The first thing that Tom Hurley wanted to make clear in his interview with the Cambridge Spy last week was how pleased he was with the City Council in their recent efforts to improve the recruitment, retention, and retirement plans for its police officers.
The president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Cambridge-Dorchester Lodge, who retired two years ago after serving 30 years with the Cambridge Police, is relieved that after years of negligence, the city’s elected officials have finally gotten the message that to have a safer community, Cambridge must be competitive and diligent in keeping their law enforcement professionals on the job.
And while Hurley is pleased with these new developments, he is equally candid in his assessment that Cambridge has a long way to go in ensuring it has enough police power to manage a city’s public safety needs. In his interview with the Spy, Tom cites sobering statistics that indicate that Cambridge still faces a severe shortage of trained police officers. In fact, he notes that the recommended size should be 46 on the force, but that number at the end of 2021 is only 32.
Hurley highlights what Cambridge needs to do to get more cops on the street and, ultimately, his optimism that as long as the city continues to take major steps forward, he’s confident that his community will be a much safer place in the future.
This video is approximately seven minutes in length. For more information about the Fraternal Order of Police, Cambridge-Dorchester Lodge please go here.
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