Timothy Cohoon, the current Braintree Police chief, will meet with the entire City Council on February 17, as part of the approval process for him to become the next leader of the Newton Police Department.
In preparation for that meeting, Cohoon met with the Council’s Public Safety and Transportation Committee on February 4. After discussion with the nominated candidate, all but one committee member present voted to recommend that the entire Council approve his nomination when it comes up at its February 17 meeting. Councilor Sean Roche abstained, and Councilor Pam Wright was absent.
Councilor Roche explained that he abstained because he wanted to get a better understanding from new Mayor Marc Laredo about his larger vision for the Police Department and Newton’s response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before voting on a Police Chief.
“This is a conversation that’s complicated and important,” Councilor Roche said to Fig City News on February 10. He confirmed that he and several other Councilors would be meeting with the Mayor this week to discuss safety and security for residents, workers, and guests.
Councilor Roche said that, despite his interest in learning more about Cohoon’s vision for the department, he would not put forth a “charter objection” at the February 17 Council meeting that would delay a vote on the nomination.
Mayor Laredo first announced his choice in a January 12 email, stating that he and former Mayor Ruthanne Fuller jointly selected Cohoon, who has spent 30 years in law enforcement and public safety, to succeed Chief George McMains.
Police and ICE
Although Councilor Roche was the only committee member present to abstain from voting, he was not the only Councilor to raise concerns about how the City’s police officers can or should interact with ICE.
Stating that residents are experiencing “high levels of fear and uncertainty,” due to the actual or possible presence of ICE in Newton, Councilor Maria Scibelli Greenberg asked Cohoon if people can feel comfortable calling the Police if federal authorities are displaying or using “unlawful force” and they feel threatened.
She also reminded him that Newton passed the Welcoming City Ordinance in February 2017. According to the City’s website, that ordinance “upholds federal and state law by reiterating that the City does not identify, investigate, arrest, detain, or continue to detain a person solely on the belief (a) that the person is not present legally in the United States, (b) that the person has committed a civil immigration violation, or (c) that the person is otherwise deportable.”
Cohoon took a no-nonsense approach in his answers, saying that at this time, police chiefs in Massachusetts are in the process of coming up with “best practices” for what officers are and are not allowed to do when interacting with federal authorities like ICE.
“We don’t have a lot of guidance right now,” he said.
Encouraging people to call 911 if they are in need, Cohoon said that “there are structural separations” between federal authorities and City police. He confirmed that by law, police do not participate in civil immigration enforcement.
“Our job is public safety,” he said.
He told Councilor Greenberg and the other committee members that “we are not authorized” to stop or supervise federal officials, nor assess the lawfulness or validity of their mission.
Cohoon said he does not want Newton officers to be placed in situations where if they make an incorrect call, they could face federal charges.
“That’s the risk,” he said. “It’s not an easy issue at all.”
Hiring and retention
In addition to concerns over ICE, Councilor Randy Block asked Cohoon what the City can do to attract and retain police officers in Newton.
Acknowledging the problem, Cohoon said there are several concrete steps that can be taken to increase Newton’s ranks, including considering changing the City’s hiring process.
Presently, the City can hire only those who have passed the civil service exam. However, the state now has an “Alternative Pathways to Hiring,” which allows cities and towns to take 50 percent of new officers from civil service and 50 percent from a local register.
He said there needs to be “an easier on-ramp process to get police in the pipeline.”
Cohoon also suggested other ways to attract and retain officers, including, among other ideas:
- Offering competitive salaries and benefits;
- Doing more outreach with targeted ads;
- Improving the “organizational culture” within the department;
- Providing career development opportunities; and
- Offering a work-life balance.
Councilors and Cohoon briefly discussed other areas of concern, including traffic enforcement, quality-of-life problems, and how police respond to mental health crises, among other issues.
The entire City Council is due to meet with Police Chief nominee Cohoon at its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 17.
See NewTV’s video of the Public Safety and Transportation Committee meeting.
