In an oped into today’s Globe, Lawrence Harmon, revisits the recent controversies inside the Newton Police Department and says Mayor Setti Warren “would do his constituents a big favor by hiring a new chief with no connection to the Garden City.”
And Harmon does something the city has declined to do, name at least one of those involved in the recent egging prank..
Boston Police routinely release the names of disciplined officers on the principle that it sends the message of an open partnership with the public. But the Newton department operates more like a family — literally. One of the officers in the egging incident, Jeffrey Boudreau, is surrounded by relatives on the force, including brother patrolmen Michael and Christopher Boudreau. Their father, Edward Boudreau, is a Newton Police captain. And their uncle, Alfred Boudreau, is a lieutenant….
…..It’s not just family ties that are at the root of the clubbiness of the Newton Police. Many officers grew up in blue-collar sections of the city and see it as a fiefdom where they can exercise power even without the big bucks and outsized homes of many Newton residents. Outsiders are viewed with suspicion.
What do you think? Is the Newton Police dept “too clubby”? Are you bothered or comforted by the family traditions inside the department? Should the mayor seek an outsider for our next top cop? And should the names of the “eggers” be public?
I’m surprised anyone at the Globe even knows where Newton is, as they barely cover anything that goes on here. While the writer makes some legitimate points, most are disjointed, and fail to make his case for a police chief from outside the department.
While I personally would like to see someone promoted from within, because they have the advantage of familiarity with Newton, I wouldn’t want to sell ourselves short by not at least exploring who else might be out there. But it’s worth remembering, when we’ve done that in the past, we stumbled badly.
The writer, Lawrence Harmon, apparently thinks former Chief Jose Cordero failed because his officers were out to get him. Harmon suggests Cordero’s fate was sealed when he told officers to write more tickets and issue fewer warnings. The facts are that Cordero came here knowing nothing about Newton, didn’t care to learn about the community, and his approach was driven by statistical analysis.
There’s both an art and science to the way a police force interacts with a community. This city needs a police chief who understands how to blend those things together. We may already have that in our acting chief, although it’s a bit soon to tell. But the advantages offered by anyone we might choose to replace him must be crystal clear, or it’s simply not worth the risk.
I don’t want this to conversation to get off track but Mike, I think the Globe’s coverage of Newton (especially in Deirdre Fernandes’ hands) has been strong, consistent and considering its regional mission, quite thorough. I’d also guess that Newton gets more attention from Globe than many communities. Do I wish they did more? Sure. But truly if you want to complain about coverage of our city you’re looking in the wrong direction.
I agree that there were many reasons Cordero failed, most of his own doing. But no doubt he encountered a tough, closed culture that certainly did not make his job an easier.
Globe news coverage and their oped/editorial commentary are not a good point of comparison. Their news stories are fairly well balanced, though they have a history of including inaccurate information that they don’t feel a need to correct.
Their editorial/columnist staff is another story. For the Boston Globe to accuse any organization of “clubbiness” is the pot calling the kettle black. It has a long history of Newton residents influencing editorial positions.
Am I the only person who finds it interesting that this is the only account (at least as far as I’ve seen) that mentions one of the eggers by name? Or how about the fact that the Boston Police routinely name their officers in incidents such as these?
And if those issues don’t elicit any opinions (and so far, I’m a little surprised that they haven’t) how about my use of “eggers” as a noun?
It appears to mention all three by name. I guess that would be the three in the Framingham police report.
How does five close relatives on a police force of Newton’s size compare to other cities and towns? If there are many such families, would it give the impression that it would be hard to get a job with our department if you’re not related to someone?
According to the NPD website, “Currently the department employs 139 sworn officers, 10 parking control officers,52 school traffic supervisors and 33 civilians.” So one family is 4% of the officers.
I don’t know anyone from the Boudreau family, but I think the columnist, Harmon, has a lot of nerve, insinuating there’s something wrong with members of the same family serving the city as police officers. Personally, I find their service quite admirable.
The egg thing? Who cares? It was a harmless prank, not even truly newsworthy. Just an opportunity for the media to try and embarrass a few Newton cops. Would the story have made the news if it involved a group of truckers or grocery checkout clerks?
Shouldn’t the question be:
No, I don’t think that should be the question, nor do I think truckers or grocery clerks would have been arrested for this prank either. Although I’m sure it happens occasionally, I can’t personally recall anyone having ever been arrested for an “egging” incident. I’m not defending what the officers did. It was a foolish, juvenile prank. But I think this incident warrants a distinction between prank and crime. They apologized to the family, cleaned the mess up, and the embarrassment alone, [along with disciplinary action from their own department] is really punishment enough.
Greg, you aren’t the only person who noted that this was the first account to mention the officers by name. I was getting increasingly frustrated each time I read a story about this in which they weren’t named. Maybe Harmon was the first person to file a Freedom of Information Act request to the Framingham police?
As Julia correctly noted, Hermon mentioned three names –Jeffrey Boudreau, Michael Iarossi, and Declan Healy– but reportedly five officers were involved. I’m not sure if the TAB has a new policy about not printing the names. Obviously the Globe doesn’t have one.
Interestingly, there are other family connections in the police department, including one that I’m surprised that no one has picked up on yet. (I’ll throw in the disclaimer that I probably haven’t read every single piece of news coverage on the goings-on in the Newton Police Department of late, but I’m still a news junkie and I keep pretty up-to-date on what’s happening around the city.) Assuming that the police department has only employed one Christopher Marzilli between 2009 and now, then former Police Chief Matthew Cummings and Captain Chris Marzilli are cousins. I don’t know if it has any bearing on the story, but it is an interesting side note.
As another aside, Cummings and Marzilli are cousins with retired Fire Chief Joseph LaCroix and Waltham Police Chief Thomas LaCroix who was charged in June with assault and battery on his wife and a neighbor. They also have a cousin in the Natick police department.
I think I have the plot for my book…
Perhaps the new policy is to only print one name per family?
Sorry… tough to get too worked up about an egging prank among co-workers.
@Terry Malloy
If you don’t get worked up about this right away, the Village 14 eggers are coming to your house 😉
Two separate issues here. Inside vs outside hire of a new chief, and the clubbiness of the police dept.
Frankly, our mayor ought to be able [and is] to look beyond any clubbiness as he looks to promote someone from within to be police chief, and he is, in my opinion, also capable of making a decision as to whether such a qualified person exists in the dept now.
I disagree with those on this blog who dismiss the Framingham egging incident as no big deal at all. But this is yet a third issue.