Police Department Report Surfaces

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

Not only did Mayor Brian Arrigo get the nod to look outside the city for the next police chief, he also shared a report that he says only came to light a month ago.

The report includes several areas of interest for the years 2014 and 2015. The following information was taken from the report. For the full report go to www.revere.org/2015PDReport in the Mayor’s Office department link.

  • The Revere Police Department has 97 sworn members and 19 civilian members. In addition to the chief there are three captains, 13 lieutenants, 17 sergeants, and 63 members of patrol.
  • “While it is often desirable to promote from within, Revere has experienced a fair amount of turbulence over the past several years and the ability to bring in an outside leader with a different set of experiences could benefit the department in the future.
  • “The department appears to be top heavy with 33 supervisors and 63 patrol level members.”
  • It was widely acknowledged that the organizational chart was outdated and incorrect and no attempt was made to provide the correct chart.
  • “Certainly a police department is a paramilitary organization, however the intensity of this approach and its outward appearance should be evaluated as it does not appear to be well accepted.
  • A point of dissension in the department was the active involvement of the chief as a SWAT member.
  • The command staff appears to lack cohesion, and there is a fair amount of distrust within the command staff and from patrol to command staff.
  • What is in place and dubbed “community policing” is really just community relations.
  • There is little connection with the business or neighborhood associations.
  • The leadership culture is very militaristic.
  • The department upon approach looks like a military base (military vehicles)
  • Customer service does not appear to be a value.

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