[Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone has accepted the invitation from The Somerville News for him to post regularly to the site.  We are grateful for his participation and we look forward to fruitful discussion of city issues it is sure to inspire.–Editor.]

Seeking Public Input On Police Chief Search

By Joseph A. Curtatone

Some people are convinced that our police chief recruitment effort is strictly for show, and that Acting Chief Robert Bradley will eventually be recommended to the Board of Alderman as the permanent Chief of Police.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

So once again, let me note that I think Chief Bradley has done a great job as Acting Chief, and that he will make a strong candidate for a permanent appointment as Somerville’s top cop.

But that doesn‚Äôt guarantee that he will automatically be included as a finalist by the nine-member selection panel.  And, even if he is a finalist, it doesn‚Äôt mean that his name will be the one I end up submitting to the Board of Aldermen.  Whoever gets my recommendation will have earned it on the basis of a serious and thorough recruitment process that will be open to public scrutiny ‚Äì and, just as important, open to public input.

The selection panel is composed of members representing not only the city and its two police unions but also the outside public.  The panel, along with its consultant, the Dallas-based firm of Waters Oldani Executive Recruitment, has developed an online survey to gather public input before developing a recruitment profile to guide their search process.

The city also held two well-publicized public meetings on January 25th in order to receive public comments about the skills, experience and values the panel should emphasize in their search process.

Based on input from the survey and public meetings, the consultant and the selection panel will create and distribute a detailed profile for the chief‚Äôs position.  (You can see a number of these profile documents at the Waters Oldani website: http://www.watersconsulting.com/servprod/srchlist.asp).

That profile will become the basis for developing a list of approximately 25 qualified candidates. The panel will then narrow the list to three finalists who will go before the public in a televised Q&A interview.  Based on their performance and my assessment of their credentials, I will recommend one of these finalists to the Board sometime in mid- to late March.

So, in addition to the continued representation of the general public on the selection panel, there are still two opportunities for that everyone can play a direct role in helping the city select its new police chief:

‚Ä¢    They can express their opinions and concerns through the online survey;
‚Ä¢    They can submit questions to the three finalists in a public meeting/interview to be held early in March.  (It will be broadcast live on City Cable ‚Äì Channel 16 on Comcast and 13 on RCN ‚Äì and subsequently rebroadcast on multiple occasions.) 

Residents who would prefer to fill out the survey and return it by postal mail, or would prefer to obtain and submit a Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole version of the survey, may obtain a copy by calling the city’s 311 constituent service line.

None of this would have happened in the past.  Back when the police chief selection process was governed by civil service, the Commonwealth would conduct a Somerville chief‚Äôs exam open to local candidates only.  The mayor would then pick from among the top three finishers (or formally explain why he reached further down the list of passing candidates).

Under the old system, Somerville had no ability to reach out to candidates from other jurisdictions, no matter how impressive their qualifications.  In its 135-year history as a city, Somerville has never had a police chief who was not a serving Somerville police officer ‚Äì and, under the old system, the public had no input at all.

The new selection system, recommended in 2005 by the Police Advisory Commission chaired by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, will give us a chance to recruit from other departments in Massachusetts and across the nation.  And it will give the public unparalleled access to the details of the recruiting process.

Is there a possibility that, even under the new system, a sitting mayor might recommend a Somerville officer for the top job?  Of course.  No one should be banned from consideration just because he or she already happens to be working here.

But this time around, the public will have had an opportunity to make their wishes and preferences known and to form their own opinions of the relative merits of the three finalists.  No matter who ends up in the job, that‚Äôs a huge step forward.