Mayor Marty Walsh and Police Commissioner William Gross announced that veteran officer Nora Baston would lead the new Bureau of Community Engagement during a press conference Monday morning.
Baston, a 22-year veteran of the force of the has already spent a lot of time working to build relationships between the police and local youth.
“As Bureau Chief, Superintendent Baston will be charged with ensuring that every district has a dedicated and robust community policing effort, concentrating on building relationships where they don't exist and strengthening ties with the community,” Walsh said in a statement.
Speaking in the police department’s packed media room, Commissioner Gross said the new Bureau would help the police do a better job of marketing themselves.
“We want to show how well we work with the people and be transparent at the same time and show that we will have the ability to police ourselves as well, which is very important for community trust,” Gross said.
“When the families don’t know you, they’re not letting you in their life,” Baston said. “So we can have all the programs in the world, when the families don’t know you, they don’t trust you, they’re not going to let you be a role model and a mentor to your young people.”
In her role, Baston takes now charge of existing programs like the neighborhood watch program, the police cadets, and the police athletic and activity league. The new bureau also adds a housing liaison officer as well as liaisons to the elderly and LBGT communities.
