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{{Infobox Police Department
| name            = Boston Police Department
| logo            = [[Image:Boston Police patch.jpg|250px]]
| motto           = 
| established     = 1631—1635
| jurisdiction    = Municipal
| sworn           = 2,015
| non-sworn       = 808
(contracted; show full)

The current Boston Police Commissioner is Edward Davis, who was Chief of Police in [[Lowell]], MA prior to this appointment. His appointment to the Boston Police Department brought in a renewed era of policing in the city of Boston.

== Community Policing
: ==
In the 1990's the Police Department resurrected an old idea, the Walk & Talk strategy. Police Officers assigned to patrol cars are required to walk a particular area for up to 45 minutes or longer per their tour of duty. This type of direct patrol is used even more widely today under the leadership of Police Commissioner Davis. Under his command Police Officers that are assigned normally to administrative duties and even Patrol Supervisors took to the foot patrol throughout the city of Boston. This type of patrol assignment is referred to as a Code 19.

With renewed emphasis on placing the Police Officer back in the community through the use of foot patrols and other community related police iniatives the city of Boston began to see a drastic decline in part one crimes and other crimes. The community policing philosphy that the Boston Police so well integrated into its daily operation is now used across the nation.

Communities such as [[Allston Village]], a section of Boston, had an established walking and bicycle patrol in the late 90's and continued this type of patrol indefinitely expanding it to all three patrol shifts. Other areas of Allston and Boston also received similar patrols. Each part of the city assigned one or more Police Officers to these areas as dedicated foot or bicycle patrol officers.

On Harvard Avenue the department's effort to keep the same Police Officer in the same neighborhood paid off tremenduously for area merchants,residents and police. Effectively patrolled by foot patrol and bicycle patrol(1998-2008) by Police Officer Relerford assigned to District 14, the area saw a decrease in specific crimes that directly impacted this particular area of concern. Police Officer Relerford, an 18 year veteran of the Boston Police Department patrolled these areas and utilized his interpersonal communication skills and a creative problem solving method to establish trust, professional friendships and a presence in an area plagued by homelessness, public drinking of alcoholic beverages, loitering in front of businesses and vandalism. Police Officer Relerford utilized a creative problem solving method called the "POC List" or Person of Concern List that cost nothing except a presence, a smile and a conversation. 

The establishment of the ''P.O.C. (Person(s)of Concern) List'' by Police Officer Relerford enabled the Police Officer to iniate a conversation with POC List members. The POC List which evenutally became a mental biography of only those individuals that had directly impacted the Police Officers area of patrol. 

As a result of this effective manner of patrol public drinking, loitering and homelessness is no longer an acceptable social behavior at those specific areas of concern ==
In the 1990's the Police Department resurrected an old idea, the Walk & Talk strategy. Police Officers assigned to patrol cars are required to walk a particular area for up to 45 minutes or longer per their tour of duty. The establishment of other initiatives like "Same Cop Same Neighborhood" and "Safe Street Beat Teams" have contributed widely to the continued sucess of community policing. These types of direct patrol are used even more widely today under the leadership of Police Commissioner Davis. Under his command Police Officers that are even assigned normally to administrative duties or Patrol Supervisors are encouraged to perform a foot patrol. This type of patrol assignment is referred to as a Code 19.

With the renewed emphasis on placing the Police Officer back in the community through the use of foot patrols and other community related police initiatives the city of Boston saw a drastic decline in part one crimes and other crimes. The community policing philosphy that the Boston Police so well integrated into its daily operation is now used across the city and the nation.

Sections of Boston,such as [[Allston]] had an established walking and bicycle patrol in the late 90's and continued this type of patrol indefinitely. It was eventually expanded to all three patrol shifts. Other areas of Allston and Boston also received similar patrols with the establishment of the newer initiatives such as Beat Teams. Each part of the city assigned one or more Police Officers to these areas as dedicated foot or bicycle patrol officers.On Harvard Avenue the department's effort to keep the same Police Officer in the same neighborhood paid off tremenduously. One aspect of Community Policing program is for the Police Officers on patrol to come up with new and effective ways to resolve concerns or problems in their area. By keeping the same Police Officer in the same neighborhood the department allowed creative problem solving methods to be utilized by motivated Police Officers.

In Allston, Police Officer Relerford developed the Person of Concern List or "[[POC List]]". A list was developed of only those indiviuals that impacted the Police Officers area of patrol in a negative way. Their impact had to be frequent and correspond to the hours or shift the Police Officer patrolled primarily. The list was then prioritized by the type of crime and how frequent the Police Officer either received complainants or interacted with the POC List memeber through patrol. For example:  If a Police Officer routinely walked through a particular intersection during patrol and the same person is standing there each day, several hours a day outside a liqour store without just cause there could be a problem. This observation, coupled with reports of alleged drug dealing and conversations with other Police Officers about this indiviual would make this person a viable target for the POC List. Once an individual(s)are identified and listed then the Police Officer would focus his attention toward the top 5-10 POC List members. Everything possible must be learned about these individuals, including criminal habits, schedules, family, friends and their association with other POC List members. Then they could be engaged effectively. Engagement can happen at anytime depending on the circumstances. The engagement is crucial since most drug dealers carry weapons, knives or may have access to either. A Police Officer would engage using normal or practical patrol skills for conducting a felony or misdemeantor threshold inquiry. It is important that your target is aware that you initiated this threshold inquiry and why. This is usually where your interpersonal communication skills and experience will come into play.  

Not all POC List engagements will be conducted this way. Some members will leave on their own after engagement once or twice, others may require a telephone call to probation, transportation to the hospital for detox, section 12 [pink slip] by family, even increased indiviual police presence or an arrest. It varies widely on the area and what problem the individual is causing. Police Officer Relerford, an 18 year veteran of the Boston Police Department patrolled these areas and utilized his POC List. The number of POC List members ranged from as high as twenty-five in 2004, when the list was first developed to as low as two in 2008. Members of the POC List who were once near the bottom have moved up to the top. Those at the top have either moved elsewhere, were sentenced to jail, rehabilitated or died. 
 
As a result of this effective manner of patrol public drinking, loitering and homelessness is no longer an acceptable social behavior at those specific locations of concern. Grafitti still remains a problem. The end result are fewer 9-1-1 calls, fewer Citizen Conversation Complaints(CCC) and once acceptable social behaviors that occurred at the busy intersetion of Harvard Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue are no longer tolerated by the community. Still other problems may arise and new faces will always appear. It was only with the motivation, skills and experience of police supervisors that their subbordinates can institute effective ways to engage problems in their area of patrol.

== Demographics ==
*Male: 87%
*Female: 13%
*White: 68%
*African-American/Black: 24%
*Hispanic: 6%
*Asian: 2%<ref>[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/lemas00.pdf Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers]</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts]]

==References==
*[[Francis Russell]]. [http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1744 ''A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike''] (Boston: Beacon Press, 1975).
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==External links==
*[http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/police/default.asp Boston Police Department official web site]
*[http://www.bpdnews.com Boston Police Department blog, BPDNews.com]
*[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/13/police_union_to_fight_merger/ Boston Globe Article on the Merger]

[[Category:Government of Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:United States municipal police departments]]


[[es:Departamento de Policia de Boston]]