Police Chief, civil servant or mayor’s employee?
By Andrea Gregory

   Police say they will not back a plan to reorganize their department if it means taking the chief’s job out of civil service.
    Last Tuesday, Patrolmen Union members addressed aldermen with concerns about the mayor’s plan to drastically change the structure of the Somerville Police department. A major problem for the union is that the plan includes taking the chief’s job out of civil service.
   Under the new plan, the mayor would appoint the police chief. This would eliminate the importance of scoring high on the test that currently decides who can be considered for the job.
   The mayor has already said Acting Police Chief Robert Bradley is his first pick for the position.
   It also would mean the chief has to answer to the mayor for any problems or concerns with the department.

   “I think it’s a trend for communities across the commonwealth,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, citing several other communities that have opted to remove the police chief’s job from civil service. “This is about accountability. I respect the patrolmen’s position. I just disagree. Change is difficult.”
    On Nov. 15, a public hearing will be held to determine how the city will hire its future chiefs.
Alderman-at-large and President Bruce Desmond said the board will be prepared to vote at its next meeting set for Tuesday, Nov. 22.
     “The mayor wanted us to vote on it right away. It never hurts to have more opinions,” said Desmond.
      Desmond said he believes it is a good idea to remove the chief from civil service based on the performance of the past chiefs. “They have worked in a vacuum,” he said.
      But at the same time, Desmond said there some concerns about how future administrations will pick and choose the head of the police department.
     “You have to make sure there are safeguards in place,” he said, adding those are the type of things aldermen will be looking to hear at the public hearing.
     “There is still a lot of work to be done,” said Ward 6 Alderman Jack Connolly, “In the big picture, I think taking the position out of civil service gives us a larger applicant pool.”
     The mayor said three different studies of the police department dating back to 2001 have all suggested removing the chief’s job from civil service.
    “You’ve got to take away that buffer of civil service to have the highest level of accountability and professionalism,” said Curtatone. “We are not looking back to the same way of doing business. The goal here is to move the department forward.”