Somerville’s search for a police chief is in its fourth year, but representatives for the city said this month that an announcement about the search is expected “soon.”
The announcement seems to be that a new chief will be named, as the representatives, when pressed, explained that no more details could be given “for privacy and to observe legal constraints.”
“We can’t get ahead of the process. We understand that the community is eager for news and we are also hoping to share that as soon as possible,” spokesperson Denise Taylor said July 22.
If the news is, indeed, not the start of a third search process, it will be good news to several people in the community – a list that likely starts with acting chief Charles Femino.
After the retirement of police chief David Fallon and deputy chief Stephen Carrabino in December 2020 and January 2021 – they announced their departure the previous March after 25 and 28 years of service, respectively – the city named Femino to fill in “until a permanent chief is appointed.” Femino, who also served as interim chief in 2013, has been in the role since January 2021. After coming out of retirement, Femino is now halfway to Fallon’s entire seven-year tenure as the head of the department.
A selection committee was convened to relieve Femino that has fluctuated as members have become frustrated or left for other jobs. At various times the committees have included several city councilors, residents, Department of Human Resources representatives and the city’s director of Racial and Social Justice.
The first committee recommended three candidates, all with experience in New England policing and two of whom were local; the third had served as a deputy chief in Connecticut. The candidates were publicly interviewed Oct. 10, and the Phase 1 Committee recommended one candidate for mayoral approval.
In November, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne rejected the candidate chosen by the search committee. Several members expressed disappointment that the search would now extend into its fourth year. Two members of the Phase 1 committee chose not to return.
Committee changes
City councilor Jesse Clingan was a departure. He asked to be removed from the committee, telling The Tufts Daily in December that members “were all in agreement on at least two of these candidates. I’m not happy about it.”
Reflecting this month, Clingan said his remarks at the time were “coming from a place of anger” that has mellowed into a frustration at having nothing to show for the committee’s hard work.
Clingan was not alone in his frustrations, though. Phase 2 committee member and city councilor Jake Wilson said in March that the mayor’s decision was “an extremely frustrating outcome” and that he was “personally very disappointed” by the failure to select a new police chief.
The city’s director of racial and social justice, Denise Molina Capers, defended the mayor’s choice to not appoint any Phase 1 candidates, then left her position quietly this year with no clear replacement.
Racial and Social Justice voice missing
Heading into a second process last year to find a police chief, the city contracted GovHR USA of Illinois to find candidates. The city said through a spokesperson that GovHR is working with the city’s Department of Racial and Social Justice to field candidates – and in an eight-page brief, the firm identifies priorities for the position that include “modeling the police department’s and city’s dedication to racial and social justice” along with being “a positive role model for customer service, ethical behavior, transparency, dispute resolution and problem solving and fostering a culture that values and respects all members of the team and community.”
No one from the Department of Racial and Social Justice has served on the second search committee, though.
Molina Capers began work March 22, 2021, and in September 2022 said the department was launching Public Safety for All, an initiative to reimagine Somerville policing and public safety at a time after the death of George Floyd, when the city was also exploring a civilian oversight board for police. There have been no updates from Public Safety for All since this past winter – likely because Molina Capers left her position in January, a move that went without public notice until a March 4 blog post by councilor Wilson.
“The roadmap and timeline shared with the search committee were extremely aggressive. However, this was prior to the departure of Racial and Social Justice Department director Denise Molina Capers in January, and we’ve yet to hear about any impacts on the search process timeline,” Wilson said March 4.
Three new candidates
The process did move forward, though. Three candidates selected by the Phase 2 Committee were interviewed publicly May 7 and 9 and got private interviews with committee and council members. A public comment period ended May 16. In the two and a half months since – more than twice as long as the period between Phase 1 interviews and the mayor’s rejection of those candidates – the city has been silent, citing privacy issues.
When asked about the extended interview and hire process, a representative for the city said the delays and new starts have resulted in a “minimal increase in consulting costs to ensure our community will have a police chief who will advance public safety for all in Somerville with excellence, integrity and a deep commitment to community values.”
In the new pool for police chief, one candidate is local rather than two, but it is otherwise similar, with both slates including a retired Connecticut officer and a Boston Housing Authority Police Department officer:
Al Stiehler, director of transit security and passenger safety for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
Leon Krolikowski, retired chief of police of New Canaan, Connecticut, and current director of security for Darien Public Schools in Connecticut
Shumeane Benford, chief of the Boston Housing Authority Police Department
Somerville’s chief will oversee 127 sworn officers and 32 civilian personnel working at three police stations and all the department’s operations, programs and initiatives in a $19.7 million budget, including crime analysis, detective bureau, patrol, special operations, professional standards and traffic enforcement.
Wilson’s blog post also outlined the necessity of a home rule petition to the state – one was approved May 30 – to ensure the continued employment of Femino. Previously Femino was allowed to stay interim chief “until the date on which a permanent chief of police is appointed, he is relieved of his duties by the mayor or he reaches the age of 67, whichever occurs first.” The home rule petition amended this to extend the timeline until Femino turns 68, buying Somerville another year to name a permanent police chief.
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Can this mayor commit to anything in less than three years? If she doesn’t want to do the job why did she even run?