On August 15, the City announced the hiring of Shumeane Benford as Somerville's next Police Chief. This ended a saga over four years long that began with the announced retirement of our previous permanent Police Chief, David Fallon, back in March 2020. The appointment and three-year contract with two additional one-year options now come before the City Council for confirmation ahead of the September 16 start date.

Interim Chief Charles Femino stepped in when then-Chief Fallon's retirement became official back December 2020, and he can't have imagined his interim tenure would last nearly four years. For reasons I'm still not sure of, the hiring process to find our next permanent Police Chief didn't kick into high gear until the formation of the Police Chief Selection Committee (PCSC) in Fall 2021. Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan served as the City Council's representative on this first iteration of the committee.

Following a restart of the search process by the consultants at GovHR after the first batch of applicants proved to not be up to par, the Police Chief Selection Committee went through the second batch and recommended three finalists last fall in accordance with our code of ordinances. Those public interviews were conducted on October 10, 2023. However, on November 9, 2023, the City announced the previous process "did not result in a successful hire" and that the PCSC would begin the process anew. Councilor Clingan and a member of the public resigned from the committee.

In February, I was approached by City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen about serving as the City Council's representative on this reconstituted committee, and I accepted -- despite having concerns about how things unfolded previously. The PCSC was promised an expedited process this time around, and that proved to be the case, with our work beginning with our first meeting on April 2 and finishing just five weeks later with the final public interview on May 9.

I was hopeful of a quick hire, but as no announcement came and we entered the summer, I grew concerned. I had heard Boston Housing Police Chief Shumeane Benford had stated in a Metro Boston Homeland Security Region and Cyber Security Subcommittee (UASI) meeting that he would be leaving his post, but that didn't necessarily mean he was the choice. When PCSC members inquired about the status, we were told "Soon." I was contacted by local media, but I wasn't comfortable speaking on the record, given the lack of an announcement from the City.

Then on August 13 I was asked to provide a quote about the work of the PCSC for a press release announcing the imminent hire, and two days later the announcement went out.

As a member of the PCSC we unanimously voted to recommend all three finalists. As an interviewee, Chief Benford expressed support for unarmed civilian response and other modern public safety initiatives that I support. He doesn't have a long career in police leadership to examine, so we're taking a bit of a chance on somewhat of an unknown quantity. But he certainly gave promising answers to the committee's questions. So I'm very interested to see what new chief does with the role -- and happy that we appear poised to finally have a permanent hire in place for Police Chief.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Interim Chief Charles Femino for his years -- and years -- of service to the community. Chief Femino came back to Somerville to help us out in a bind when Chief Fallon retired, and I'm so appreciative of his leadership of SPD over those years. I know from talking to the men and women who have served under him that Chief Femino earned their respect. He was a steadying force in a department suffering from low morale during a tumultous time for policing nationally and here locally, and this community owes Charles Femino a debt of gratitude.