Pre-incorporation (1635–1828) Before the existence of a formal police department, the first night watch was established in Boston in 1635. The Day Police, which had no connection to the night watch, was organized in 1838. The Boston Police Department was formally founded in May 1854, at which point both the night watch and Day Police were disbanded. A 14-inch club replaced the old hook and bill, which had been in use for 154 years. At the time of its founding, the Boston Police constituted one of the first paid, professional police services in the United States. The department was closely organized and modeled after
Sir Robert Peel's (London)
Metropolitan Police Service. McGinniskin is buried in the St. Augustine Cemetery in South Boston. On October 18, 2007, a memorial was held in honor of Hodsdon on the corner of Havre and Maverick Streets in East Boston. In 1871, the Boston Police Relief Association was founded. The purpose of the Boston Relief Association is intended to provide support and relief for officers of the Boston Police Department and their families. It was incorporated under the statutes of Massachusetts in 1876. On June 26, 2010, the Boston Police Department dedicated a gravestone in honor of Sgt. Homer's service.
1930s On May 29, 1930,
Oliver Garrett was charged with 152 counts of conspiracy, extortion, and receiving gratuities for crimes allegedly committed as leader of BPD's liquor raiding unit during
Prohibition. Commissioner
Herbert A. Wilson, who had conducted a secret investigation into Garrett two years earlier and had overrode his subordinates to grant Garrett a questionable disability pension, was removed from office by the Governor
Frank G. Allen and the
Massachusetts Governor's Council. On May 7, 1931, Garrett pleaded to guilty and was sentenced to two years in the Deer Island House of Correction and fined $100.
1960s In 1965, the largest
police union representing Boston police employees, the
Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, was formed.
School desegregation busing crisis In 1974 and 1975, the BPD was involved in maintaining order during the public disturbance over court-ordered
busing, which was intended to racially desegregate Boston's public school system. The protest of white citizens escalated into street battles in 1974, and in 1975 uniformed BPD officers were stationed inside
South Boston High School,
Charlestown High School and other
Boston public schools.
FBI Inquiry in Boston Police Department At some point in 1986, the FBI inquired into the Boston Police Department, uncovering massive amounts of
bribery between sworn officers, some members of the city's liquor licensing board and other private individuals involved in payoffs. According to other law enforcement agencies that were in on the investigation, they stated that "it was one of the largest ever investigations conducted in a major city police force and would disclose a widespread pattern of bribery of police officers reaching into senior levels of the Boston Police Department." These bribes would be paid to officers in exchange for looking the other way on liquor license violations and not making arrests for certain missed court dates due to said liquor violations. The inquiry resulted in the arrests of 7 detectives and former detectives of the Boston Police Department including 3 active detectives (Matthew A. Kilroe, John F. McCormick, and Kenneth J. Nave) and 4 former detectives (Peter Boylan, John E. Carey, Thomas J. Connolly, and Francis X. Sheehan). All of these men were charged in a RICO case, with 20 years and $250,000 each for racketeering and extortion counts.
Charles Stuart murder investigation In 1989, Charles Stuart killed his wife and accused an unknown black man for the murder. BPD proceeded to conduct a manhunt targeting young black men, indiscriminately using
stop and frisk tactics, especially in neighborhoods of Mission Hill and
Roxbury. Some residents compared the response to living in a war zone and the response is said to have contributed to distrust between black communities and BPD for decades following.
1990s Federal fingerprinting coordination On August 23, 1995, the BPD became the first police agency to send
fingerprint images to the
FBI electronically using the newly created EFIPS (now
IAFIS) system. The first set of fingerprints was for a suspect arrested for armed robbery. Within hours of the receipt of the fingerprints, the FBI determined that the suspect had a number of prior arrests, including one for assault with intent to kill.
21st century On December 31, 2006, 31
Boston Municipal Police Officers were allowed to transfer to the Boston Police. On January 1, 2007, the rest of the Munis were either laid off or transferred to the city's Municipal Protective Services, which provides security to the city's Property Management Department. There was no merger with the Boston Municipal Police. The transfer of Munis was planned in mid-2006 by Mayor
Thomas M. Menino. This plan was met with heavy protest from the
Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA). The BPPA's argument was that the Municipal officers were not qualified to be Boston police officers due to lack of training, political patronage, nepotism, and the fact that the Munis were not civil service tested.
2000s 2007 Boston Bomb Scare On January 31, 2007, 911 callers mistakenly identified small electronic promotions found throughout Boston and the surrounding cities of
Cambridge and
Somerville as possible explosives. Upon investigation by Boston Police and other agencies, the suspicious devices turned out to be battery-powered
LED placards with an image of a cartoon character called a "
mooninite" used in a
guerrilla marketing campaign for
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters, a film based on the animated
television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force on
Cartoon Network's late-night programming block
Adult Swim. Another resident said that the device "looked like a bomb. I picked it up, pulled the tape off it, and there were batteries, two on the top and three on the bottom."
2010s =====
Occupy Boston Movement ===== Beginning in September–October 2011, protesters assembled in
Dewey Square as a show of solidarity with the
Occupy Wall Street protest in New York. In the early hours of October 11, 2011, Boston Police and Transit Police moved into the protesters' secondary camp, arresting approximately 100 protesters. Protesters reported numerous incidents of
police brutality. Mayor Menino denied the reports and claimed that the protesters endangered public safety. In 2018, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that Boston Police Department would be adding five Americorps members as part of a partnership with the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative.The Americorps members were trained recovery coaches and helped the police refer individuals in the community into treatment and recovery for substance use disorder.[https://paariusa.org/2018/06/11/five-p-a-a-r-i-recovery-coaches-join-boston-police-department-through-americorps-program/
Boston Marathon bombing The BPD responded to the
Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
2020s 2020 Black Lives Matter riots During the 2020
George Floyd riot, the department came under scrutiny by elected officials for its usage of tear gas against civilians.
Demonstrations against police brutality began in the city in May 2020 and continued through June.
Overtime fraud cases In early September 2020,
United States Attorney Andrew Lelling indicted nine former and current Boston police officers for allegedly collecting more than $200,000 in fraudulent overtime payments while working in the department's evidence warehouse. In 2024, 7 Boston police officers were paid over $500,000, although there were no mentions of charges being filed.
Alleged child rapist as union president In April 2021,
The Boston Globe reported that a 1995 internal investigation by the BPD concluded that Patrick M. Rose Sr., a BPD patrolman, had likely sexual assaulted a 12-year-old child. The BPD did not act on that finding. Instead, Rose kept his badge, served for another 21 years, and was elected president of the
Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. He was ultimately arrested and on November 20, 2020, Rose was indicted in
Suffolk County Superior Court on thirty three counts related to sexual assault of children, including sixteen counts of child rape. During his time in the BPD, the department did nothing to limit his interactions with children, including allowing Rose to work on child sexual assault cases.
Commissioner White termination Following the abrupt resignation of commissioner
William G. Gross at the end of January 2021, mayor
Marty Walsh quickly named superintendent
Dennis White to succeed Gross. White was sworn in on February 1, 2021. Two days later, White was placed on leave due to "the handling of a 1999 allegation of domestic violence" against White coming to light. followed by several legal actions by White's attorney seeking to block the city from terminating White. Ultimately, acting mayor
Kim Janey fired White on June 7, 2021. ==Departmental organization==