Great Barrington has to hire a new police chief. To make the choice, the town manager and his bosses have put together a voluntary citizens committee. Of course, they used the people’s money to hire outside experts to help with their decision. It is, indeed, a crucial decision. The previous guy lasted for a long, long time.
Let’s face it — it’s hard to be a police officer. These men and women put their lives at risk every day. Just imagine being called to a robbery or a difficult domestic dispute where someone has a weapon. It’s a big challenge to find the right people to staff your department.
The point here is that cops have a lot of authority and they have guns. They can give you a ticket or they can use physical force or even murder you, as in the case of George Floyd. Now, more than ever, the police are under a microscope. States, towns, and villages are thinking about how to train police and hold them accountable. There are “Black Lives Matter” signs all over Great Barrington. It is imperative that each community stays in touch with its police in the same way that it is imperative that civilians control the armed forces. That’s probably why we have this special committee to choose the new chief.
Theoretically, the police chief reports to the town manager. That is a good thing, as long as the town manager is an upstanding person. In the case of the current town manager in Great Barrington, that is the case. Nothing is ever perfect, but the current crop of police officers seems to be comprised of nice people who are polite and respectful. I am personally grateful for that.
I worked as an educational advisor to the New York City Police Commissioner in the 1960s, in the age of Serpico. At the time, there were plenty of problems with police corruption. There was something called the Knapp Commission, which looked into police misbehavior and found it on a fairly regular basis.
Obviously, the leadership of any police department is crucial. The Chief has to hold his people responsible. It should never be “my people, right or wrong.” The outgoing chief won his post many years ago by taking a civil service-type test. The advantage of that method of choice is that someone with a modicum of education will be selected and not be beholden to the political interests in town. Now the town thinks it has a better way. That is a very tough choice. Time will tell whether we have it right. If we don’t, we’ll know soon enough.
Of course, there is a solution, especially if the civil service-chosen chief can be disciplined or discharged by the town manager. Nevertheless, it is crucial that the town picks someone good to lead its police department. If, as in the George Floyd case (obviously not in Great Barrington), there is a rogue cop on the force who beats people up just because he can or believes that law breakers report to him rather than to judges and juries, one who metes out the law himself, that is a very dangerous situation. Some cops have abused their authority and the word gets out on the street who these folks are. Someone has to have the courage to hold bad cops responsible.
Every politician, from the governor on down, has spoken on the subject. Only the most courageous of district attorneys are willing or able to bring charges against cops who they work with and depend on.
Let there be no mistake about it, this is an important time for Great Barrington to take stock of police conduct and make sure that our police force continues to improve. The choice of a new chief will be crucial to that end. Let’s not blow it.
