Top Cop Is Keen to Work With City

Miami Police Chief Perry L. Anderson Jr. won't be able to enjoy Florida's year-round summer sun much longer, but he doesn't seem too upset about it.

Instead, Anderson, Miami's top cop since 1988 who ends his 21 years of service on April 30, says he eagerly awaits his May 15 arrival as Cambridge's first-ever police commissioner.

"I'm getting more excited now, as it's getting close to the time for moving into Cambridge to accept a new challenge," Anderson says. "My mind is almost there already, and I've received many letters of support. I'm looking forward to working together with everybody in Cambridge."

And Cantabridgians who have met him can't wait to see him working in a Cambridge uniform.

"Anderson is a practical policeman who doesn't engage in theoretical stuff," says Rev. L. Nelson Foxx, one of 13 members on the citizens' advisory committee that assisted City Manager Robert W. Healy in selecting the new commissioner. "He is a "very well-seasoned policeman who speaks with a lot of wisdom. Most importantly, he has a hands-on approach, which will be very important to the department."

Foxx says Anderson, who came across as "very personable," had nothing to hide in his interview. "Anderson was the only one of nine candidates who brought his wife with him into the interview, and he even let her field some questions," he says.

Anderson will take a position created by the City Council in the mid-1970s which has remained vacant until this year because of lack of funds. The decision to hire a commissioner has sparked much controversy, but Anderson says such discussions will not affect his performance. A commissioner is necessary to improve a recent decline in relations between the community and the police department, he says.

"A city has to be able to cope with change, and there is a need for change now in Cambridge," Anderson says. "There is room for a civilian capacity from what I understand, and a commissioner provides that needed middle ground between the citizens and the city."

Anderson says he will establish a citizens advisory panel because he wants to be acutely familiar with the concerns of the people he serves.

"The panel would bring the aspect of civilian perspectives to our attention," Anderson says. "I hope to receive a broad range of suggestions to enable us to work together. Using their input is all part of the process of working together."

Foxx says he was particularly impressed with Anderson's interest in community involvement.

"He's all for a community board and he is in favor of educational law enforcement," Foxx says. "He wants to place emphasis on interacting with the community--he's big on that. Anderson knows it can be done if he is given governmental support."

Anderson says he will devote much attention towards improving the police department's relations with Harvard University when he takes office next month.

"I'd like to establish a stronger, more viable liaison with the Harvard police department," he says. "I'd also like to have some Harvard students and faculty on the citizens advisory panel because the University should be more familiar with the operations of our department and vice versa."

Anderson comes to Cambridge less than one year after weathering criticism for his handling of a Haitian demonstration and disturbances in a Puerto Rican neighborhood.

Critics blame Anderson for ordering police officers to use force to control the Haitian protests and for acting too slowly when violence flared up in the Puerto Rican neighborhood.

However, the Miami chief, who is Black, says the difficulties resulted from severe racial tensions in the city. And he adds the situations have since cleared up.

"People involved against me in [the aftermath of the Haitian disturbance] have even sent letters to congratulate me on my new position," Anderson says. "In the long run they appreciated my strength in preventing the loss of life."

The new commissioner says he realizes that he will face tensions of another sort when he arrives in Cambridge. The city has endured a rash of violence the past few weeks, including a rape and two stabbings, one of them fatal, in the Harvard vicinity.

"The traumas must have had their effect psychologically throughout the community," Anderson says. "A rape and a stabbing are among the worst things that could happen. I'll have to wait until I get down there to make assessments and evaluations on the situations that have already happened there--I don't want to be premature. We'll just have to look at the structure of the city and do whatever's best for the city."

Anderson says he sees no great problems in facing recent conflicts between groups within the police department, including two Black police sergeants who last year claimed they were unjustly denied promotion. He says that he grew accustomed to such disputes in Miami, where the force is as diverse as the one in Cambridge.

"I'm accustomed to working in that environment," Anderson says. "I'll deal with that issue, including the complaints of the Black officers, although nothing is going to change the world overnight. I'll try to do my best."

Anderson says he is committed to following whatever paths are necessary to make Cambridge a better city.

"I was offered a challenge to make the department more community-oriented, with more response to citizens' concerns, and I took the opportunity because I wanted to do some new things in a unique environment," he says. "I'm coming to Cambridge to serve the purpose not for Perry Anderson, but for Cambridge.

Name: Perry L. Anderson, Jr.

Birthdate: August 6, 1944.

Birthplace: Miami.

Education: Graduate of Miami-Dade Community College, Florida International University and the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisiana.

Career Highlights: Veteran, U.S. Army, 1964-67; member, Miami Police Department, 1969-present; Chief, Miami Police Department, 1988-present.

Family: Married with one child.