Mayor Thomas Menino has proposed a legislative amendment that would place Police Commissioner Paul Evans in the leading administrative role of the city’s Public Safety Commission.
The Commission, which includes the heads of the city’s police, fire and EMT departments, meets irregularly to discuss city security and emergency preparedness. It is currently headed by Chief Operating Officer Dennis DiMarzio, who holds the responsibility of calling meetings to assembly and setting the Commission’s agendas.
Under the mayor’s amendment, Evans would assume DiMarzio’s responsibilities, giving the police department a central position in Commission activity.
DiMarzio presented Menino’s proposal to the City Council’s Committee on Government Operations Thursday. Of the councilors, only Committee Chairwoman Maureen Feeney (Dorchester) and Charles Yancey (Mattapan, North Dorchester) were present at Thursday’s meeting.
“In these times of increased security concerns, when municipalities are on the front lines of the fight against terrorism, it is important to ensure the efficient and concerted actions of the various city departments that deal with public safety,” Menino wrote in a letter to the Council in January. “It is my belief that the Public Safety Commission should be placed under the control of the police department to increase efficiency and provide the highest levels of public safety.”
DiMarzio told the Commission he endorses Evans for the position, claiming the commissioner would be more qualified for a leading role because of his police responsibilities. Evans, he said, is more able to stay afloat of important issues for Commission discussion and could ensure an appropriate agenda is set for each meeting.
“The police commissioner has more knowledge than someone in my role,” DiMarzio said.
Though control of the Commission would change hands, DiMarzio said no personnel changes would be made. He added Evans had no role in prompting the proposed authority shift, saying the decision came out of discussions regarding post-Sept. 11 safety.
In redistributing administrative authority, the amendment would make Evans the first person called in the event of a terrorist situation. Under the current policy, the mayor is supposed to call DiMarzio first, although DiMarzio said Evans was the first called by Menino on Sept. 11.
“God forbid this were to happen again, who would the mayor call first? What this says is that the answer is the police commissioner,” DiMarzio said.
Yancey questioned the wisdom of shifting central authority to the police department, arguing a third party such as DiMarzio could offer impartial judgment in the event of a disaster. He used the nationally televised Sept. 11 documentary that aired last week as a point of reference, saying it begged the question, “Who was really coordinating those activities?”
“We’re talking about a tremendous loss of life,” Yancey said. “I’m not convinced we should invest that solely in the police department.”
DiMarzio, however, said Boston’s protocols on emergency procedure are clear and would not be corrupted by the amendment.
“Nothing that happened in New York would be changed by anything that happens today,” DiMarzio said.
According to DiMarzio, the Boston Fire Department would first be called for response in a Sept. 11 situation, given the blaze that engulfed the upper floors of the World Trade Center after the collisions.
As with Yancey, Feeney was hesitant to support the mayor’s decision. Although she acknowledged the potential benefits of an informed authority at the Commission’s core, she questioned whether the change would deprive the Commission of an independent leader and monitor.
“I know the police chief would do a good job,” Feeney said. However, under police control, “it would be very easy for this commission to not really focus.”
“You are that independent voice,” she told DiMarzio. “From my perspective, that independence might be something that’s very valuable.”
Feeney said she intends to speak with the commissioners of both the Boston Police and Fire departments before taking the issue any further.
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