The View From Prospect Hill

   Every city has its police department. No city would be complete without one. It would be sheer madness to try operating Somerville without the heat, the fuzz, the man. Somervillians are too far gone, or else they haven‚Äôt yet arrived. Take away the cops and there would be a free for all from Foss Park to Davis Square.
   There are of course, a few citizens who carry their morals with them, built into their own souls. But there is robbery in the land, and larceny, murder, rape, burglary, theft, swindles, all brands of crime — profit, rent, interest.

    The police are charged with the serious responsibility of protecting us from such acts. To do so they have been given more power than almost any other organization. They have the authority to violate your person and take away your freedom. The police can smoke you out and shoot you down if they deem it necessary.
   But the police also have to follow orders. Orders. Orders flow from the top down.
   For too long which laws were enforced depended on who was in power giving out those orders.
   The Massachusetts state legislature could decide this year whether or not to remove the selection of the chief of police in Somerville from the civil service process. The mayor would have the final say over who becomes the top cop in the city.
   If this petition passes and becomes law, the dangers are many. Combing the most powerful individual in the city (the mayor) with the most powerful organization (the police) can lead to rampant misuse of the police force. Police could become involved in political vendettas, becoming little more than pawns in a political chess match.
   The chief of police is not a political position. We implore the delegates of Somerville and across the state to vote against the resolution removing the position from civil service.