Special Board of Aldermen 06-07-2021 Page 4
You all reaped the benefits of that through the quality of the police officers that work in Nashua. It could
mean that those less qualified may get hired or promoted based on the personal wishes of a local politician.
Decisions may not be based on qualifications and the level of professionalism from our agency would
suffer.
A majority of the police officers that come to work in Nashua are from cities and towns where there is local
political influence and control. They come here for the very reason of avoiding the negative element. They
know that when it comes to Nashua, they will be hired and progress through the ranks based solely on
performance and not who you know. That could change under the current proposal. It greatly increases
the likelihood that this influence would significantly lower the quality of officers hired and promoted.
The dangers don’t only come from who gets hired or promoted, local political loyalty can also bring
influence over criminal investigations and how they are handled. As you will hear later tonight, there are
times when allegations are made involving local officials, entities and there needs to be an ability to
effectively and appropriately conduct those investigations without fear of influence over those political
offices. You'll hear from retired Nashua Police Chief Tim Hefferan who will advise that he was only able to
conduct an investigation in the early ‘90s because he didn’t fear reprisal from the local sitting officials.
The current system allows for better transparency which as of late has been something expected more and
more by our citizens. Under our current system if an allegation is made, an investigation is completed and
the outcome can be presented with the public knowing that there has not been any influence from political
offices. Not matter what the outcome, the local government can now say they had no influence. That will
not be the case if you make these proposed changes.
Finally on this point, | can say that | as well as my past few predecessors have never received a call from
the Governor or an Executive Council member expressing any attempts to influence the daily operations of
the Nashua Police Department. It has been presented that we are the only city without local appointments.
First of all as | spoke earlier, all of our commissioners are local, Nashua taxpaying citizens. Secondly, |
agree wholeheartedly that we are the only police department left with no system. That’s a good thing. The
Nashua Police Department is considered the leader of police agencies in this State. We have a reputation
for professionalism and progressive thinking throughout the State and New England. We've been
nationally accredited since 1991. Our very first accreditation report recognized us for having a non-locally
appointed commissioner to keep political influence out of the management of the department.
A CALEA certification is not easy to obtain or maintain as you’ve heard and learned. We have held the
highest level of certification for years. We are an agency that is committed to and strives to follow best
practices in the field of law enforcement. You have seen over the past year that we do not have problems
that other communities or police agencies have. | have worked with numerous community groups
alongside many of you aldermen and alderwoman as well as the Mayor. Many of you have continually told
me that we are by far the best agency in the State. Many of you have campaigned on the safety and
confidence your police department provides. You promote Nashua as being the safest and best place to
live in the State as well as the country. You have all expressed the confidence that we are leaders among
policing in this State.
| have asked many of you what if anything would you like to see changed. What concerns do you have
about how the agency is being run? The answer from all of you have been that our agency is the best. |
agree that we are the best so why would you change it to something less? Why would you want to bring
into question local political influence? That makes no sense to me or anyone else.
We've been compared to Manchester and Portsmouth as agencies that have changed to local control. |’
curious as to what is great about that. Portsmouth has elected police commissioners. | think we can all
agree that elected commissioners would bring you more potential for political favoritism and loyalties.
Manchester has a commission that is advisory only. They have no decision making powers. Instead,
giving all the power to the Mayor. Is the goal for us to strive to be more like Manchester? People choose to
move to Nashua these other towns and cities for a reason.
m
