Seven new officers join police department

By George P. Hassett

When Anthony Holloway took over as chief of the Somerville Police Department last month he said the most common complaint he heard from patrol officers was a lack of manpower on the streets. This week city officials took one step toward addressing that problem by bringing seven new officers onto the force.

Christopher Gomes, Oswaldo Martinez, Yvon Jean Jacques, Fernando Cicerone, Henry Diaz, James Radochia and Guerdy Legros will enter the police academy in February and will hit the streets as Somerville police upon successful completion of the twenty week training program.

Holloway and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone praised the new recruits as a qualified group of young officers.

“Their police academy training starts almost immediately and they should be in uniform and on duty later this year. Four of these officers are bilingual, and each of them brings life experience to the job that will aid Chief Holloway and the rest of the officers during the department's implementation of the community policing strategy,” Curtatone said.

Curtatone and Holloway said the city expects to appoint five more new officers before the end of the month. In his inauguration speech last month Curtatone pledged to hire 16 new police officers this year as part of a reorganization of the department that will include a community-based policing strategy.

Holloway said he expects the seven new cops to fit into that strategy.

“These are the types of officers who are excited about community policing, who are excited to really immerse themselves in all aspects of the community they serve. I am looking forward to working with all of them once they graduate from the academy,” he said.

Comments

[Kate]

OK, I'll bite. This is good news. Many of of us have been b_tching about this for months. Let's have some more kudos.

[Carpetbaggers]

Not one of these guys are from Somerville! What a joke! Out of the next batch of recruits is one Somervillian that made a deal with the mayor that he would drop his lawsuit against the city ( he wasn't going to be hired because he is white and from Somerville of course)in return he will get appointed because the mayor knows he would have lost that lawsuit.

What the hell is going on in this city?????

If you are born and bred here and are a lifelong resident of this city don't even think of applying to this department unless you want to go through hell and back.

[Huh?]

Carpetbagger - you are a bomb tossing moron. Let me take a shot in the dark. You were interviewed and not hired by Somerville as a police officer. I know for a fact that all but two of the officers currently live in Somerville and the other two will be moving in. Of the two one grew up in Somerville. Most of the seven went to Somerville High. Nice try. Also, who is the one with the lawsuit? There is not a single candidate on the civil service list with an active lawsuit against the city. There were some that sued due to a prior by-pass by the previous Mayor.

[To Huh]

1)They all moved to the city recently because of being appointed.

2) If some went to Somerville High that does not mean they lived here. There are many kids using our school system that live in different cities.

3) I won't mention the name of the "lawsuit" recruit, but I guess you don't have all the facts.

4)I am way too old to become a cop, so your reasoning is tainted.

5) Get back to work and stop cruising the internet on city time.

[Stupid]

1)I went to school in Somerville with some of those new recruits.
2)Why does it matter if they do not live in Somerville
3)I live in Somerville but work in another city, am I a bad person?

[Stop Spreading Rumors]

I know that at least one of the recruits went to Somerville High and lives (and lived at the time) in Somerville. I don't know if he was a life-long resident or not. He is also a proud veteran of the US Marine Corps. He is deserving of this appointment. That being said, I also disagree with the current hiring practices in this city and elsewhere. If you are not a minority, or do not speak a language other than English, you have very little chance of being hired for almost any position. This is wrong and should change - people, especially those in the public sector and public safety jobs, should be hired on merit (although I can't really disagree with the preference for veterans - if otherwise qualified).

[bob]

3 of them were born and raised here.

[Cal]

Oh good, more guys to help with detail work (i.e. socializing with construction workers and getting paid to do NOTHING). Lack of police on the streets? Maybe lack of police officers actually working. Look at the Somerville police log and then tell me that it is ok to have 15 officers within a half mile of my house doing "detail work", hanging out and smoking cigars while on the job. If they are doing their jobs, why are there so many break-ins? Why have my neighbors gotten away with openly selling drugs and prostituting themselves for over a year? I'd like to see a little quality and then I would be more than happy to support quantity.

[public safety]

The city keeps on hiring but yet ask unions to take pay furloughs? The city just spent over one million dollars on extra light fixtures along Somerville Avenue, but yet wants to cut over time in public safety. "Do more with less" Stop nickel and diming by harassing employess with petty demands or for trivial
reasons; specifically, to insist on minor concessions in negotiation.

The City Of Somerville continues to weaken and impair moral by gradually taking small steps to handcuff employees; as if their nickel-and-dimed into bankruptcy by the operation overhead. The whole concept is smoke and mirrors, a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation to accomplish their agenda. The politicians are like magicians' and create illusions & make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The City ues a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

More generally, "smoke and mirrors" in reference to Somerville refers the constant micro-management presentation by which the employees are deceived by being told that the city has no money.

What ever happened to the old saying; "you can't put a price public safety? Back in the day, politicians used to get elected on a strong public safety base. Now, they continue to cut education benefits, cut wages, and decrease overtime.