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October 24, 2006
Hail to the Chief, Davis That Is
Every Lowellian should be proud of Ed Davis' good news. Lowell's police superintendent will now turn in his badge for a new one, in Boston, where he will lead a much larger police department in the fight against crime. Davis' job is a daunting challenge. Boston's crime rate has been skyrocketing over the past two years, fueled by gang violence and drug turf battles. Davis, however, has a good chance for success, based on his knowledge, instincts and dedication to improving police technology to solve crimes. There is no better chief in New England than Davis when it comes to studying the craft of crime and finding useful, innovative tools to combat it.
Davis' signature technique is to prevent crime, by working on "at-risk" teens and monitoring ex-convicts returning to the community. He's been surrounded by some good administrators, detectives and officers who have bought into the system in Lowell. That's a tribute to his leadership. The big question is this: Will Boston's finest buy into it?
Davis had a $20 million budget to fight crime in Lowell. Boston's police budget is $250 million. Lowell taxpayers have received their money's worth for sure. The Lowell Police Department has made streets as safe as any 100,000-plus city in the nation.
While not everything he has done has been popular with politicians and his own rank-and-file, Davis has stayed the course with resolve. In 1999, the union took a no-confidence vote in his leadership. That was probably a feather in his cap for getting the Boston job.
Certainly, Davis faces a major hurdle in managing a 2,100-member department that has been cited for corruption, pay scandals and even murder. HIs salary will be $160,000, just $30,000 more than what he was earning in Lowell. He should be making twice the amount for what he's getting himself into.
I'm going to miss Ed Davis. He did his job well serving the people of Lowell. He knew what Lowell was all about, took pride in his upbringing and wearing the badge as a cop's son. I'm also going to miss the fact that of all the major department heads remaining in Lowell, Davis was one of the few still living in the city and paying taxes.
Posted by at October 24, 2006 3:44 PM
Comments
Right on Jim. Besides being a good cop, Chief Davis was also a good guy, two things that don't necessarily go hand in hand anymore. With that in mind, I'm praying for good health and a promotion for Ken Lavalle, another man in blue who falls into the same categories.
Just the facts, just the facts.
Posted by: Joe Friday at October 24, 2006 7:34 PM
Best of Luck to Ed Davis, he will be missed. Boston made a great decision that should serve them well. Lets hope Lowell stays on the same course.
But what's with today's editorial call for a public safety commissioner? Can we have a few examples of similar cities where this has worked? Or how this is becoming more popular?
I'm not sure what fighting fires, stopping crime and overseeing building construction have to do with each other. Its one thing to have unified command at major emergencies or joint task forces for code enforcement (all things Lowell already does very well), its something all together different to have a someone without law enforcement training overseeing homicide investigations or someone who has never fought a fire in charge of a burning building. The fields are far too specialized for one individual to be an expert in all three. That means you end up lacking in expertise in at least one area and being pulled in too many different directions to be effective. How can that be good?
Smokey
Posted by: Smokey at October 25, 2006 12:54 AM
Am I the only person in Lowell to feel happy about Mr. Davis departure from the Lowell Police Department? Mr. Davis was selected to become the head Police Chief in Boston. Hello the city of Lowell have over nine homicides this year alone, and I hear he doing a good jobs, maybe it better if the crime happen in Belvedere or upper Highland then the city start paying more attention to the crime rate. Mr. Davis had a lot of problem under his watch police scandal and internal conflict within the department. I am glad he leaving to take the position in Boston, maybe the City of Boston can handle him better than the City of Lowell. We need a Police Chief who is a Chief, instead of a puppet set up to harass the poor and minority in the City of Lowell. I look forward in seeing who our next police chief will be, I hope it someone who is tough on crime and deliver.
Posted by: AngryAsian at October 25, 2006 9:46 AM
Best of Luck to Chief Davis on his promotion.
My beef with the SUN and local politicians is the fact that they think that every important city employee needs to live in the city of Lowell. What is the point of this? So that they can get an extra $3,000 to $6,000 of an employees salary through taxes? (this amount is an estimate based on yearly property taxes, excise taxes, and water and sewer fees. Not sure if I left anything else out.) The city is paying employees to do a job. The employees are providing a service. Hopefully, the employees are doing their job to the best of their professional ability and without regard to where they live or what ethnic group they belong to. Private sector employers usually don't care where their employees live as long as they can get to work and do their jobs. Does the SUN newspaper require all their employees to live in the city of Lowell or a suburb where the SUN circulates? Making it a requirement that public employees live in their city or town where they work is not the answer. Making the city attractive for employees to come and work here and maybe live here should be the objective.
Posted by: TaxedEnough at October 25, 2006 1:24 PM
Dear TaxedEnough, it would be nice to have a balance of the city's workforce living in both Lowell and the suburbs. I don't necessarily agree with residency requirements, although I do believe that people in leadership positions, who are counted on to promote the city in the context of perfroming their jobs, should live in the city. Currenly, there is no healthy balance in either leadership or union workers. There are more people on the public payroll who live in the suburbs and New Hampshire than live in Lowell. What this does is create the "IDC" mentality. "I Don't Care." I think it is important that younger kids in the community get to see leaders not only in action but also engaging in the community. This builds strong character and a sense of ownership. People who live in the city have a stake in the city. They pay taxes, demand good services and have a chance to get involved in the social, cultural and educational organizations. I couldn't expect someone who lives in a N.H. community to put his or her hometown first over Lowell if came to a test, would you? There is a difference in commitment. While there are exceptions, there are also built-in excuses for out-of-towners to ignore Lowell's challenges and the community. As for The Sun, there is no residency requirement, but applicants are urged to live in the circulation area where they have a better understanding of regional ties and history. Currently, in The Sun's newsroom of 71 employees, 80 percent live in Lowell or surrounding communities.
Posted by: jim campanini at October 25, 2006 2:30 PM
Hello Jim,I agree, Chief Davis has done a good
job in Lowell combating crime. I wish him
success in solving Boston's crime problem.
The city of Lowell needs a new chief, who
understands and has worked in the neighborhoods
of Lowell, can help curb the violence that has
hurt our city's reputation, and can being Peace
to this great city.
Bill Deignan
Posted by: Bill Deignan at October 25, 2006 4:41 PM
