The Search for a New Police Commissioner

Boston, Massachusetts

Commissioner Paul Evans left the Boston Police Department in November to a position in Great Britain consulting on struggling police departments in that country. Who will take his place?

Kathleen O'Toole

APPOINTED COMMISSIONER

Who was in the running...

The Candidates

The Insiders

James Hussey

Hussey, 48, is Boston Police Interim commissioner and Superintendent-in-Chief and has been called is a big-picture manager with a record for restoring confidence in the community disorders unit and a relentless approach to investigating incidents of internal corruption.

On 12/26/03 the Boston Globe reported Hussey to be in violation of the city residency ordinance, but his suburban address doesn't appear to have changed the fact that he is Mayor Menino's favorite for the job. According to a Globe source familiar with the search, "He is quiet, good with cops, and won't steal the mayor's thunder."

Robert Dunford

Boston Police Superintendent and a key member of the department responsible for for security for the Democratic National Convention to be held in Boston in July 2004. He is admired locally for his "same cop, same neighborhood" efforts in one of the city's toughest districts.

Paul Joyce

Boston Police Superintendent, head of the department's Youth Violence Strike Force with a strong anti-gang experience and a reputation for putting statistical analysis into action.

James Claiborne

At one time a high ranking staff member, now a Captain and head of the department's East Boston district. The only remaining black candidate.

The Outsiders

Kathleen O'Toole - APPOINTED COMMISSIONER

Former Massachusetts Public Safety Secretary charged with oversight of 20 agencies, boards and commissions from the Department of Corrections to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, with a $1 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts State Police and has been a practicing attorney since 1982. She served as vice chair of the Women Executives in State Government and has been active in the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executives Research Forum.

Edward Davis

Lowell, Massachusetts Police Superintendent (1995 -present). Sources say that City Hall is impressed by Davis' alliances with the U.S. Justice Department, his ability to institute innovative programs, his work with minority groups, and the respect he commands from colleagues throughout the state. When Davis took over as chief, Lowell's violent crime rate was skyrocketing. Since then, Lowell has become the 6th safest U.S. city of its size.

Phil Keith

Knoxville, Tennessee Police Chief (1988 - present).

Keith, 54 has been a Knoxville police officer for 33 years and has a B.S. from East Tennessee State University, and an M.S. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, He is a graduate of the F.B.I. National Academy, National Executive Institute and Bramshill Police College of the United Kingdom.

Edward Flynn - 12/19/03: withdrawn from consideration

Flynn, 55, who was named secretary of public safety by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and began work there in January. He oversees the Massachusetts State Police, the state's corrections department and emergency response in the state. Before serving as Arlington, Virginia chief from 1997 to 2002, he was police chief in Chelsea and in Braintree, two Boston area communities.

Flynn was one of the 5 finalists for police chief position in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Daniel Oates - declined to be interviewed

According to the Boston Herald, Ann Arbor, Michigan Police Chief Daniel Oates was approached by the committee but declined to be interviewed. Oates, 48, is a 21-year veteran of the NYPD who, as a Deputy Chief, headed their Intelligence Division from 1997-2000 before moving to Ann Arbor as Chief.