department with these changes, that there will be necessary time to process the data that the public is looking for.
• Carey echoed what Commissioner Murphy shared, stating that staffing is difficult across the board, also specifying unionized positions have additional considerations when looking to replace. Shared that the unions ongoing are within discussion with the mayor's office behind the scenes.
• Kevin G. shared that he feels the messaging is appropriate to help the community understand the expectations need to shift and
• Jayden asked within the stipulations of contracts, etc. are the reports allowed to be filed online? Or is there a state constraint? Asked to try to decrease the amount of individuals that
  • Lieutenant Powell shared that the immediate consideration he'd note is that when filing a report they need to verify the individual is who they say they are, so that is difficult to do online, confirmed that yes in the short term it is something to consider but that it may come with additional costs.
• Chloe asked if the budget cuts impact the MPD's ability to stay accredited.
  • Commissioner Murphy stating no, that the accreditation is given based on policies and procedures only as well as following the set rules and regulations.
• Chloe shared there was not a line item for the mental health counselor brought this up as the council has identified this is an important resource to consider/maintain.
• Lieutenant Powell shared that the mental health counselor for the department is part of a grant so would not show, confirmed that the mental health counselor is still present.
• Chloe asked for more details about the 3 full time officer positions being eliminated, inquired if they were patrolmen, or more senior positions.
• Lieutenant Powell shared that the positions were individuals that were slotted to go to the academy, Carey confirmed they were entry level.
• Kevin G. asked if the department had considered the impact to the health and mental well being of the officers within the cuts, inquired about equipment availability for an example.
• Carey shared within the operating expense that there are not a lot of changes to equipment, that most is dictated by the state so should not be/is not allowed to be cut.
• Commissioner Murphy shared that there are a lot of grant opportunities that the chief has been aggressive in applying for, that they are working hard to make sure the officers have what they need. Commissioner Murphy also shared that within the selection committee meetings they are focused on mental wellness and wellbeing, that there is available training and willingness to access training to keep themselves well.
• Chloe confirmed that the budget is for 2027, Carey confirmed it would go into effect July 1.

Updates to Working Groups:

• Chloe confirmed council action item to check in on the working document to assign themselves to items to work on.
• Chloe shared the feedback form with the council has been updated. Council reviewed and discussed included questions.
• Presented to the council to outline thoughts behind new questions and the rationale around them.
• Brittany shared the addition to form tracking the Ward of the individual filling out the form was from a conversation with Lieutenant Powell to allow the MPD to track. Carey suggested a photo/picture of the Ward map to the form to make it easier to select for community members.
• Jayden asked about length of responses, if there are limits set. Chloe confirmed that there are no intentional limits of response set by the council, may be present from Google.
• Kevin G. confirmed that there is space to share positive feedback, confirmed present on the form.
• Commissioner Murphy shared that she feels safety is a broader issue, shared her thought that safety is a global issue that is not just pertaining to police, for example creating community, more lighting, street scapes, etc.
• Chloe shared the idea of the council that we are looking for overall actionable feedback, shared that she did not want the document to be overwhelming.
• Kevin G. shared a consideration that he feels the council should think on who they feel will be filling out the form, identified that likely people that are filling out may not be satisfied.
• Brittany shared that the feedback form can also be used as a jumping off point when face to face to person and that may change the dynamic.
• Carey confirmed the charge in the ordinance and scope, and shared that it may be good to add a question about recommendation or improvement of public safety in Malden. Carey shared that it might be important to have a prompt about background or experience that impacted someone's responses to the questions about how they are thinking about public safety.
• Jayden inquired about translations to the feedback form and availability. Brittany shared that ideally it could be translated, shared consideration that it would be translated and then translated back, is unsure what that could look like.
• Carey suggested that the outreach letters might be best to start with when tabling.
• Kevin G. shared that for the record his feedback was meant to be productive not critical, felt that the questions are appropriate and well written, that it was a great job done. Brittany confirmed that the feedback form should work for council members as well as they are out in the community asking these questions.
• Chloe confirmed recommendations for updates.
• Lieutenant Powell shared thought about adding a prompt for what the community would like to see more with regards to community engagement.
• Kevin G. inquired about print materials or ability to distribute. Brittany shared that the feedback form is electronic and can be filled out live time, confirmed that the QR code on the brochure links directly to the form.
• Chloe confirmed that National Night Out would be a good place to table for the council, is unsure about tabling options.
• Lieutenant shared that Detective Kelley is the contact person to obtain a table.
• Kevin G. raised the presentation of the council at tabling events and the need to increase our presence and accessibility.
• Council reviewed options to put out at table, Brittany shared idea to distribute the pamphlets to other tables to engage other agencies/community people.
• Jayden inquired about budget for tabling and if there is anything that can be covered. Carey shared that if there is anything suggested for purchase it would be fruitful to bring it up in this fiscal year. Lieutenant Powell sharing the Family Resource center in Everett might be a potential space to access items to provide at tabling events.
• Jayden asked about police presence at the events and if it would be appropriate to have an officer at the PCAC table. Confirmed National Night Out to start is police based and the presence/accessibility of officers there.
• Chloe asked about events that the council feels they would like to attend and to continue to review moving forward.
• Lieutenant Powell shared that the Junior Police Academy might be a good spot to access families/parents that are dropping off their children to interact with them either on the first day or graduation day.
• Kevin G. suggested that the council members try to identify themselves and bring more awareness to the council, identified that people may not know about the council ongoing and what we do.
• Carey suggested that the council email Kashawna H. about events that the PCAC might be able to attend/appropriate to attend.

Previous Meeting Action Item Follow Up:

• Brittany shared that it is confirmed that the recording from February could not be recovered. Confirmed that the Q&A from that meeting are updated on the website, and have an unofficial meeting minute record.
• Brittany confirmed that the response from the MPD was added to the shared drive.
• Brittany confirmed that the list of departments provided by the MPD was added to the shared drive.
• Kevin S. not present to confirm that he reached out to members about terms, Brittany shared that she was on the email to follow up. Confirmed Jayden and Kevin G. confirmed their spots on the council.
• Brochure obtained and reviewed with council.
• Chloe confirmed feedback form updates.

Action Items & Next Steps

• Chloe to draft congratulations email to Chief Cronin to review at next meeting.
• Chloe will make edits to the feedback form.
• Chloe will reach out to Kashawna H. about events for PCAC to attend.
• Chloe will reach out to Detective Kelley about National Night Out tabling and attending Junior Police Academy.
• Chloe to reach out to the Family Resource Center to coordinate tabling items if council needs.
• Council to share any additional feedback to the selection committee they have by this Friday.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 8:26 pm