Mike Ziemba told the board Monday July 12, that he has compared Williamstown's policies against 170 policies from the town of Great Barrington, where the department is accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.
Ziemba said it is the WPD's goal to achieve that same level of accreditation, a long-term process the department has just undertaken.
He highlighted a couple of policies that have been updated, including one where changes were necessitated by the commonwealth's recent police reform bill.
The WPD's new use of force policy, among other things, spells out a prohibition on the use of choke holds, Ziemba said.
He also provided some detail on his department's policy on de-escalation techniques, which include using techniques like verbal persuasion warnings and calling in mental health consultants.