Chief’s job removed from civil service

By George P. Hassett

  Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced Friday that Somerville‚Äôs November 2005 home rule petition on police chief hiring procedures has received final approval from the state. The new law, part of a larger reform package recommended in September 2005 by a special Police Independent Advisory Committee, allows Somerville to join nearly fifty other Massachusetts communities that over the past twenty years have shifted from civil service rules to a professional recruitment model in the hiring of their top police commanders.

‚ÄúThis is a major step forward in achieving accountability and managerial excellence at the highest level of the Police Department,‚Äù said Curtatone in a statement. ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs also a welcome validation of the Advisory Committee‚Äôs reform agenda ‚Äì and a long-awaited response to the unanimous recommendation of our Board of Aldermen.  I‚Äôm grateful to our state delegation for shepherding this change through the legislature.‚Äù

In a Sept. 2005 interview with the Somerville News Curtatone said if the position is removed from civil service, his first choice is Robert R. Bradley, currently the acting chief.

"He’ll be my first choice based on his capabilities," he said.