An article in the Globe yesterday reported that Police Commissioner Ed Davis is reversing his orders to put more uniformed police officers on the street. The original goal was to make residents feel safer and get police officers to build relationships and repair trust in the community. Apparently Davis received so much pushback from the rank and file that he had to abandon the idea.
According to the article, the rank and file pushed back because officers argued that people would not talk to them or cooperate with them in uniform. Some went so far as to blame Davis's policy for the lack of recent arrests for gun-related crimes.
Commissioner Davis should be defended against this nonsense. He should also rethink who is in charge here and stick with his plan.
Every officer in the City of Boston knows that people in urban neighborhoods will not talk to them whether they are in uniforms, plainclothes or Halloween costumes. The lack of trust and cooperation has nothing to do with what police are wearing and anyone that tells you so is not being honest.
Residents know why police officers don't want to wear uniforms, walk around in their neighborhoods and build relationships. They sense it. They see it. They feel it. And the transparent excuses why reinforce rather than repair feelings of mistrust.
