Public Safety & Criminal Justice on October 26, 2026 at 2:00pm

The Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice held a hearing on October 26, 2026, to examine deaths and alleged mistreatment in Suffolk County correctional facilities, including the death of Shakobi Kenny. Formerly incarcerated people, family members, advocates, and legal-service representatives described alleged excessive force, inadequate medical and mental-health care, sexual abuse, and retaliation, and called for independent investigations, transparency, and stronger oversight. The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and Boston Police Department were not represented at the hearing. No contract award or spending vote was taken.

Procurement and budget discussion focused on the October 2023 central-booking agreement between Boston Police and the Sheriff’s Department, which allows people arrested by Boston Police to be held in Sheriff’s Department custody before arraignment. A councilor cited a city payment of $150 per person per day under the arrangement; an advocate described the Sheriff’s Department’s 2025 budget as more than $130 million. Speakers urged the Council to consider ending central booking, oppose future funding or contracts with the department, and use its budget and oversight authority to seek information and accountability. Councilors discussed compiling unanswered questions, pursuing records and oversight requests, and forming a working group that may meet biweekly; a further hearing was discussed, but no date was confirmed.