Police commissioner job is the talk of Beantown
As Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole weighs whether to leave Boston for a job with the Irish national police, possible successors are being debated at City Hall, in the community, and within the Police Department.
Names being floated include current police Superintendents Robert P. Dunford, who spearheaded security for the Democratic National Convention, and Paul Joyce, who supervises elite squads for the department, including the drug, gang, and homicide units.
Dunford appears to be the odds-on favorite, with some City Hall insiders saying that he has already been in regular contact with the mayor about Police Department operations.
But some community leaders are hoping to see the department's first leader from a minority group, someone like MBTA Transit Police Chief Joseph Carter.
Others say that race doesn't matter, that they want anyone with strong leadership skills who can whip the department into shape, someone like Lowell Police Superintendent Edward F. Davis, who is credited with producing a 60 percent drop in crime during his tenure.
''There needs to be a shake up with the Boston Police Department," said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, cofounder of the Ten Point Coalition. ''There are a number of show-and-tell initiatives, like [Operation] Rolling Thunder, but no comprehensive strategy to reduce crime. The black community, who is comprised of taxpaying citizens, are watching the bodies of their children pile up every day."
O'Toole told Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday morning that she had yet to receive a formal job offer from the Irish government and that there would be no decision on her status until she received one.
''The mayor continues to wait for more formal news," said Menino's spokesman, Seth Gitell.
The Irish Times reported yesterday that O'Toole already has been selected and is awaiting ratification by the Irish government, but the commissioner said in an interview yesterday that she had not been informed of any selection.
''They have a very formal selection process that requires that the minister prepare a submission to the government and the government -- the prime minister and Cabinet -- approve appointments, and none of that has occurred," O'Toole said. ''The story that emerged today is obviously inaccurate."
Irish officials told the Globe on Friday that O'Toole is one of the leading candidates for the position of inspector general in the Garda Siochana, Ireland's 12,000-member national police force, but they said the selection process is ongoing.
The last time Menino had to pick a police commissioner, he convened a selection committee headed by former US attorney Wayne Budd, and the process took five months. The committee narrowed the field to four candidates: O'Toole, Davis, Captain James M. Claiborne, and the interim commissioner at the time, James M. Hussey.
Any such committee might have to come up with an entirely new set of candidates this time. Hussey left the department shortly after Menino chose O'Toole in 2004. He had been acting commissioner during Super Bowl rioting that left 21-year-old James Grabowski dead. Claiborne, who was the superintendent in charge during Red Sox fan rioting when police shot and killed 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove in October that year, has been demoted to captain and transferred to overseeing department training.
Davis said yesterday that he might not apply this time around if the position is open, because of his commitments in Lowell. ''I've got a really good job right here that I'm paying close attention to right now."
Carter, who is popular among community leaders, also said that he is focused on his current post.
''The kind words from community leaders with whom I have worked for many years are flattering and much appreciated, but my focus continues to be on the MBTA Transit Police Department and ensuring the safety of those who use public transportation," he said in a statement yesterday.
The Rev. Bruce Wall is among Carter's biggest champions, saying that Carter is ''the only person that I believe could do the job and do it effectively."
''Our kids need to see somebody in that position that they can look up to," said Wall, an anticrime activist who is pastor of Global Ministries Christian Church in Mattapan. ''He cleaned up the MBTA and created a context and a climate where the young people are no longer afraid of the MBTA officers."
Dunford, who is known for toughness and attention to detail, is not the most popular choice among some officers or some community leaders. He is heading the department's recent program that scrutinizes officer productivity through arrests made, tickets issued, interrogations conducted, and time spent on leave.
But he has more experience and outranks Joyce, who has been criticized for not sharing intelligence from a unit once under his control with beat officers under Dunford's supervision.
City Councilor Stephen J. Murphy said that if O'Toole resigns, the mayor should take his time filling the post and should mount a national search. ''You always want to try and get the best person for the job," said Murphy, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee.
In the interim, Murphy said, he's confident there are leaders inside the department who could fill in effectively during the summer, when there is more violent crime.
O'Toole said news of her potential departure has put her, the mayor, and Irish authorities in an ''awkward position." She said she spent much of a two-minute conversation with Irish authorities and a 10-minute discussion with the mayor, both yesterday, talking about the ''premature press leaks" that caused the embarrassment. She said she is considering the move mainly because her family encouraged it. Her daughter, Meghan, is studying in Galway.
''Hopefully it will be resolved one way or another in the days to come," O'Toole said. ''It's not fair to the Police Department to have this distraction."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 