Benford to depart dual roles as Boston Housing Authority Police Chief and Boston Chief of Emergency Management to lead Somerville PD  

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne announced today the selection of Boston’s Shumeane Benford as the City of Somerville’s new police chief. After a thorough community-driven, nationwide search, Benford will assume leadership of the Somerville Police Department on September 16. The 30-year law enforcement veteran will be departing current dual roles as Boston Housing Authority Police Chief as well as Boston Chief of Emergency Management.  

“Not only will our incoming chief bring a rare mix of law enforcement, emergency management, and teaching experience to the role, Benford is a change agent. He has been driving fiscal, operational, and community-driven reforms in Boston, along with advancing efforts to support staff morale and investment, transparency, and social equity especially for marginalized and disenfranchised communities,” said Mayor Ballantyne. “We look forward to his deep experience, vision, and love of community undergirding our daily work to keep Somerville safe as well as advancing our efforts to move our Public Safety for All goals forward.” 

“I want to sincerely thank our entire Police Chief Search Committee, including At-Large Councilor Jake Wilson, for their diligence and commitment to the very serious responsibility of selecting a new chief for our community who brings both the deep professional chops and the community-centered approach to public safety that Somerville seeks,” added Ballantyne. 

A lifelong Boston resident (aside from a brief residency in Somerville), Benford’s law enforcement career spans municipal, public health, and university settings. After starting as a police officer for the Boston Housing Authority in 1994, he has steadily risen through Boston Police, City of Boston, and Boston Housing Authority ranks while also serving as an adjunct professor at Roxbury Community College. He has led reform and organizational change in a range of areas including overtime reduction; modernization to 21st century policing; restructuring; community-based partnerships, problem solving, and prevention; emergency management planning, response, and homeland security strategy; training reform; interdisciplinary law enforcement and medical response structures for unhoused, treatment, and pre-release residents; technology advances such as online incident reporting; fair and impartial policing; and pathways for growth and opportunity for vulnerable residents.  

Benford holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Suffolk University, a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Curry College, and a range of additional certifications to include the Police Executive Research Form (PERF/SMIP), Harvard University’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) and the Naval Post Graduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS). Learn more about incoming Chief Benford and watch his interview for the position on the City website at somervillema.gov/policechief. He looks forward to holding a range of meet and greet opportunities to connect with and get to know residents upon assuming his role in September. 

“I was proud to serve as the City Council’s representative on the Police Chief Selection Committee. My fellow committee members and I took our responsibility to select finalists for this critical position extremely seriously,” said Councilor Jake Wilson. “From our very first meeting, every Committee member approached our work with a deep understanding of its importance. Thanks to their diligence and thoughtfulness, we were able to advance the search process swiftly for the community. I want to thank the members of the community who served with me, as well as our Human Resources and Racial and Social Justice departments for steering us through the process on a compressed timeline.” 

Acting Police Chief Charles Femino, who assumed the role of Interim Chief during the peak of the pandemic in December 2020, will be departing the role for a long-delayed retirement from his distinguished career with both the Somerville Police Department and Endicott College, where he also served as Chief of Police. Pandemic disruptions put a hold on the police search process, which was restarted with the hiring of national public-sector executive recruitment firm GovHR in spring 2023. For more on the search process, visit somervillema.gov/policechief.  

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Chief Femino for stepping in when we needed him and for not just filling the role but for wholeheartedly working to advance the department, support our officers and community, and move forward our Public Safety for All efforts and goals for community change. We will separately honor his service, legacy, and departure, and I know he looks forward to welcoming his successor along with the rest of the community,” said Ballantyne.