Gross looks for solutions besides cuffs
Police Commissioner William G. Gross wants to change the perception that his department’s “only solution is cuffs.”
In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald yesterday, Gross also said a push for more funding for witness protection and additional resources to help with unsolved murders are among his top objectives.
Community policing, however, remains his biggest concern. Elaborating on his remarks in Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, Gross said, “Historically, a lot of neighborhoods of color and those suffering from poor socioeconomic strife, have thought that the police are only interested in arresting the problem away. That is not the case with our Boston Police Department. We will do everything we can not to put cuffs on a young man or woman. And we will do everything we can to help a family out.”
Gross said he considers witness protection key to solving murders and improving relations with the community. Gross said earning the trust of witnesses and making them feel comfortable talking to police isn’t easy.
“We’re not robotic in the belief that once someone comes forward to help us facilitate an investigation, that they have no worries,” Gross said. “I am from a tough neighborhood with many beautiful and brilliant people, but everyone has that reservation: ‘If I help the police, what’s going to happen to me? What’s going to happen to my family?’ So, with that being said for witness protection programs and to help the DA and his crew to facilitate investigations, we have to be confident that we have funding available to move families if we have to, or help out families if we have to.”
Of the high unsolved murder rate in Boston, Gross said that he wants people to realize that his detectives “won’t dismiss anyone’s pain.” He plans to add resources to investigative teams.
“I don’t like using the moniker ‘cold case’ because it’s fresh in our minds,” he said. “You have to know the ilk of the detectives that we have and the supervisors. One death in the city is a defeat for us all. Somewhere along the line, that shouldn’t have happened. But we’re here to ensure families that we will keep investigating.
“With that being said, let’s be realistic, too. You can’t just go to the district attorney and say: ‘Investigate that, we know he did it.’ We need proof, we need evidence, we need witnesses. As commissioner, I plan to increase the number of detectives working these cases.”
Gross also said his department may seek help from retired detectives. “You’re definitely going to see an increase of numbers,” he said.
Gross also wants to focus on what he called “officer wellness.” He said anti-police sentiment and a tough job can negatively affect an officer’s psyche.
To combat this, he says it’s simply “letting the officers know that he, the mayor, and several communities have the officers’ back.”