THURSDAY AUGUST 6, 2026
SOUTH BOSTON ONLINE
VOLUME XIX- ISSUE 74
Legislation Waiving Residency Requirement to Allow Boston Police Department & Retired Officers to Work Details Councilor Flynn Files Legislation on Waiving the Residency Requirement to Allow for Transfers to the Boston Police Department & Retired Officers to Work Details
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ver the weekend, there were 9 people shot and 2 deceased throughout the City of Boston. In light of the persistent staffing and retention difficulties the Boston Police Department faces, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn filed both a resolution and a hearing order to discuss waiving the residency requirement to allow for transfers from other municipalities to the Boston Police Department. He also filed a resolution in support of allowing retired Boston Police Officers the opportunity to work paid details. Expanding the pool of qualified officers available for detail assignments would help ensure these positions are filled while reducing the need to pull active-duty officers away from patrol responsibilities. In July of 1980, the Boston Municipa l Code ma ndate established that the Boston Police Department maintain a minimum of 2,500 sworn officers. In May, the police department reported 2,102 sworn officers. However, in July, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association noted that the Department is down roughly 600 officers. Current policies require Boston residency for at least one year prior to their Civil Service exam date. Amid current staffing and retention difficulties, it is critical to examine whether the residency requirement is now hindering
the ability of the Boston Police Department to protect our city. Boston Police Off icers have worked more than 16 hour days for years, disregarding officers’ personal physical and emotional well-being, as well as that of their families. Increases in transfers, voluntary retirements and resignations have resulted in mandatory overtime for police officers. This dynamic results in both the physical and emotional burnout in our officers, and potentially diminishes their ability to serve Boston residents, as well as protecting the public and themselves. Boston Police needs a consistent influx of recruits to replace those that are retiring, resigning, and transferring to other police departments throughout Massachusetts to help prevent shortages. Waiving the residency requirement could potentially aid the recruitment process. Moreover, in 2015, the Massachusetts State Legislature enacted Chapter 124 of the Acts of 2015, “An Act Authorizing the Appointment of Retired Police Officers as Special Police Officers in the City of Boston.” This act authorizes the Police Commissioner to appoint retired Boston Police officers as special police officers, for the purpose of police details and duties arising from police detail work. This act grants the Police Commissioner sole discretion to appoint qualified retired police officers for one year terms, subject to annual renewal, and authorizes the Police Commissioner to establish qualifications, training requirements, medical standards, a nd departmenta l policies governing such appointments. Utilizing the authority granted
under Chapter 124 makes use of experienced officers that are already familiar with Boston neighborhoods, traffic patterns, and departmental procedures. Increasing the available pool of officers for detail work helps ensure that assignments are filled and do not affect patrol operations. “For many years, I have called for hiring hundreds of police officers due to longstanding issues of low staffing levels, overstretched resources, mandatory overtime and looming retirements. Now, its well-established Boston Police
Department remains several hundred officers below the Boston Municipal Code requirement of 2,500. With all of the increased violence in Boston, and in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, public safety demands that we examine any and all proposals to ensure the Boston Police Department is comfortably in excess of 2,500 officers,” said Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn. For more information, plea se contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617-635-3203 or E d . F ly n n @B o s ton .g ov.