Report finds Somerville police ineffective under poor leadership
A report released Friday by former attorney general Scott Harshberger found the Somerville Police Department to be "disorganized, poorly led and internally divided" under current Police Chief George McLean.
Mayor Joseph Curatone commissioned the report, which also recommends empowering the mayor to alter appointment procedure for future police chiefs. "The [current] chief is not perceived as a leader and he is seen as being controlled by a small core of deputies concerned with their own self-interest," the report said.
Harshberger also said police officers had described their work atmosphere as being "governed by rumor, speculation, allegation, and conflict."
Curatone and McLean have butted heads in the past. When McLean attributed this fall's rash of burglaries in Somerville to a $1.5 million budget cut over the past three years, Curatone called this response an "excuse." Curatone has also barred police officers from speaking with the press without clearance from the city.
But East Somerville City Alderman William Roche defended McLean's effectiveness in reducing gang activity, which has recently plagued the area. Roche said Mclean "can't please everybody" and called departmental discord a necessary evil.
Somerville, which is the 12th largest city in Massachusetts, has a police department budget of $10.2 million and a staff of 88 patrolmen and 27 superior officers.<$>
Boston papers discover state knowledge of Big Dig construction leaks
The Boston Globe recently uncovered information showing state knowledge of leakage related to the Big Dig on roadways in more than 400 areas since as early as 1998.
State officials have consistently maintained that roadways under construction as part of the Big Dig are safe for motorists.
One of the most problematic areas is the I-93 tunnel directly below the South Station train terminal on the Red Line, which according to documents obtained by the Globe contains almost 7,000 leaks in a single 1,000-foot section.
The documents also show that the 8-inch leak that flooded the I-93 tunnel in September was caused by a chain of decisions made by the project's private manager, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckherhoff, as far back as 2001. The company reportedly repaired a leak at that time without replacing the faulty material, allowing this year's more destructive leak.
The company also established a Leak Task Force early in 2001, a development which was not made public.
The Boston Herald also obtained a memo circulated within Bechtel/Parsons warning of imminent threats of leakage in tunnels unless action was taken as early as 1998.
State Assistant-Inspector General Jack McCarthy told the Associated Press earlier this week to "keep the focus on the real culprit in this matter - and that is Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff."
