Issues 2025: Council candidates talk policing

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The New Bedford City Council controls the purse strings for police, the highest budgeted department outside of schools, at about $28 million this year.

The Police Department came under scrutiny this year over the conduct of its narcotics officers, and “weaknesses” in the unit that investigates officer misconduct. 

The city has spent more than $250,000 since 2021 to hire two separate consulting firms to review the police force and issue recommendations on accountability, transparency and other issues. Some of the recommendations, years old, have not been adopted.  

In recent months, city councilors have set their sights on the department — but not for the reasons listed above. Historically, the body has been supportive of the Police Department and in the past few years, raised motions that more often regarded issues the department was facing externally — crime and public safety — not internally. 

One councilor has proposed barring legal permanent residents (non-citizens) from being hired by the short-staffed department. Meanwhile, the whole body filed a lawsuit against the Mitchell administration over their right to confirm the appointment of the new police chief. 

There’s no online record of a councilor putting the 2023 or 2025 consultant reports on the agenda to discuss at a council meeting.

The Light spoke with 12 candidates — a mix of newcomers and incumbents — about these issues and how they view their role as the city’s legislative body in working with and overseeing the Police Department. 

Other candidates have not participated in any of The Light’s election interviews. These include: the longest-serving councilor at-large, Brian Gomes; the unchallenged Ward 4 incumbent, Derek Baptiste; and the fisherman Ian Saunders, an at-large challenger.

The Light invited all City Council candidates to participate in an interview focused on the police. Baptiste, Gomes, Shaun Mulvey, Shawn Oliver, Scott Pemberton, Ryan Pereira and Saunders did not respond to this interview request, or declined the invitation.

How do you view the City Council’s role in overseeing the Police Department? 

Many candidates describe their relationship with the Police Department as predominantly fiscal: councilors are there to approve the budget and ensure the department gets the support it needs, be it equipment or training. 

“The City Council has done its best to make sure they receive whatever equipment, whatever monies that they need to do their job,” said Ward 2 Councilor Maria Giesta, who has served since 2017. “I think just everyday presence and support of the Police Department is what’s necessary.”

Councilor-at-large Ian Abreu and Ward 5 candidate Renee Fernandes echoed this. 

“My job is to make sure that they have the funds they need to do the job that they are paid to do and that they are sworn to do,” Fernandes said. 

Abreu stated the council brings oversight and accountability through fiscal actions. He has the endorsement of the police union, and ranks highest among current and former councilors in donations from first responders.

Over the past few years, councilors have proposed that police use drones to surveil high-crime areas and increase patrols following crimes. They’ve raised motions to send letters of support to all sworn officers, to have officers conduct “spot enforcement” for speeding near schools, to survey officers about why they left the department, to ask the department to better inform the public when shootings happen, and to condemn a 2021 report that was critical of the department for alleged racial profiling.

Years ago, councilors asked the police chief to provide the council and the public with weekly crime reports on violent and property crime, organized by ward. The department didn’t go that far, but started posting daily crime logs on its website, which it still does today. 

At the time, Mayor Jon Mitchell in a letter said councilors should contact the chief directly for more specific information and not discuss it in a public forum so as to not jeopardize the department’s investigations.

Elsewhere in the state, other city councils have held a hearing on information-sharing between the police department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, approved the purchase of new firearms, barred city officers from collaborating with ICE, and rejected the appointment of a police chief. Outside of Massachusetts, city councils have approved the use of facial recognition technology, pay increases and merit raises for officers, and the acquisition of drones. 

All to say, city councils have power and discretion —through ordinances, public meetings or budgetary measures — to shape police departments, call attention to issues they view important, and obtain information for the public. 

Council President Shane Burgo said he thinks the council has no clear oversight over the department and that its role is “arbitrary.” He cited the ongoing battle with Mitchell over the appointment of police chief.

The City Council last month sued Mitchell, alleging in court that as the city executive, he must obtain council approval for his appointment of Chief Jason Thody.

“They come to us just for budgetary reasons, like, ‘We need body cameras,’ or ‘we need to increase our funding here,’” said Burgo. “Other than that, if there’s disciplinary concerns or accountability issues or transparency issues,” the council doesn’t have oversight, he said. He added that the judge’s ruling on the lawsuit will determine “what say” the council has over “anything else.”

Devin Byrnes, owner of Destination Soups and candidate for councilor-at-large, said he’s “not big on completely overseeing the police” and that the council should trust the department heads to have competence to oversee their departments.

Ward 1 candidate Matthew Marko said, if elected, his focus would be to ensure open communications and bridge divides among the council, mayor’s office and Police Department. 

James Roy, who is running for councilor-at-large, said he’d like to see stronger community input on policing in the city, perhaps through forums or an advisory group that brings together residents and officers. 

Another councilor-at-large candidate, Christopher Cotter, who has served as a New Bedford police officer for more than 25 years, said he would have to abstain from votes that regard the Police Department, including budget items. 

(City Council Clerk Dennis Farias said he could not recall any instances in recent history in which a city employee served on the council. He said Cotter would be expected to abstain from voting on items that would financially benefit him or a family member, and that the city’s Ethics Commission can advise on how a city official should handle a conflict of interest.)

The council can also take actions towards (or with) the Police Department through its public safety committee, which city code states “shall investigate and study all matters referred to it by the city council relative to the safety to the life of the people in the city and property located therein; youth programs and activities; and concerns of neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations.”

Councilor-at-large Gomes, who chairs the committee and has filed many police-related motions, declined to participate in an interview with The Light. In a statement to the Standard-Times, he said will continue his efforts to bring “police drones” to the city as a public safety initiative “to fight crime.” (He filed a motion to adopt drones in 2016. In 2020, the council voted to take no further action on the proposal.)

What will you do about problems raised by policing experts?

This spring, the city hired 21st Century Policing Solutions (21CP), a Chicago-based firm, to investigate NBPD’s internal affairs and narcotics units. The review was a response to The Boston Globe’s multi-part series that investigated the department and ways police officers — both former and current — abused the confidential informant system. 

About half of the candidates said they did not read the consulting report issued in August, or the earlier Jensen Hughes report published in 2023, on which the city spent more than $250,000 altogether. Burgo, Naomi Carney, Leo Choquette, Cotter, Joe Lopes, and Roy said they read or skimmed the latest report. 

The recent report included significant criticisms of the Police Department: it must address weaknesses in its internal affairs system; enforce new rules to increase transparency and accountability in its narcotics unit; and update outdated policies to achieve consistency and comport with state law.

Asked about their biggest takeaways from the review, only a handful of candidates spoke with specificity to the report’s recommendations. Some affirmed the importance of transparency, while others pivoted to the department being under-staffed, which wasn’t a focus or significant point in the report. 

A few candidates acknowledged the criticisms, but also expressed their strong support for the officers and the hard work they do to protect and serve the city. 

Many of the recent recommendations overlap with the 2023 Jensen Hughes report, such as the need to establish fair and consistent discipline for misconduct, publish policies online for transparency, train supervisors and officers, and prevent corruption through more robust policies on the use of confidential informants. 

Ward 1 Councilor Choquette said there was some “tomfoolery” going on in the department, and that he hopes Chief Thody implements recommendations from the report.

“I would like to get the chief in front of us and have the report summarized in an easy-to-digest manner,” Choquette said. “We need to have them highlight everything that has been pointed out… and what his specific plan is in order to address these issues.”

He said “I would have no problem making a motion to have the chief come in,” but that the conflict with the mayor over council approval of Thody’s appointment could preclude effective discussion.

Thody has already appeared before the council at least once to discuss RVs and campers abandoned in residential neighborhoods. During his time at the podium in August, Thody and the councilors did not debate his standing as chief, a role he assumed in July.

Cotter said he is not allowed to speak publicly on departmental matters, as it would be a violation of NBPD policy, but said “hypothetically” that the council should verify that the report’s recommendations are being adopted. 

“I think that’s where the City Council should be following up,” he said. “The council should have more of an active role in those reports. Again, they’re a governing entity just like the mayor. It shouldn’t just be the mayor and the department of the chief of police… City Council should have some say.”

In 2019, Gomes motioned that the public safety committee meet with NBPD representatives to discuss a 2018 assessment the city had conducted on the department, which cost $80,000.

Incumbent Ward 5 Councilor Lopes said he read the reports, and that the council could invite Chief Thody to discuss the findings. He said the council has previously brought in the chief or gone into executive session with other units or narcotics officers to discuss issues and tactics. 

“We can provide feedback that we’re hearing from the community and vice versa, because some of it might be a funding mechanism that the department needs to fund to allow them to address the issues that were brought up,” Lopes said. 

Jennifer Arruda, candidate for councilor-at-large, said she did not read the reports and that it’s “something I’d have to look into more.” She said councilors could call more meetings to discuss issues and the importance of transparency.

Should NBPD hire only U.S. citizens? 

The New Bedford Police Department allows legal permanent residents (also known as green-card holders) to serve. Seven of the 12 candidates interviewed agreed that legal permanent residents who pass background checks and graduate the police academy should be allowed to join the force. 

Two more candidates called for citizens only as police, then moderated their position, or said they’d be open to compromising on hiring green-card holders as long as they commit to obtaining citizenship within a certain period. (The processing time for the federal government to issue citizenship can take months to years.)

According to Assistant Deputy Chief Scott Carola, the department employs only two officers who are non-citizens, out of the more than 200 serving. The Light recently profiled Edwin Yat Toj, a green-card holder born in Guatemala, who is the first New Bedford police officer to speak K’iche’.

Legal permanent residents cannot vote in elections or run for office, but they work, pay taxes and serve in the military. In Massachusetts, they can also obtain a license to carry a firearm. 

Candidates interviewed who said citizenship should be a requirement — Carney and Cotter — have also said the two current non-citizen officers should be allowed to continue serving while getting assistance from the city to obtain citizenship. (Cotter believes, however, that he would have to abstain from voting on this matter if elected.)

In Massachusetts, police departments vary on policy. The Massachusetts State Police requires U.S. citizenship, while the Cambridge, Worcester, and Fall River police departments allow green-card holders.

Gomes filed a motion this summer for the council to establish an ordinance (local rule) requiring anyone hired by NBPD be a U.S. citizen. The councilors unanimously voted to send the motion to the Ordinance Committee for discussion.

There, councilors will provide input to their attorney on language for a potential ordinance (it could be different from what Gomes proposed) and then vote on it. If it passes the full council, the mayor could veto it. To overcome the mayor’s veto, the ordinance would need support from eight of the 11 councilors. 

Mitchell has expressed support for hiring legal permanent residents, stating officers who speak languages used in the community enhance public safety “regardless of whether they have yet to achieve full citizenship.”

Choquette previously told The Light that he believed requiring citizenship would increase officer safety. In an interview this month, he said, “I will not support any ordinance that requires police to be citizens if I’ve not heard from the general public.”

He put forth a motion, that failed 5-6, that would have captured public opinion via a ballot question.

Some of the councilor hopefuls spoke on the issue at a candidate forum, and then with The Light days later. 

Byrnes changed his position. At the forum, he said he thinks “you need to be a U.S. citizen to serve on the Police Department.” He subsequently told The Light that he’d defer to the Police Department, and that it is important to have officers who speak K’iche’ and Spanish.

“I met with the police union and I heard Chief Thody’s statement… they are all more than happy with the way things are currently,” Byrnes said. “Their position is pretty strong that as it is now, it’s great, so I’m for that, I’m for the police and I’m not looking to strongarm a change in ordinance in terms of how that’s done.”

Abreu said at the forum, “if you are a police officer in the city of New Bedford, I believe you should be a U.S. citizen.” He later told The Light that he is concerned about non-citizens serving, but that he was open to a compromise that a legal permanent resident could be hired as long as they commit to applying for and attaining their citizenship within a certain period. 

What would you ask the police chief in a confirmation hearing? 

The council states the city’s charter is clear that all department heads “shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the city council.” Mitchell has said the council’s lawsuit is “wasting taxpayer resources” and that nothing is preventing them from taking up a vote to approve Thody. 

Most candidates interviewed support the council’s effort to require confirmation of Thody and say the fight is about enforcing their power as councilors, not a mark against Thody or his professional abilities. Only one councilor, Carney, said she would not confirm Thody (she disagrees with hiring a chief from outside the department). 

If they were to hold a confirmation hearing, candidates said they would ask Thody questions about fully staffing the short-staffed department; de-escalation (the department last year put all officers through de-escalation training); why the Connecticut-native came to New Bedford; how he deals with friction between the Mayor’s Office and City Council; and his vision for addressing crime and homelessness.

Other candidates said they’d already met with Thody and asked him about his background and plans for the department. 

How to vote on Nov. 4

The general election for City Council, School Committee, and assessor is on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find your polling location online or by visiting the Election Commission office in City Hall. 

Applications for mail-in ballots must reach the Election Commission by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. An application for an in-person absentee ballot can be completed in the Election Commission office until Nov. 3 at noon.

All mail-in ballots must be received before polls close, at 8 p.m. on Election Day.  

Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.

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