KSG Lecturer Named in City Dispute

A Harvard lecturer has been brought into a dispute over increasing the presence of the police in Cambridge, revealing a rift between one city councillor and the police commissioner during yesterday’s City Council meeting.

The conflict emerged while councillors discussed a $30,000 grant that Cambridge recently received “to support youth violence prevention and anti-gang initiatives” by increasing police visibility.

The city manager, Robert W. Healy, and Cambridge Police Department’s commissioner, Ronnie Watson, told the council that the vast majority of the grant would pay police officers overtime for extra foot patrols. Councillor Marjorie C. Decker objected, however, saying that increasing police presence would not effectively reduce crime in Cambridge.

“Some people want to see more police presence and are comforted by that. But sometimes that doesn’t decrease the violence that occurs in a crime,” she said. “Feeling safe and being safe aren’t always the same thing.”

But Decker’s comments soon became a critique of Watson and his management style. In particular, she said Watson did not take advantage of a meeting with Anthony A. Braga, a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, who teaches Sociology 179: “Crime, Justice, and the American Legal System.”

“[Your staff’s] talents and abilities are not being unleashed by you, and you’re not giving them leeway to use more innovative methods to solve these problems. I sent someone your way, and there was no follow-up,” Decker told Watson, referring to Braga.

According to both Watson and Decker, Braga—who has been a consultant for numerous national and local criminal justice organizations—met with Watson recently to discuss potential projects for Cambridge. Decker, a student at the Kennedy School, first proposed the meeting.

“He came over and made a presentation to us about what’s going on in Boston and also had some conversations with us about the violence that’s going on in our city,” Watson told The Crimson.

Braga was unavailable for comment last night.

Decker said that Watson’s failure to contact Braga for further consultation indicated broader problems with the city commissioner.

“We also need a commissioner who isn’t too stuck up to [refrain from saying], ‘We know it all,’” Decker said in an interview. “For years, [Watson] dismissed the violence here by saying ‘we’re not Chicago.’ That’s right, we’re not Chicago, and we need someone who knows Cambridge.”

Though its energies remained fixed primarily on crime, the council also discussed financing public toilets for the city’s busier areas, especially Central Square—at a cost of around $90,000 per unit. Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio supported the measure, saying, “I hope that in the future, we’ll be looking towards Harvard Square as well.”

Councillor Henrietta Davis expressed hesitance.

“I am very concerned, though, as we spend money beautifying Lafayette Square, what it would mean to put a public toilet as the centerpiece of that area and not a sculpture. This isn’t the same as a statue or even a bus stop. This is a public toilet,” she said.

Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 supported the idea, but was skeptical that it would come to fruition.

“In the 18 years I’ve been here, we’ve discussed this issue annually,” he said.

Other issues before the council in previous weeks also reemerged.

Cynthia K. Sam, a Cambridge resident, spoke about the evils of leaf blowers.

“Their particular pitch—irregular and whiny—is particularly irritating,” she said. “They harm our lungs and cause cancer and premature death.” On Nov. 6, the council announced the creation of a task force to investigate banning leaf blowers in the city due to their excessive noise.

Roy Bercaw, a Cambridge resident who said he represented the “Cambridge Society of Invertebrate Heterosexuals,” also discussed the alcohol cap licensing policy.

“I think we should take a survey,” he said, turning to the council chamber. “How many people want another drink? Raise your hand!”

—Staff writer Nicholas K. Tabor can be reached at ntabor@fas.harvard.edu.