As 118 new officers join Boston police, council takes up residency and age rules for recruits

The Boston Police Department has 118 new officers on the street. The class graduated at Faneuil Hall on Oct. 15 after a six-month academy, along with one officer for the Boston Housing Authority police, the Dorchester Reporter reported on Monday. Sixty-six members of the class are bilingual and 18 have military backgrounds, according to the Reporter. The Boston Globe also covered the ceremony.

Mayor Michelle Wu told the graduates the class "represents every culture of our city," and Commissioner Michael Cox urged them to use every interaction to build trust, the Reporter reported.

How many officers Boston has, and who is allowed to become one, are recurring questions at the City Council. Two items on Wednesday's agenda deal with the rules that shape recruitment.

What's on Wednesday's agenda

A residency resolution. City Councilor Ed Flynn filed a resolution supporting a waiver of the 10-year residency requirement for Boston Police civilian employees who become sworn officers (docket 2052). The resolution says city workers must live in Boston and prove it every year under a 1994 ordinance; police officers must live in the city for a year before taking the civil service exam; and police and fire union members can move out after 10 years under their contracts. A civilian department employee who has finished 10 years and then joins the academy must start the 10-year clock over, the resolution says. It argues the department should be "comfortably in excess" of 2,500 officers.

Another age waiver. City Councilor Miniard Culpepper filed a home rule petition asking the Legislature to waive the maximum age requirement for one police applicant (docket 2042). These one-person petitions have become routine. The council passed similar police waivers on May 20 (10-0, docket 1053), Sept. 16 (12-0, docket 1714) and Oct. 21 (docket 1962). Each still needs approval from the State House.

What our records show

• Staffing numbers. At a May 19 Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee hearing, a department official said Boston had 2,234 officers, including recruits then in the academy, with 2,102 available for duty. She said the department loses about 107 officers a year on average, mostly to retirement, and that about 120 retirements were forecast for calendar 2026 (watch at 33:14).
• A broader age fix. On Sept. 23, City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata said she has filed a home rule petition to waive the maximum age requirement more generally so that more people get a shot at the academy, and invited colleagues to advocate for it at the State House (watch at 3:00:22). She raised questions that day about Flynn's separate resolution for a police recruitment and retention commission, saying she wanted to know what it would do that the department's existing programs do not (3:00:52). Flynn said the commission would help publicize academy classes and promote officer wellness (2:58:17).
• Residency and other departments. At a May 11 budget hearing, City Councilor Erin Murphy asked about the three-year residency requirement to apply to the police cadet program and whether Boston-raised applicants get an advantage (watch at 2:42:57). On May 21, City Councilor Benjamin Jacob Weber asked public health officials how much of their hiring trouble comes from residency rules rather than pay (watch at 2:40:25).

The residency question reaches well beyond policing. The city requires nearly all employees to live in Boston, and exemptions are set by ordinance and union contracts.

What's next

Resolutions can be adopted the day they are filed if no councilor objects, or sent to committee. A resolution would put the council on record but would not change the residency ordinance or union contracts. The age-waiver petition, if passed, goes to the Legislature. Wednesday's meeting starts at noon in the Iannella Chamber, according to the city's notice.