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105-601: The Boston police strike occurred on September 9, 1919, when Boston police officers went on strike seeking recognition for their trade union and improvements in wages and working conditions. Police Commissioner Edwin Upton Curtis denied that police officers had any right to form a union, much less one affiliated with a larger organization like the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which some attribute to concerns that unionized police would not protect

210-412: A " mooninite " used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters , a film based on the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network 's late-night programming block Adult Swim . The BPD's handling of this incident has been criticized by some Boston residents and justified by others: One resident said that the police response

315-473: A Republican in a strongly Democratic city. The Boston Transcript reported: Massachusetts is hailed today from Maine to California as the winner of a shining triumph for straight Americanism. The voting booths of the old Bay State were a battleground for the nation. The ancient faith was under fire. Law and order formed the line of cleavage. The Governor was the Commander-in-chief, the people of

420-425: A burglary. A struggle ensued, and one of the suspects was able to get behind Hodsdon and shoot him in the head. Hodsdon died about 10:00 A.M., becoming the first Boston police officer killed in the line of duty. He was 25 years old. The murderers fled. Thousands of people visited the station house to view the body. Hodsdon left behind his wife Lydia and infant son Ezekiel, who was born just 13 days prior to his death. He

525-486: A commissioner can only be removed from the position for cause until their term expires. A commissioner may be appointed to a five-year term, or to serve the remainder of a predecessor's five-year term. Names in italics indicate a person served as acting (interim) commissioner only. Since 1985, several acting commissioners have been sworn as permanent. Numbering is per cited contemporary news reports and may include inconsistencies. The Boston Police Special Operations Unit

630-469: A dramatic shift in traditional labor relations and views on the part of the police, who were unhappy with stagnant wages and poor working conditions. The city soon fell into riots and public chaos as over three-fourths of the department was no longer enforcing public peace. Governor Calvin Coolidge intervened to quash further chaos. Coolidge announced that the police did not have the right to strike against

735-452: A manner that will give the prejudiced press and autocratic employers a chance to criticize us." On September 11, Matthew Woll, an AFL vice-president, said his organization discouraged strikes by government employees but defended their right to organize: "all wage earners have the right to associate with one another and collectively to improve their condition". He blamed the strike on government managers who failed to recognize that right and put

840-578: A national reputation. Nine civilians were killed in several days of civil unrest and the threat of a general strike . Eight of the nine were fatally shot by members of the State Guard. The police strike ended on September 13, when Commissioner Curtis announced the replacement of all striking workers with 1,500 new officers, given higher wages. The strike proved a setback for labor unions. The AFL discontinued its attempts to organize police officers for another two decades. Coolidge went on to win election as

945-665: A new law went into effect which replaced the three-member Boston police commission with a single police commissioner. On May 23, 1906, Governor Curtis Guild Jr. cabled O'Meara, who staying in Dresden , informing him that he had been nominated for the position of police commissioner and asking him to return to the city at once. He departed from Liverpool on the SS Arabic on May 25. He arrived in Boston on June 2, 1906 and took office on June 4. After taking office, O'Meara instituted

1050-643: A number of reforms. During his first year, O'Meara barred officers from accepting rewards for routine action, replaced the disciplinary action of fining police officers with extra work assignments, forbid city hall officials from interfering with police business, eliminated bathhouse details, opposed veteran's preference for appointment to the police department, and issued new orders regarding his officers' use of firearms, arrest of juveniles, physical appearance. In 1915 he ordered that police officers no longer regulate dancing at hotels and other places that sold liquor. O'Meara's appointment expired in 1911. His reappointment

1155-482: A number of sailors from docked naval ships, that took to the streets, smashing windows, committing robbery and stoning bystanders and cars. It said that the northern, southern, and western areas of the city were all taken over by armed gangs. Legislation passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 1933 made it easier for police officers who had been off the force for more than a year to apply for reinstatement. It

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1260-564: A pool of unemployed World War I veterans. Members of the United Garment Workers refused to sew uniforms for the new hires, who had to report for work in civilian clothing. The new officers hired in the wake of the strike received higher salaries and more vacation days than the strikers had. They enjoyed a starting salary of $ 1,400 along with a pension plan, and the department covered the cost of their uniforms and equipment. The population of Boston raised $ 472,000 to help pay for

1365-535: A strike and scheduled it to start at evening roll call the next day. Their stated grounds omitted wages and working conditions. They said the strike's rationale was to protest the Commissioner's denial of their right to ally themselves with the AFL. In anticipation of the strike, all of Boston's newspapers called it " Bolshevistic ", pleaded with the police to reconsider and predicted dire consequences. One also warned

1470-442: A union affiliated with the AFL until a conference scheduled for October 6. The police accepted Gompers' recommendation immediately. Coolidge replied with a statement of support for Curtis' hard line. Gompers telegraphed Coolidge again, this time blaming Curtis for the crisis. Coolidge dismissed the Commissioner's behavior as irrelevant, because no provocation could justify the police walkout. His terse summation created his reputation on

1575-597: Is a specialized unit within the Boston Police Department responsible for combined duties involving Highway Patrol and traffic enforcement, crowd control, and special weapons and tactics ( SWAT ) services within the city. One unique feature of the unit is that the Special Operations Unit primarily relies on the use of Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors and Harley-Davidsons in their daily patrols. The use of motorcycles allows

1680-535: Is also featured in the television series Spenser: For Hire , Rizzoli & Isles , Leverage , Crossing Jordan , Fringe , and the failed Katee Sackhoff / Goran Visnjic police show pilot Boston's Finest . Stephen O%27Meara Stephen O'Meara (1854–1918) was a Canadian-born American journalist and political figure who was the first commissioner of the Boston Police Department and editor of The Boston Journal . O'Meara

1785-577: Is an imported, revolutionary idea that may spread to various cities. There should be plain and stern law against it. It is practically an analogue of military desertion... [I]t ought to be punished suitably and repressed. It later called the strike "this Boston essay in Bolshevism" and lamented the attempt of Mayor Peters and the Storrow Commission "to submit to compromise an issue that could not be compromised". Newspaper accounts exaggerated

1890-654: Is now aware of the effectiveness with which the Massachusetts State Guard worked when it came into the city. I cannot add anything to the universal chorus of commendation that has greeted their work." The morning papers following the first night's violence were full of loud complaints and derogatory terms for the police: "deserters", "agents of Lenin". Violence peaked the next evening, the night of September 10–11. Businesses were better prepared. Some had boarded up and others stayed open all night with armed guards visible to discourage thieves taking advantage of

1995-515: Is the maintenance of order in the case of strike violence. In such a case, if he is faithful to his union, he may have to be unfaithful to the public, which pays him to protect it. The situation is false and impossible.... It is the privilege of Boston policemen to resign if they are not satisfied with the conditions of their employment.... but it is intolerable that a city ... should be deserted by men who misunderstand their position and function as policemen, and who take their orders from outside.... [I]t

2100-698: The Massachusetts Governor's Council . On May 7, 1931, Garrett pleaded to guilty and was sentenced to two years in the Deer Island House of Correction and fined $ 100. In 1965, the largest police union representing Boston police employees, the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association , was formed. In 1974 and 1975, the BPD was involved in maintaining order during the public disturbance over court-ordered busing , which

2205-526: The New York Times , "seem to have had a marked effect". Coolidge said he originally hoped to reinstate the officers, stating in a telegram to a labor convention, "I earnestly hope that circumstances may arise which will cause the police officers to be reinstated". Over the objections of Mayor Peters, Commissioner Curtis announced on September 13 that he planned to recruit a new force. He fired roughly 1,100 and hired 1,574 replacement police officers from

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2310-552: The Nobel Peace Prize , told a Carnegie Hall audience on September 17 that the strike was an attack on constitutional government because it represented "the passing of power to enforce laws, the power to punish crime, the power to maintain order from the whole people of the United States" to the 3% of the population represented by the AFL. A report from Washington was headlined: "Senators Think Effort to Sovietize

2415-642: The North End . In 1871, the Boston Police Relief Association was founded. The purpose of the Boston Relief Association is intended to provide support and relief for officers of the Boston Police Department and their families. It was incorporated under the statutes of Massachusetts in 1876. The Boston Police Department appointed Horatio J. Homer , its first African American officer, on December 24, 1878. He

2520-560: The Association of Former Police of the City of Boston. The strike gave momentum to Coolidge's political career, and a nationwide reputation for decisive action that was not in keeping with his tendency toward deliberation. In 1918, he had narrowly been elected governor. In 1919 he won 62% of the votes when running against an opponent who favored reinstating the strikers. He failed to carry Boston by just 5,000 votes, an impressive showing for

2625-464: The BPD requires all employed officers hired since 1995 to live within Boston city-limits. The BPD is divided into three zones and 11 neighborhood districts spread across the city, with each zone supervised by a Deputy Superintendent and every district headed by a Captain. The Boston Police rank structure is as follows: Dennis White was appointed as commissioner on February 1, 2021; he was placed on leave on February 3, 2021. Gregory P. Long has been

2730-587: The Boston Police Strike Made Him a National Figure". Coolidge's political rivals interpreted his role differently. In 1925, U.S. Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin said that Coolidge's failure to intervene in that year's coal strike mirrored his 1919 actions when he "persistently refused to act upon the requests of the Mayor of Boston for assistance until riot and bloodshed had aroused the entire State. Then when order had been restored by

2835-409: The Boston situation in the context of the broader union movement: "On the question of industrial democracy [i.e., unionization], we find still that group of employers, Bourbonic in character, who believe democracy means for them to ruin or rule industrially. They cannot conceive that the workers have any right in the management of industry. ... The time has passed when any man can say he is the ruler of

2940-665: The Government Is Started". Senator Henry Cabot Lodge saw in the strike the dangers of the national labor movement: "If the American Federation of Labor succeeds in getting hold of the police in Boston it will go all over the country, and we shall be in measurable distance of Soviet government by labor unions." The Ohio State Journal opposed any sympathetic treatment of the strikers: "When a policeman strikes, he should be debarred not only from resuming his office, but from citizenship as well. He has committed

3045-478: The Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 1920 presidential election and became president in 1923 upon President Warren Harding 's death. In 1895, the Massachusetts legislature transferred control of the Boston police department from Boston's mayor to the governor of Massachusetts, whom it authorized to appoint a five-person board of commissioners to manage the department. In 1906,

3150-472: The State Guards until new police officers could be recruited. The State Guard was relieved from duty on December 21, 1919 after the Boston Police Department had recruited enough new members to begin policing the city again. "Bolshevism in the United States is no longer a specter. Boston in chaos reveals its sinister substance." Philadelphia Public Ledger In an editorial on the first morning of

3255-439: The Storrow Commission's proposal. He proceeded with department trials of the 19 and on September 8 found them guilty of union activity. Rather than dismiss them from the police force, he extended their suspensions. He later explained that he was giving them an opportunity to reconsider their actions and avoid discharges, which would have been irrevocable. The police union members responded that same day by voting 1134 to 2 in favor of

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3360-498: The United States. The department was closely organized and modeled after Sir Robert Peel 's (London) Metropolitan Police Service . On November 3, 1851, the first Irish-born Boston Police officer, Bernard "Barney" McGinniskin , was appointed. His presence generated considerable controversy. The Boston Pilot wrote, "He is the first Irishman that ever carried the stick of a policeman anywhere in this country, and meetings, even Faneuil Hall meetings, have been held to protect against

3465-431: The appointment." At the time, the police salary of $ 2.00 a day for the morning and afternoon beat and $ 1.20 for the night watch was nearly twice as high as the wages of laborers. City Marshal Francis Tukey resisted mayor John Prescott Bigelow 's appointment of McGinniskin, expressing the predominant anti-Irish sentiments in the city by arguing it was done at "the expense of an American." On January 5, 1852, shortly before

3570-524: The census, or watching the polls at election" and checking the backgrounds of prospective jurors as well as serving as "errand boys" for their officers. They complained about having to share beds and the lack of sanitation, baths, and toilets at many of the 19 station houses where they were required to live, most of which dated to before the Civil War. The Court Street station had four toilets for 135 men, and one bathtub. Boston's police officers, acting with

3675-498: The city and, according to the New York Times , "throughout the greater part of the city the usual peace and quiet prevailed." In the morning the mayor asked the governor to furnish a force of State Guards; Coolidge promptly agreed and eventually provided almost 5,000 men under the command of Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Parker . Commissioner Curtis later praised the State Guards ' performance in his Annual Report : "The whole community

3780-550: The city for a year long vacation in Europe, where his children were to attend school. In 1910, O'Meara again ran for Congress in the 11th District. He ran as a progressive and opposed Republican Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon . He lost the Republican nomination to conservative W. Dudley Cotton Jr. 3,091 votes to 2,146. Cotton had run an energetic campaign while O'Meara elected to not campaign at all. In 1906,

3885-551: The city for losses incurred during the two nights of disorder ran to $ 35,000, of which the city paid $ 34,000. Those figures represent a non-partisan calculation of the costs of the strike to the Boston business community. When Governor Coolidge called the strikers "deserters", a mass meeting of the Boston Police Union responded: When we were honorably discharged from the United States army, we were hailed as heroes and saviors of our country. We returned to our duties on

3990-540: The city to appoint police officers, paving the way for the creation of a formal police department. The Boston Police Department was formally founded in May 1854, at which point both the night watch and Day Police were disbanded. A 14-inch club replaced the old hook and bill, which had been in use for 154 years. At the time of its founding, the Boston Police constituted one of the first paid, professional police services in

4095-560: The city's Property Management Department. There was no merger with the Boston Municipal Police. The transfer of Munis was planned in mid-2006 by Mayor Thomas M. Menino . This plan was met with heavy protest from the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA). The BPPA's argument was that the Municipal officers were not qualified to be Boston police officers due to lack of training, political patronage, nepotism, and

4200-448: The commonwealth were the invincible army, the issue was America, and in the triumph of that issue all America triumphs. Coolidge himself later said, "No doubt it was the police strike in Boston that brought me into national prominence." In a post-election congratulatory telegram President Wilson wrote: "I congratulate you upon your election as a victory for law and order. When that is the issue, all Americans must stand together." His role in

4305-705: The cost of living rose by 76%, while police wages rose just 18%. Discontent and restiveness among the Boston police force grew as they compared their wages and found they were earning less than an unskilled steelworker, half as much as a carpenter or mechanic and 50 cents a day less than a streetcar conductor. Boston city laborers were earning a third more on an hourly basis. Police officers had an extensive list of grievances. They worked ten-hour shifts and typically recorded weekly totals between 75 and 90 hours. They were not paid for time spent on court appearances. They also objected to being required to perform such tasks as "delivering unpaid tax bills, surveying rooming houses, taking

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4410-429: The department", making an exception only for patriotic organizations such as the newly-formed American Legion . His administration argued that such a rule was based on the conflict of interest between police officers' duties and union membership: It is or should be apparent to any thinking person that the police department of this or any other city cannot fulfill its duty to the entire public if its members are subject to

4515-405: The department’s evidence warehouse. In April 2021, The Boston Globe reported that a 1995 internal investigation by the BPD concluded that Patrick M. Rose Sr., a BPD patrolman, had likely sexual assaulted a 12-year-old child. The BPD did not act on that finding. Instead, Rose kept his badge, served for another 21 years, and was elected president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association . He

4620-403: The direction of an organization existing outside the department.... If troubles and disturbances arise where the interests of this organization and the interests of other elements and classes in the community conflict, the situation immediately arises which always arises when a man attempts to serve two masters, – he must fail either in his duty as a policeman, or in his obligation to

4725-412: The east", equating the events they anticipated in Boston with the earlier Seattle General Strike . Mayor Peters sought to play an intermediary role by appointing a Citizen's Committee to review the dispute about union representation. He chose a well-known local reformer as its chair, James J. Storrow , whose group recommended that Curtis and the police agree to a police union without AFL ties and without

4830-659: The efforts of Mayor Peters and the Storrow committee Coolidge sent in the militia and claimed full credit for restoring 'law and order'." The strike heightened public fear of labor unrest and the possible radicalism that lay behind it. It contributed to the public anxiety of the period known as the Red Scare of 1919–1920. The failure of this and other strikes in the years following World War I contributed to declining union membership in subsequent years. The American Federation of Labor responded to political pressure experienced during

4935-549: The election of representatives from each precinct house by secret ballot, and it met just once. A few months later, in June 1919, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), responding to repeated requests from local police organizations, began accepting police organizations into their membership. By September, it had granted charters to police unions in 37 cities, including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, and St. Paul, though not without protests from some city officials, who opposed

5040-484: The end of January 2021, mayor Marty Walsh quickly named superintendent Dennis White to succeed Gross. White was sworn in on February 1, 2021. Two days later, White was placed on leave due to "the handling of a 1999 allegation of domestic violence" against White coming to light. The city of Boston subsequently hired an independent attorney to conduct an investigation; meanwhile, Walsh resigned as mayor upon his confirmation as United States Secretary of Labor . Results of

5145-512: The evening of September 11, the Central Labor Union met to consider calling a general strike in support of the striking police. Earlier it had expressed enthusiasm for a general strike, more likely as an expression of solidarity than a declaration of serious intent. It collected the votes of its constituent unions and on September 12 announced it was delaying a decision. Their statement explained their reasoning: "We are not to act in

5250-471: The fact that the Munis were not civil service tested. On January 31, 2007, 911 callers mistakenly identified small electronic promotions found throughout Boston and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville as possible explosives. Upon investigation by Boston Police and other agencies, the suspicious devices turned out to be battery-powered LED placards with an image of a cartoon character called

5355-405: The first night watch was established in Boston in 1635. In 1703, pay in the sum of 35 shillings a month was set for members of the night watch. In 1796, the watch was reorganized, and the watchmen carried a badge of office, a rattle, and a six-foot pole, which was painted blue and white with a hook on one end and a bill on the other. The hook was used to grab fleeing criminals, and the rounded "bill"

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5460-675: The following vehicles. Boston police officers may carry "only weapons, magazines and ammunition authorized and issued by the Department", which "include, but are not limited to": The Boston Police Department has been portrayed in several prominent motion pictures including The Equalizer , Patriots Day , Gone Baby Gone , Mystic River , The Departed , Edge of Darkness , Blown Away , The Brink's Job , That's My Boy , R.I.P.D. , The Heat , X2 , What's The Worst That Could Happen? , The Boondock Saints , Spenser Confidential , Surrogates , and The Town . BPD

5565-550: The funds that Massachusetts municipalities could raise through property taxes and led to cuts in fire departments and police agencies. Through committing arson, the ring hoped to cause social disorder to make the case for the necessity of firefighters and police. In 1989, Charles Stuart killed his wife and accused an unknown black man for the murder. BPD proceeded to conduct a manhunt targeting young black men, indiscriminately using stop and frisk tactics, especially in neighborhoods of Mission Hill and Roxbury . Some residents compared

5670-519: The interest of city officials and business leaders. Attempts at reconciliation between the Commissioner and the police officers, particularly on the part of Boston's mayor, Andrew James Peters , failed. During the strike, Boston experienced several nights of lawlessness. Several thousand members of the Massachusetts State Guard , supported by volunteers, restored order by force. Press reaction both locally and nationally described

5775-446: The investigation were released in mid-May, followed by several legal actions by White's attorney seeking to block the city from terminating White. Ultimately, acting mayor Kim Janey fired White on June 7, 2021. The Boston Police Department has approximately 2,015 officers and 808 civilian personnel, with patrol services covering an area of 89.6 mi (232.1 km ) and a population of 617,594. Like all City of Boston departments,

5880-539: The job. Among us are men who have ridden with dispatches through shell fire so dense that four men fell and only the fifth got through. Not one man of us ever disgraced the flag or his service. It is bitter to come home and be called deserters and traitors. We are the same men who were on the French front. Some of us fought in the Spanish war of 1898. Won't you tell the people of Massachusetts in which war you served? On

5985-401: The legislature abolished that board and gave the governor the authority to name a single commissioner to a term of five years, subject to removal by the governor. The mayor and the city continued to have responsibility for the department's expenses and the physical working conditions of its employees, but the commissioner controlled department operations and the hiring, training, and discipline of

6090-414: The level of crime and violence that accompanied the strike, resulting in a national furor that shaped the political response. A Philadelphia paper viewed the Boston violence in the same light as other labor unrest and numerous race riots in 1919: "Bolshevism in the United States is no longer a specter. Boston in chaos reveals its sinister substance." President Woodrow Wilson , speaking from Montana, branded

6195-503: The national scene: "There is no right to strike against the public safety, anywhere, anytime." Coolidge said he would continue to "defend the sovereignty of Massachusetts". By the weekend, the presence of the State Guards had become a curiosity. Larger than usual crowds strolled in the center of the city. Thousands attended a band concert on the Boston Common. "The shootings of the last few days for interference with guardsmen", said

6300-607: The newly elected mayor Benjamin Seaver (who had been supported by Tukey) took office, Tukey fired McGinniskin without giving a reason. After criticism in the press, Seaver reinstated McGinniskin, who remained in the police until the 1854 anti-Irish groundswell of the Know Nothing /American Party movement, when in the words of the Boston Pilot , "Mr. McGinniskin was discharged from the Boston Police for no other reason than he

6405-414: The night of September 9–10, the city witnessed an outbreak of hooliganism and looting. Some was rowdy behavior that scared respectable citizens, such as youths throwing rocks at streetcars and overturning the carts of street vendors. More overtly criminal activity included the smashing of store windows and looting their displays or setting off false fire alarms. Such activity was restricted to certain parts of

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6510-533: The officers. O'Meara died in December 1918, and Governor Samuel McCall appointed Edwin Upton Curtis , former mayor of Boston, as commissioner of the Boston Police Department . After another meeting where representatives of the Social Club repeated their salary demands, Peters said: "while the word 'strike' was not mentioned, the whole situation is far more serious than I realized." He also made it clear to

6615-422: The organization that controls him. Some attribute the concern from Commissioner Curtis, which was shared by the chamber of commerce, to the fear that unionized police would align with workers and not continue to protect the interest of capitalists. On August 15, the police received their AFL charter. On August 17, the Central Labor Union of Boston welcomed the police union and denounced Curtis for his assertions that

6720-575: The paper to Frank Munsey and retired from publishing. On September 7, 1904, O'Meara declared his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives seat in Massachusetts's 11th congressional district . He lost the Republican nomination to Eugene Foss 2,993 votes to 2,271. Republicans considered nominating O'Meara in the 1905 Boston mayoral election , but he had no interest in running. On July 20 he and his family left

6825-485: The people in his employment." AFL President Samuel Gompers , just returned from Europe, quickly assessed the situation and the strength of public sentiment. On September 12, he urged the strikers to return to work, asking the city to agree to suspend judgment on whether to recognize the police union. In a telegram to Mayor Peters he cited the model of Washington, D.C., which had, at the suggestion of President Wilson, suspended its regulation forbidding police officers to join

6930-617: The police board) consisted of members nominated by the Governor of Massachusetts and approved by the Massachusetts Governor's Council . The commission was established in 1878 and abolished in 1906. Boston's police commissioner was appointed by the Governor until 1962. Edmund L. McNamara was the first commissioner to be appointed by the mayor of Boston , taking office in April 1962 via appointment by mayor John F. Collins . Once appointed,

7035-505: The police force of Boston. Now, though only a few months have passed, we are denounced as deserters, as traitors to our city and violators of our oath of office. The first men to raise the cry were those who have always been opposed to giving to labor a living wage. It was taken up by the newspapers, who cared little for the real facts. You finally added your word of condemnation.... Among us are men who have gone against spitting machine guns single-handed, and captured them, volunteering for

7140-593: The police had no right to unionize. Curtis refused to meet with the eight members of the police union's committee. He suspended them and 11 others who held various union offices and scheduled trials to determine if they had violated his General Order. At this point, Curtis was a hero to business interests. Late in August, the New Hampshire Association of Manufacturers called him "the Ole Hanson of

7245-443: The police officers. In 1918, the salary for patrolmen was set at $ 1,400 a year ($ 28,400 in 2024). Police officers had to buy their own uniforms and equipment which cost over $ 200. New recruits received $ 730 during their first year, which increased annually to $ 821.25 and $ 1000, and to $ 1,400 after six years. In the years following World War I , inflation dramatically eroded the value of a police officer's salary. From 1913 to May 1919,

7350-449: The police that their eventual defeat was guaranteed, that they would lose because "behind Boston in this skirmish with Bolshevism stands Massachusetts, and behind Massachusetts stands America." On September 9, Boston Police Department officers went on strike at 5:45 p.m. Of the force's 1,544 officers and men, 1,117 (72%) failed to report for work. Coolidge assigned 100 members of the state's Metropolitan Park Police Department to replace

7455-430: The public safety and brought in the state national guard to restore order to Boston. The strike was broken, permanently, when Coolidge hired replacement police officers, many of whom were returning servicemen from World War I , and the former officers were refused re-entry into the department. Ironically, the new officers hired in the wake of the strike received higher salaries, more vacation days and city-provided uniforms,

7560-650: The public." Beginning in September–October 2011, protesters assembled in Dewey Square as a show of solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York. In the early hours of October 11, 2011, Boston Police and Transit Police moved into the protesters' secondary camp, arresting approximately 100 protesters. Protesters reported numerous incidents of police brutality . Mayor Menino denied

7665-517: The rank and file that they were not entitled to form their own union. Curtis did not share his predecessor's or the mayor's sympathy for the police, but in February 1918 he offered a wage compromise that the police rejected. In May, Governor Coolidge announced raises, which were also rejected. When the Social Club's representatives tried to raise grievances with him, Curtis set up his own grievance committee to handle management-employee disputes, based on

7770-455: The receipt of the fingerprints, the FBI determined that the suspect had a number of prior arrests, including one for assault with intent to kill. On December 31, 2006, 31 Boston Municipal Police Officers were allowed to transfer to the Boston Police. On January 1, 2007, the rest of the Munis were either laid off or transferred to the city's Municipal Protective Services, which provides security to

7875-660: The reports and claimed that the protesters endangered public safety. The BPD responded to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. During the 2020 George Floyd riots , the department came under scrutiny by elected officials for its usage of tear gas against civilians. Demonstrations against police brutality began in the city in May 2020 and continued through June. In early September 2020, United States Attorney Andrew Lelling indicted nine former and current Boston police officers for allegedly collecting more than $ 200,000 in fraudulent overtime payments while working in

7980-462: The response to living in a war zone and the response is said to have contributed to distrust between black communities and BPD for decades following. On August 23, 1995, the BPD became the first police agency to send fingerprint images to the FBI electronically using the newly created EFIPS (now IAFIS ) system. The first set of fingerprints were for a suspect arrested for armed robbery. Within hours of

8085-523: The right to strike. Curtis would recognize the police union, which would agree to remain "independent and unaffiliated" and no action would be taken against the 19 men Curtis had suspended. Four of Boston's five newspapers backed the compromise, with only the Boston Transcript holding to a consistent anti-union position. The Boston Chamber of Commerce backed it as well. Curtis, with the backing of Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge , rejected

8190-533: The sponsorship of the police department, had formed an association known as the Boston Social Club in 1906. In 1917, a committee of police officers representing the Social Club met with Commissioner Stephen O'Meara to ask about a raise. He was sympathetic, but advised them to wait for a better time. They pressed the issue in the summer of 1918 and, near the end of the year, Mayor Andrew Peters offered salary increases that would affect about one-fourth of

8295-481: The strike and revoked the charters it had granted to police unions. That ended police unionism in the U.S. for two decades, as police would not try to unionize until World War II . In 1930, a history of the Boston Transcript , the most resolutely anti-union of Boston's newspapers in 1919, perpetuated its original account of urban chaos during the strike's first nights. It described large crowds, including

8400-456: The strike as Bolshevik -inspired and directed at the destruction of civil society. The strikers were called "deserters" and "agents of Lenin ". Samuel Gompers of the AFL recognized that the strike was damaging the cause of labor in the public mind and advised the strikers to return to work. Commissioner Curtis refused to re-hire the striking policemen. He was supported by Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge , whose rebuke of Gompers earned him

8505-456: The strike, The New York Times supported the police commissioner and said that the strikers were "[i]nspired unconsciously by anti-social ideals, or acting by 'suggestion' of their London and Liverpool brethren", which had recently seen similar strikes. It said: A policeman has no more right to belong to a union than a soldier or a sailor. He must be ready to obey orders, the orders of his superiors, not those of any outside body. One of his duties

8610-493: The strike, however limited, became a prominent feature of his resume as he sought higher office. According to one obituary, "the Boston police strike of 1919 ... brought him national prominence and the nomination for the Vice Presidency" in 1920. When he succeeded to the presidency in 1923 upon the death of Warren Harding , the New York Times headlined its biography: "Coolidge Firmness Won Recognition; His Suppression of

8715-541: The strike. Gamblers played dice in open view, and women had their handbags snatched. But the Guard's inexperience at handling crowds resulted in dangerous attempts to assert control. Gunfire in South Boston left two dead and others wounded. One person died in a riot at Scollay Square , a center of amusement halls and theaters. Whether the crowds were threatening property or making trouble because they were in sympathy with

8820-642: The strikers is unknown. The death total ultimately reached nine. In the "cavalry charge" of State Guard troops in Scollay Square on the 10th, Robert Lallie was shot and killed; Miss Margaret Walsh was wounded and died the next day. Henry Groat (or Grote), age 20, was killed near the Armory near Jamaica Plain for refusing to abandon a game of craps. On the 11th a striking policeman, a nine-year veteran named Richard D. Reemts, disarmed two strikebreaking policemen at Columbus Avenue and Buckingham Street. Reemts then

8925-406: The striking officers, but 58 of them refused to participate and were suspended from their jobs. Despite assurances from Commissioner Curtis to Mayor Peters and Governor Coolidge, Boston had little police protection for the night of September 9. Volunteer replacements were still being organized and due to report the next morning. Many of the strikebreakers were students at Harvard University . Over

9030-577: The superintendent-in-chief since August 2018; he was named acting commissioner upon White being placed on leave. Kathleen O'Toole was the first woman to serve as commissioner, from February 2004 through May 2006 when she left to take a new position as Chief Inspector of the Inspectorate of the Irish national police force, the Garda Síochána . A three-person police commission (also called

9135-399: The unionization of police, firefighters, and teachers. The Boston police organized under an AFL charter in order to gain support from other unions in their negotiations and any strike that might ensue. On August 9, 1919, the Boston Social Club requested a charter from the AFL. On August 11, Curtis issued a General Order forbidding police officers to join any "organization, club or body outside

9240-531: The unit to perform routine traffic enforcement; accompany parades, crowds, and visiting dignitaries; and to quickly travel to situations wherein the unit's SWAT skills are requested. Specialized trucks and support vehicles are also used to transport equipment and officers when needed. The Canine unit with twenty seven patrol/narcotics, and EOD dogs, and Bomb (EOD) squad are also under the Special Operations Division. The Boston Police uses

9345-406: The unpardonable sin; he has forfeited all his rights." In the police commissioner's Annual Report for 1919, Curtis presented his view of the strike. He argued that he had not needed the requested State Guards for the strike's first night because the city remained quiet and he trusted reports that many policemen would not join. By the end of the year the strikers had formed a new organization called

9450-452: The very demands the original strikers were requesting. The BPD strike set a precedent for further movements to stymie police unionization around the country. Coolidge's intervention in the strike brought him national fame, which, in turn, led to his nomination as Harding's running mate for vice-president in the 1920 presidential election. In 1921, Irene McAuliffe, daughter of the late Weston police chief and horse breeder Patrick McAuliffe,

9555-424: The walkout "a crime against civilization" that left the city "at the mercy of an army of thugs." He said that "the obligation of a policeman is as sacred and direct as the obligation of a soldier. He is a public servant, not a private employee, and the whole honor of the community is in his hands. He has no right to prefer any private advantage to the public safety." Elihu Root , a former Secretary of War and winner of

9660-536: Was "silly and insane," and that "We’re the laughing stock." Another resident said that the device "looked like a bomb. I picked it up, pulled the tape off it, and there were batteries, two on the top and three on the bottom." The same devices had been distributed in nine other cities across the USA without provoking a similar reaction. The United States Department of Homeland Security praised Boston authorities "for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and

9765-583: Was a Catholic and born in Ireland." McGinniskin became a United States inspector at the customhouse and died of rheumatism on March 2, 1868. McGinniskin is buried in the St. Augustine Cemetery in South Boston. On October 18, 1857, at about 5:15 a.m., Boston Police Officer Ezekiel W. Hodsdon was patrolling the corner of Havre and Maverick Street in East Boston . Hodsdon attempted to arrest two suspects for

9870-532: Was among the first six female members of the Boston Police Department. An accomplished horsewoman, she was sworn in as a mounted officer of the Weston Police Department in 1913 during the town's bicentennial celebration. She joined the District of Columbia Police Department in 1920, and in 1921 she became a member of the Boston Police Department's Vice Squad. On May 29, 1930, Oliver Garrett

9975-556: Was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on July 26, 1854. His family moved to a farm in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1864, but quickly left for Boston 's Charlestown neighborhood. He graduated from Charlestown High School in 1872. On August 5, 1878, he married Isabella M. Squire. They had three daughters. After high school, O'Meara worked for The Boston Globe as its Charlestown reporter. After three months he

10080-632: Was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, according to Boston Globe newspaper reports on October 19, 1857. On October 18, 2007, a memorial was held in honor of Hodsdon on the corner of Havre and Maverick Streets in East Boston. On July 14, 1863, Boston Mayor Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. (1858–1861 & 1863–1867) ordered all 330 officers in the Department to quell a draft riot among Irish Catholics attempting to raid Union armories in

10185-488: Was charged with 152 counts of conspiracy, extortion, and receiving gratuities for crimes allegedly committed as leader of BPD's liquor raiding unit during Prohibition . Commissioner Herbert A. Wilson , who had conducted a secret investigation into Garrett two years earlier and had overrode his subordinates to grant Garrett a questionable disability pension, was removed from office by the Governor Frank G. Allen and

10290-417: Was expected that this would lead to an effort by the former strikers to be rehired, but several subsequent appeals for reinstatement were denied. In 1937, Massachusetts Governor Charles F. Hurley , after meeting with some of the 1919 strikers, backed the decision of Police Commissioner Joseph Timilty not to reinstate them. Boston Police Department Before the existence of a formal police department,

10395-573: Was fatally shot by an auto parts dealer. Passerby Arthur E. (or E.B.) McGill was shot to death in Howard Street. Three other men, Raymond L. Barnen (reported elsewhere as Bayers or Barros), Robert Sheehan, and Anthony Carr, were also killed on the 11th. The final fatal casualty may have been 25-year-old Gustave Geist on the 13th. All but Reemts were shot by members of the state militia. City life continued relatively normally, especially during daytime hours. Schools remained open. Later claims against

10500-438: Was intended to racially desegregate Boston's public school system. The protest of white citizens escalated into street battles in 1974, and in 1975 uniformed BPD officers were stationed inside South Boston High School , Charlestown High School and other Boston public schools . Between 1982 and 1984, an arson ring that included BPD officers and allies set fire to 264 buildings. The ring opposed Proposition 2½ , which reduced

10605-515: Was promoted to sergeant in 1895. Sgt. Homer retired on Jan 29, 1919, after 40 years of service. He and his wife, Lydia Spriggs Homer, are buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Brighton , MA. On June 26, 2010, the Boston Police Department dedicated a gravestone in honor of Sgt. Homer's service. On September 9, 1919, when Police Commissioner Edwin Upton Curtis refused to allow the creation of a police union, 1,117 BPD officers went on strike. This signaled

10710-532: Was promoted to the city staff. He joined the Boston Journal in 1874 as a legislative, political, and shorthand reporter. From 1879 to 1881 he was the paper's city editor. From 1881 to 1891 he served as managing editor. On July 1, 1891, general manager W. W. Clapp retired from the paper and O'Meara was given control of both the commercial and editorial sides of the paper. Soon thereafter, O'Meara fell ill with severe acute Bright's disease . At one point he

10815-465: Was pronounced dead. However, he eventually recovered and returned to the Journal . On March 15, 1895, O'Meara resigned from the paper and was replaced by Francis M. Stanwood. On January 1, 1896, a syndicate led by W. D. Sohler purchased 80% of the paper and O'Meara returned as editor-in-chief, publisher, and part owner. In 1899 he purchased majority ownership in the paper. In October 1902, O'Meara sold

10920-504: Was ultimately arrested and on November 20, 2020, Rose was indicted in Suffolk Superior Court on thirty three counts related to sexual assault of children, including sixteen counts of child rape. During his time in the BPD, the department did nothing to limit his interactions with children, including allowing Rose to work on child sexual assault cases. Following the abrupt resignation of commissioner William G. Gross at

11025-485: Was used as a weapon. The rattle was a noise-making device used for calling for assistance. The Day Police, which had no connection to the night watch, was organized in 1838. The Day Police operated under the city marshal and had six appointed officers. This organization would eventually lead to the establishment of the modern-day Boston Police Department. In 1838, a bill passed in the General Court that allowed

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