Council Considers $18,000 Study Of Cambridge Police Department

Cambridge will probably soon undertake the first major survey of its police department in at least two decades.

Police Chief Daniel J. Brennan this week asked the City Council to appropriate $18,000 for the study, which would take about six months. It would examine a wide variety of police matters, including the force's size, the distribution of its patrol routes, community relations, training procedures, and morale.

City Manager Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29, said this week that the study would also investigate crime prevention techniques and seek to locate accurately the areas of highest crime incidence. "We want to be able to determine if our men are properly allocated," he declared.

DeGuglielmo suggested the survey at budget hearings earlier this spring, but the City Council still must provide an appropriation. There was some indication at the Council's last meeting, on Monday, that there would be opposition to the study.

Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci denounced the project and exercised his prerogative to put off a vote on the appropriation for a week. "I feel that spending $18,000 for this investigation is a waste of money. We can put four police officers to work for the balance of this year for $8,000."

Vellucci labelled the survey a cover-up for an investigation of the department. "Survey's just a nice word for investigation," he charged.

In an interview later, DeGuglielmo defended the study. "It's not an investigation and it's not intended to be," he said. "It should make no difference to the policeman if he's told to patrol on one street or another. A greater incidence of crime on one street or another shouldn't raise any controversy."

Mayor Daniel J. Hayes Jr. also supported the survey. He explained last night:

"Our population is more or less stable. We're having an increase every year. We're not keeping pace. Maybe we can turn the trend around. Whether its money or manpower or whatever. We're trying to find out how we can do the job better. That's why we need the survey."

Hayes cited crime statistics that showed Cambridge had a 1964-65 increase in aggravated assaults from 38 to 37, in breaking and entering incidents from 876 to 950, and in auto theft from 1379 to 1696. During the same time, however, at least two major categories had decreased; incidents of larceny over $50 declined from 797 to 742, and there was a 50 per cent decrease in murders, from two to one.

The study would be conducted by Robert Sheehan, director of law enforcement and security programs at Northeastern University. This would be Sheehan's first study of a police department, though he has done a similar study in another area of government.