Thursday, May 7, 2026, 10 a.m. (Boston time), Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, 0749-0750, FY27 Budget: BPD, Revolving Funds
This was a Ways & Means Committee budget hearing on the Boston Police Department's FY27 operating budget, covering police revolving funds with focus on mental health and substance abuse response, community policing, firearms/homicides, and the crime lab. Councilors questioned Commissioner Michael Cox and his leadership team on topics including Mass and Cass response efforts, spillover effects into Nubian Square, the NEST team and coordinated response approach, overtime spending reductions, crime lab leadership, staffing levels, recruitment and diversity, and surveillance technology ordinance compliance. Public testimony raised concerns about overtime budget accuracy, displacement of the Mass and Cass crisis into Roxbury, and community safety.
2:15 And.
9:12 I'm.
12:55 Good morning.
12:56 Uh, my name is ben Weber.
12:57 I'm the boss city councilor for
12:59 district six and the chair
13:00 of the committee on ways and
13:01 means.
13:04 Today is May 7th, 2026 and the
13:07 exact time is 10:13 a.m. I have
13:08 a few preliminaries to get
13:08 through here.
13:10 Uh, so the hearing is being
13:10 recorded.
13:12 It's also being live streamed
13:15 at uh boston.gov/city
13:17 council tv and broadcast on its
13:19 finity channel eight, rcn
13:21 channel 82 and fios channel
13:22 964.
13:24 Uh we strongly encourage
13:26 residents to engage in this
13:26 hearing process.
13:28 Uh, we'll be having budget
13:30 hearings uh, starting in April
13:31 and running through June.
13:33 Um uh you can participate in
13:35 these hearings in several ways.
13:38 First, you can attend one
13:39 of our hearings and give public
13:40 testimony.
13:42 You can do so by showing up in
13:44 person in the hearing chamber.
13:46 Uh, sign up on the sign in
13:47 sheet that's near the entrance.
13:50 Uh, and and you'll be called on
13:50 to testify.
13:54 Uh, you can also, uh, sign up
13:57 to testify uh, via zoom the the
13:59 full hearing schedules on our
14:02 website at
14:02 boston.gov/council-budget.
14:05 Uh, you can testify uh, by zoom
14:09 by either filling out a online
14:10 form on our council budget
14:12 review website or by emailing
14:17 the committee at dwm@boston.gov
14:18 or by emailing uh christmas
14:24 show on at chris ma
14:25 and@boston.gov.
14:27 Uh and you'll be sent a zoom
14:27 link.
14:29 Uh for this hearing you can
14:33 also uh come to our public
14:34 testimony listening session.
14:36 We'll have our fourth of four
14:38 of these will be Thursday night
14:40 on May 26th at 6 p.m. Here in
14:41 the chamber.
14:44 Uh, when you're called on to
14:45 testify, you'll have two
14:46 minutes.
14:47 Please state your name.
14:50 Uh, and residents or and if you
14:51 have any affiliation with an
14:53 organization, name the
14:55 organization and, uh, please
14:57 watch the clock for when your
14:58 two minutes are up.
15:00 Um, in lieu of testifying at a
15:01 hearing, you can also submit
15:03 written testimony to the
15:07 committee at ccw m@boston.gov.
15:09 Uh, lastly you can submit a two
15:10 minute video of your testimony
15:13 through the form on our website
15:14 for more information on the
15:16 City Council budget process and
15:18 order to testify, please visit
15:19 the City Council's budget
15:21 website at
15:23 boston.gov/council-budget uh in
15:24 person testimony will be taken
15:26 after the first round
15:28 of questions from my
15:29 council colleagues.
15:30 Again you'll have two minutes
15:32 to testify and if you if you
15:34 haven't signed up uh please do
15:36 so uh here in the chamber or
15:39 again email or legislative uh
15:41 budget analysis director
15:45 karishma yeah car I s h mccue h
15:48 a n@boston.gov for the zoom
15:49 link and your name will be
15:50 added to the list.
15:53 Uh we are having two hearings
15:59 today uh on docket number
16:03 073320740 and 074 9 to 0 750 on
16:05 the Boston uh with the Boston
16:06 police department.
16:08 Um, uh, this morning's hearings
16:09 .
16:11 Uh, well, you know so hold on.
16:13 So the hearings will be with
16:14 the Boston police cover the
16:15 Boston police department,
16:18 police revolving funds, uh,
16:19 specifically uh, this morning
16:22 regarding to, um, mental health
16:24 and substance abuse
16:25 of response, community policing
16:28 ,firearms homicides and the
16:28 crime lab.
16:30 Uh, I encourage my colleagues
16:32 to stick to these topics during
16:33 questioning this morning.
16:36 This afternoon's 2:00 hearing
16:39 will cover overtime the detail
16:41 system officer mental health
16:43 and diversity and recruiting.
16:45 Um, so, uh, you know, there
16:47 could be some of the questions
16:48 could be that you have it could
16:50 be deferred to this afternoon
16:51 again.
16:54 Uh uh so again if you have
16:55 questions about police overtime
16:57 the detail system officer
16:58 mental health and diversity and
16:58 recruiting that will be
17:00 covered in this afternoon's
17:03 hearing um, uh, these matters
17:05 were response those will were
17:07 sponsored by Mayor michelle wu
17:08 and referred to the committee
17:11 on April 8th, 2026 and drove
17:12 all my colleagues in order
17:14 of arrival councilor Murphy,
17:15 councilor culpeper
17:17 councilor bratton uh, we've
17:18 received a letter of absence
17:19 from councilor Mejia.
17:22 Um, we generally waive opening
17:24 statements from the councilors
17:25 at our budget hearings and we
17:27 will stick to that this morning
17:28 I'm going to introduce the
17:29 panel.
17:32 Uh, we're joined uh, this
17:33 morning by police commissioner
17:34 michael cox.
17:37 Uh, chief of staff nicole
17:40 talbot, uh, chief of bureau
17:41 of administration and
17:45 technology lisa o'brien uh
17:46 superintendent uh, of the uh
17:48 bureau of field services John
17:50 brown uh, superintendent of
17:51 bureau of investigative
17:54 services paul mclaughlin and
17:55 superintendent of uh bureau
17:56 of intelligence and analysis
17:57 linda cullinane.
17:58 Right.
17:59 Uh, okay.
18:03 Um, so with that uh said I'm
18:07 going to be joined by uh,
18:08 councilor John FitzGerald.
18:10 Not yet uh, there's another
18:11 John FitzGerald who's who's
18:15 here uh, my constituent um, so
18:16 uh, from the police department
18:17 so we have two John
18:18 fitzgerald's in the room.
18:21 Um uh so again thank you panel
18:23 for for for coming in this
18:25 morning and uh I'm going to the
18:26 floor is now yours.
18:29 Good morning.
18:30 Council president reading
18:32 committee chair Weber and the
18:32 city councilors.
18:34 Uh, I appreciate the
18:35 opportunity to testify before
18:36 the ways and means committee
18:39 today today regarding the fy 27
18:41 operating budget for the Boston
18:42 police department.
18:44 Um, you've already introduced
18:45 to it by panel here with
18:46 me today, but I want to just
18:47 start off by saying I
18:50 appreciate that the proposed 27
18:52 um, year budget represents a
18:54 significant commitment to
18:56 taxpayer dollars, uh, for
18:58 public safety in a time when
19:00 not only the city is facing
19:02 financial struggles but the
19:03 state and maybe the country as
19:04 well.
19:07 Um, uh, for those who are at
19:08 home they May not understand
19:10 that our budget embrace uh
19:13 represents 89% of it is goes to
19:16 personnel cost and 11% if it
19:18 goes to the operating um, uh
19:20 budget of what we do basically
19:20 keeping the lights on.
19:23 And so we're focused on using
19:25 our resources efficiently and
19:26 transparently in ways to
19:27 support public safety and
19:28 community trust.
19:31 Uh a key area of focus is
19:32 controlling overtime spending,
19:35 uh, to improve staffing
19:36 deployment, uh, stronger
19:37 supervision and ongoing
19:40 monitoring to ensure, um, that
19:42 we're using overtime
19:43 appropriately and aligning
19:44 operational needs.
19:46 We are in fact trying to
19:48 reimagine how we, uh, look at
19:50 the work that we do on a daily
19:51 basis to curtail any
19:53 unnecessary spend spending to
19:54 be as efficient and effective
19:55 as possible.
19:57 We're making progress but
19:58 recognize that we we will
19:59 always have more work to do in
20:00 this area.
20:03 Uh I'm here um, to share with
20:04 council and residents that
20:06 might be watching, uh, what
20:08 these operating budget
20:09 investments mean for our city.
20:11 Uh, the men and women of the
20:12 Boston police department are
20:13 committed to building trust
20:14 with the community and keeping
20:15 our neighborhood safe.
20:18 Every interaction between a
20:19 Boston police officer and the
20:20 community members is an
20:21 opportunity to build and
20:24 strengthen trust, whether it's
20:25 responding to calls for
20:27 service, helping people in
20:27 crisis, investigating and
20:30 solving crimes or proactively
20:32 engaging with young people with
20:33 seniors officers and making a
20:35 difference every day we are
20:37 seeking continued success from
20:40 these efforts with sustained
20:41 decreases in crime and violence
20:43 making us one of the safest
20:45 major cities in america and
20:46 we're making progress and
20:48 building and strengthening
20:48 relationships with the
20:50 community as evidenced by city
20:52 residents taking more civil
20:54 service exams and partnering
20:55 with us in many different ways.
20:57 We have significant challenges
20:59 coming up uh, this year uh, as
21:01 far as major events
21:02 particularly the summer between
21:04 fee for the world cup
21:05 celebrations, our 25th
21:08 anniversary in seal Boston and
21:09 the many other annual
21:10 celebrations that have managed
21:11 to take place throughout the
21:13 year, I can assure you that we
21:15 are prepared for these
21:16 challenges as we are every
21:16 year.
21:19 Uh, we have extensive extensive
21:21 operational plans in place and
21:22 significant experience in
21:23 managing large scale events.
21:26 Our officers and supervisors
21:28 and commanders are well trained
21:30 and equipped uh, with cultural
21:32 and restraint I mean with a
21:34 culture of restraint and
21:35 de-escalation.
21:37 The critical work done by our
21:38 Boston regional intelligence
21:39 unit provides us with the
21:41 intelligence an annual analyst
21:41 .
21:43 We need to deploy resources in
21:46 a just real time to prevent and
21:47 mitigate potential threats to
21:50 public safety all while
21:51 protecting privacy, civil
21:52 rights and civil liberties
21:52 of our constituents.
21:54 Boston police department is
21:56 committed to community
21:57 policing, building trust with
21:59 the community and working in
22:01 partnership to prevent and
22:02 reduce crime and fear crime
22:03 while strengthening public
22:06 safety every day of the year in
22:06 every neighborhood.
22:08 Before we get to our questions
22:10 ,I'd like to give a brief
22:11 presentation highlighting some
22:12 of the work that we've been
22:15 doing and the results of those
22:15 efforts.
22:20 So.
22:26 Over.
22:31 So again, uh, our mission
22:33 really is about uh officers are
22:34 guided by our mission which is
22:36 again, uh, dedicated to working
22:37 in partnership with the
22:38 community to fight crime and
22:40 reduce fear and improve quality
22:41 of life in our neighborhoods.
22:45 Uh, some of the goals that we
22:47 have were to reduce crime,
22:48 violence and fear crime.
22:52 Um, we proactively engage in
22:53 all our communities and connect
22:54 those in need of services.
22:58 Uh, we're trying to enhance our
22:59 professionalism and
23:01 accountability and improve our
23:02 public uh, police services and
23:03 operations in general.
23:06 And of course we we try to take
23:07 care of our employees, uh,
23:08 health and wellness in general.
23:13 Um, uh, one of the ways in
23:14 which we're meeting our mission
23:15 is around efficiencies and
23:16 accountability.
23:18 We are on track, uh, for really
23:21 generous January for one of the
23:23 first, uh, milestones that we
23:24 need to meet for a clear
23:25 accreditation which is, uh,
23:26 international accreditation.
23:30 Um, regarding our standards and
23:31 practices and making sure that
23:34 they're, uh, all best best
23:36 practices within our industry
23:38 and that we actually um, do
23:40 those practices another way
23:42 that we're trying to make sure
23:44 that organization meets this
23:45 efficiency and accountability
23:47 goal of ours is how we
23:49 reorganized our organization,
23:51 um, multiple times trying to
23:53 align different units, uh,
23:54 putting our academy and
23:56 professional development
23:57 together and some of our other
23:59 units, uh, to be more efficient
24:00 and effective and making sure
24:01 we meet the missions that we're
24:02 out to do.
24:04 Uh, we're rolling out a
24:06 critical decision making model
24:07 citywide within the police
24:10 department to deal with, uh,
24:11 uh, mental health issues the
24:13 lease running across, uh, folks
24:15 that we might but might see
24:16 that are actually are armed
24:19 with um with weapons other than
24:21 firearms uh, that might be
24:23 having a mental health crisis
24:24 to make sure that we're able to
24:26 uh, de-escalate in a way that
24:28 keeps, uh, that person safe in
24:29 our offices safe.
24:34 Um, up another uh, point which
24:36 we're trying to say, um, around
24:37 efficiencies and effectiveness
24:39 is within the last three years
24:42 fiscal years overtime budget is
24:45 is it's been decreased uh, over
24:48 those three years um 13.4%
24:51 decrease from 24 to 25 and a
24:54 5.9 uh decrease from 25 to
24:58 projected for 2026 I should say
25:01 5.9% uh, decrease if we
25:02 continue along the course where
25:05 we are as far as staffing
25:06 concerns, we are trying to
25:07 maintain our staffing.
25:09 We've increased it uh, you
25:12 know, somewhat uh, from 23 and
25:15 24 and we're continuing to try
25:17 to recruit and have some
25:19 success recruiting to try to
25:20 maintain a staffing level,
25:21 particularly within the patrol
25:21 force.
25:26 Um, crime stats our major crime
25:28 statistics, uh, violent crimes
25:31 it's been reduced from 2024 by
25:34 6% uh, with the five year
25:36 average of a 7% reduction if
25:38 you if you look at it over that
25:39 period of time if and if you go
25:40 over a ten year average it's
25:42 been reduced by 14%.
25:45 Property crime has been reduced
25:48 at least another 2% from 2023.
25:51 And then we've had a slight
25:52 increase of 5% if you look at
25:54 the five year average on that
25:56 but uh continue uh that
25:58 reduction goes down to 2% over
26:00 the over the ten year period.
26:03 It's always good to have a
26:05 barometer to compare our city.
26:06 Uh we don't really have any
26:08 peer cities in new england so
26:11 we we go throughout the country
26:13 the city similar in size or is
26:15 what we call major cities and
26:17 crime statistically is as far
26:19 as that goes we are doing quite
26:20 well in comparison to other
26:23 cities um averaging about you
26:26 know, 3433 uh uh violent crimes
26:30 per city residents which is uh
26:32 a leader within our country by
26:33 far.
26:35 And if you go look at homicides
26:39 for the year um and no no any
26:41 homicide is too many but um but
26:43 in comparison to other cities
26:45 we are doing quite well um,
26:47 that way.
26:47 again leading the country in
26:52 Firearm statistics uh, we are
26:54 doing well in virtually all
26:56 categories confirmed shots
26:56 fired.
26:57 We're down.
26:59 Um total incidents in guns.
27:00 Fires were down.
27:03 Uh shots uh victims who have
27:05 been fatally shot um from from
27:08 last year we were down by one
27:11 one person uh and again
27:12 non-fatal shooting victims were
27:13 down like 4%.
27:15 Total shooting victims were
27:16 down five 4%.
27:17 Excuse me.
27:20 So we are down in almost all