Local News

Officials began sending invitations Monday to the city's first-ever Civic Assembly.

By Samantha Genzer

September 8, 2026

3 minutes to read

Want to help decide the future of public safety technology in Cambridge? You might get the chance — and the city will pay you $1,000 to do it.

About 15,000 randomly selected Cambridge households will receive mailed invitations this week to “Your Voice, Your Cambridge,” a new city effort to gather residents’ recommendations on public safety and surveillance technology, including the controversial gunshot detection system ShotSpotter. 

One person from each invited household who is at least 16 years old can choose to respond to the invitation by Sept. 27 and enter a lottery for one of the 40 spots on the Civic Assembly, one of the first in New England, Cambridge officials said in a press release. 

No prior experience or knowledge about public safety or surveillance technology is required, according to city officials. 

The residents will be selected by mid-October and will meet for four Saturdays between October and December, officials said. They will hear from independent experts, discuss the issues with one another, and develop recommendations for the Cambridge City Council. 

Each participant will receive a $1,000 stipend, and the city will provide accommodations intended to help residents fully participate, according to officials. 

Cambridge City Manager Yi‑An Huang described the assembly as a “practical way” to gather residents with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to tackle complicated questions about technology and public safety. 

“We’re deeply committed to transparent and inclusive engagement with residents,” Huang said, per the release. “Having members representative of our community set the direction for technologies that have generated widespread discussion is very compelling to the City. I’m looking forward to the prospects of this process and how it can shape important decision-making.”

Why Cambridge is forming the assembly

City officials said the assembly will be established in response to a policy order introduced during a special City Council meeting on July 23. That order requested a pilot assembly to generate public safety recommendations for consideration by the City Council.

The timing comes after months of debate over ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system developed by the security company SoundThinking. Cambridge has used ShotSpotter since 2014 before the council voted in May to discontinue its use throughout the city following debate among officials and residents. 

While supporters of ShotSpotter say the technology is a crucial tool to help police and emergency responders locate gunfire more quickly, critics have questioned its accuracy and raised concerns about privacy implications and the technology’s role in policing communities of color. 

The debate in Cambridge intensified after Xavier Bautista, a 32-year-old Cambridge Public Works Department employee and father, was fatally shot around 4:30 a.m. on July 4 near Broadway and Norfolk Street. About an hour passed before a pedestrian found Bautista and called 911, authorities previously said. 

Local police unions and other supporters of ShotSpotter argued after the shooting that the technology could have helped alert first responders sooner and that the city should not have removed the system in the first place. 

The City Council voted Aug. 3 to temporarily restore ShotSpotter in areas where it had previously been used while the Civic Assembly considers its future. The system is expected to remain active during the 90-day review period, after which the council plans to consider the assembly’s recommendations. 

“We’ve spent the summer in conversation with residents across Cambridge, and one thing has been clear: making our city safe for everyone is a shared priority,” Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said.

“Launching a Civic Assembly gives us an opportunity to continue the conversation around public safety and surveillance technologies and to build on the city’s community engagement operations, which have grown tremendously in recent years,” Siddiqui added.

How the selection process will work 

If a household receives an invitation, one person aged 16 or older can choose to respond by Sept. 27 to enter the lottery, officials said. Receiving a letter does not guarantee a spot on the assembly. 

After the response period ends, the city will randomly select 40 residents to serve on the Civic Assembly. Those selected are expected to be notified by Oct. 10. 

Officials said the final panel will be designed to reflect Cambridge’s demographics and include a range of lived experiences relevant to the issues being discussed. 

The assembly will then meet throughout the fall: The sessions are scheduled for Oct. 24, Nov. 7, Nov. 21, and Dec. 5. The assembly’s recommendations are expected to be delivered to the City Council in December.