fb-pixelTangled up in blue - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Tangled up in blue

<?EM-dummyText [Drophead goes here] ?>

Boston Police Commissioner William B. EvansJessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

By Adrian Walker

Globe Columnist

It's hard not to feel a bit of sympathy for Police Commissioner William Evans, trapped at the center of a dispute that has little to do with him.

Evans has emerged — reluctantly, and some would say, belatedly — as a vocal advocate of body cameras for police officers. Last week, he said he also believes police officers should wear name tags. Both moves have become a demand of advocates and much of the public, and Evans understands that.

"Body cameras and name tags are a way to show transparency and accountability in these challenging times," he said.

Yet both ideas have drawn strong opposition from the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, the organization that represents the department's rank-and-file officers. Some officers reluctantly began wearing cameras in early September after the union lost a brief court battle. Now the union says wearing name tags could pose a safety hazard, by rendering officers too readily identifiable.

The union's disagreements with Evans don't end there. The commissioner opposes the union's push for more body armor, and for heavier weaponry, in the form of long guns. Officers have said they fear being outgunned by bad guys, but Evans believes bigger guns send a bad message to communities.

Advertisement



There is a common thread in the public's demand for accountability on one hand and the union's push for more weaponry on the other. It's fear.

A year of violence by and, very occasionally, against police officers has led to trepidation on all sides. As police-involved shootings become front-page news on a nearly weekly basis, the public wants accountability. Meanwhile, officers who claim to be victims of a backlash are reflexively looking to more firepower as a way to feel safer.

"It's a hard time to be a police officer right now," Evans said. "There's a lot of anti-police sentiment. We're in a period of policing that I don't think anyone's ever seen. Obviously, there's always been a lot of hostility out there, but this is different. If a policeman screws up, everybody knows about it."

Advertisement



Evans said that the calls for expanded use of armor and long guns run counter to his philosophy of community policing. He insisted that he is not opposed to anything that will make officers safer but does not want to create unnecessary barriers between officers and the public.

"I don't think having long guns and [armor] on every officer are what we're about," Evans said. "I would never put their lives or safety at risk. If it got so bad that I thought we needed that kind of weaponry out there, I wouldn't hesitate."

In truth, Evans began as a skeptic of body cameras. He has been moved both by public sentiment and by his own sense that the public has a right to as much information as possible. In this era of ubiquitous cellphone video, secrecy has become untenable. Department after department has learned that lesson, often at moments of crisis.

Rahsaan D. Hall , a civil rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said he believes the safety concerns are a distraction.

"I think the hypervigilance of police victimization is a narrative that is a little misleading," Hall said. "And it takes the focus off the reason we are even having these conversations about police accountability, which is the way law enforcement polices people of color."

Advertisement



Evans believes that, besides being unnecessary, armor for all, and heavier weaponry, give the appearance of an occupying force. That's certainly at odds with his vision of community policing, which is heavy on peace walks and free ice cream handed out by men and women in uniform.

Evans appears to have won the battle for body cameras and more transparency. But the union isn't likely to stop pushing for more militarization. The tension between his anxious constituencies isn't about to get any easier to navigate.


Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Adrian_Walker.