By William C. Shelton

After 34 years as a probation officer, my friend Bob McWatters retired last month, having done something remarkable in what many would consider to be an unremarkable line of work. Most Villens who have known him as neighbor, Alderman, or Clerk of Committees do not know that his innovation won national and international attention.

I want to tell you about it. But first, I want to describe the path that led him there.

He spent his early years sharing a two-bedroom apartment on Summer Street with his parents and three siblings. His grandmother, an Irish immigrant, was an ongoing source of affirmation and inspired in him an interest in politics and union organizing.

He moved in with her when he was thirteen. Their apartment was one of six above Elm Supply on Somerville Avenue, all of which were occupied by family members. By age thirteen, he was taking a bus and a train each way to attend Don Bosco Technical High School in the combat zone.

Early in his life he found that making a difference for other people gave him his greatest satisfaction. It began within his family, and then extended to intervening when his youthful peers were mistreated by bullies. It’s what eventually would earn him his reputation as “the constituent services alderman.”

When he expressed interest in entering the priesthood, a counselor responded that one does not need to become a priest to help people. He suggested other possible vocations, and Bob eventually pursued two of them.

He attended UMass Boston, he tells me, because, at $300 per semester, it was the only college he could afford. He studied sociology and politics there while working at the Porter Square Star Market.

Robert McWatters at his recent retirement party.

When he was a junior he became an intern at the Somerville District Court. His fellow intern was Scott Brown, who would also subsequently enter politics, albeit in a different party.

After graduation he worked for the Departments of Social Services and Children and Families. At night, he took courses at Northeastern and eventually earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Although investigating child abuse cases in Roxbury was satisfying, Bob’s time as a court intern had left him with a keen interest in how probation officers could work with “offenders” to change the course of their lives for the better.

Eventually Al Ferrari, the Cambridge Court’s Chief Probation Officer, asked his barber if he knew Bob McWatters. Tony Alibrandi told him that Bob had dated his niece, looked out for people who were vulnerable, and would make a good P.O.

He started work at the Cambridge Court the last day of 1984. His first boss, Tony Colorasi, told him, “The only difference between you and your client is the width of your desk.”

Bob intuitively understood this, having grown up with guys who shared similar origins and characters, but would variously become cops, fire fighters, gangsters, and addicts. The other piece of advice that guided his work came from a judge who told him, “your first responsibility is to protect the community.”

People who know his work tell me that Bob had an excellent sense of when to be tough and when to be tender with his probationers. He understood that homeless and mentally ill people aren’t a threat to the community. He worked to empower them and integrate them into supportive networks so that they could remain in, and contribute to, their communities.

District Attorney Marian Ryan told me, “Bob’s work sums up what we were taught growing up in Ward 3:  Take care of others, be accountable, and try to make things better.” At his retirement party, Judge Roanne Sragow joked that Bob acquainted “ADAs and attorneys who have been practicing about a minute and a half” with reality.

Over the years it became clear to Bob that the system was warehousing homeless and mentally ill people in prison. Between 80% and 85% of those appearing in district court were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and “If you don’t treat their underlying problem, you’ll create a revolving door.”

Judge Sragow had come to the same conclusion. Three years ago, she and Bob got together to design a court session for people who are homeless, mentally ill, or addicted. In it, the prosecuting and defending attorneys are part of a team that can include a psychologist, social worker, nurse, and police officer. It is the only session in which a judge and defendant communicate directly with each other.

The idea is to create plans for defendants to recover. They receive pretrial probation, or a continuance without a finding. If they stick with the plan either the charges go away, or they aren’t sentenced.

The “Recovery Session” has been a success. Thus far, only two defendants have reoffended, and in both cases they had gone off their medications.  Visitors have come from across, and from outside of, the U.S. to study it.

Bob’s former colleagues continue to solicit his wisdom on challenging cases. He says that if could choose a career all over again, he would make the same choice.

He hasn’t yet decided what he will do next. But you can bet that it will involve making a difference for others.