City Councillor Anthony Galluccio was exactly right when he said that the citizens of Cambridge should take a time out and consider what kind of city it wants to be. One of the city's top officials is preparing to step down. The time couldn't be better.
Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson, after ten years on the job, will be handing over the reins as top cop, perhaps as early as the end of this year. His decade on the job witnessed a decline in violent crime in the city. Indeed, the most recent Cambridge Police Report states that "first quarter crime totals [for 2006] are at their lowest point in thirty years," and overall are down from one year ago. His successor will inherit this legacy, and many issues as well, including a recent rash of shootings in the Area IV neighborhood.
The choice of the new commissioner will say a lot about this city. Will, for example, the new commissioner be promoted from within the ranks of the Cambridge Police Force, or will it be a candidate parachuting in from outside? Commissioner Watson is on record as saying he thinks his successor should come from within the force (Watson had a career on the Chicago police before arriving in Cambridge).
People say that Cambridge has a certain rhythm to it. A commissioner who comes in understanding the uniqueness of the city will make a smoother transition to the challenges of the city. We won't (and shouldn't) have comparisons other cities' problems, such as the comparison Mayor Ken Reeves' made earlier this year between Cambridge gangs to Detroit gangs.
Roy Bercaw, a community activist who has many opinions on many things, distributed an email earlier this month calling for public participation in the choosing of the next Commissioner. In Bercaw's estimation, if Harvard University can involve students in the choosing of the next president of their 370-year-old institution, then the city of Cambridge can do the same for its police department. The City Council is of course the first stop on citizen input.
Bercaw's comments ring especially true in this sense. In 1970, the U.S. Census reported that 1.5 percent of the population were Asian (including Pacific Islanders). By 2000, that number was up to 12 percent. In fact, in 2000, the Census reports only slightly fewer Asians in the city than African Americans. Similarly, as of six years ago, almost ten percent of the city's population had Portuguese as their primary language. Yet there are few fluent Portuguese speakers on the police force. These demographic shifts in the city's population ought to be reflected in city workforce, and especially on the sensitive area of policing, where law enforcement officials and citizens can be interacting under very stressful circumstances and clear communication is absolutely essential.
The Watson departure comes on the heels of Dr. Harold Cox's decision earlier this year to step down as the head of the Cambridge Public Health Department to become a dean at the BU School of Public Health. Cox oversaw a huge growth in the department, which received many awards for programs such as early literacy, domestic violence prevention, healthy walking and the smoke free workplace. He also oversaw the development of many new initiatives, not the least of which was the creation of a regional public health consortium. Karen Hacker has stepped in as the new interim head of the department.
The strongest defenders of City Manager Bob Healy point to the expertise he has brought to Cambridge government in his choice of department heads. Both departing heads, Ronnie Watson and Harold Cox, represented excellent choices for leadership in our public institutions. Their replacements will play equally important roles in the future of the city, but they should not be chosen in a vacuum. The clamor for public input and accountability, particularly in the manager form of government, is both broad and deep. At the same time, it is important for this dynamic and ever-changing city to choose a path for its next two decades. Commissioner Watson's retirement presents a perfect opportunity. We all should take a moment to think about it.
