Should Brockton cops have to live in the city? Hiring crisis drives fresh look at old rule

BROCKTON — Sgt. Kevin Amaral had bad news for the city's top cop.

"Chief, there's no one else we can call," Brockton Police Chief Brenda Pérez recalled him telling her recently.

The chief had put Amaral in charge of eight background-check investigators working full time to recruit 30 new officers. So far, they haven't been successful. Police blame the city's residency requirement.

If you want to be a Brockton cop, you have to live in the city and stay at least seven years before you can move. Voters passed the requirement in the early '90s. Many Brocktonians feel strongly it should stay that way.

But political winds may be changing, according to the mayor and a majority of city councilors.

"We're not getting the talent we should be attracting," Mayor Robert F. Sullivan said at a recent city council committee meeting. "I think it should be preferred but not required."

Is police residency a 'relic of the past'?

Jeff Thompson, a city councilor who represents downtown's Ward 5, said two arguments for police residency that made sense 30 years ago no longer hold up: that resident police do a better job and that their spending helps Brockton's economy. He said he's seen no data to back up the first and that online shopping has dented the impact of the second.

"Residency is a huge impediment to meeting our staffing requirements," Thompson said. "I think it's a relic of the past."

Ward 3 City Councilor Phil Griffin, himself a law enforcement officer and who is among the city councilors endorsed by the Brockton Police Patrolmen's Association, came out against it.

"I don't see any need for residency in the police department," Griffin said.

City Councilor Shirley Asack, who represents Ward 7, hinted at a compromise path.

"I'm a big supporter of residency, but there are exceptions," Asack said.

Teachers are already exempt via state law. In recent years, city councilors have received a parade of requests for exceptions, which they tend to approve.

At-Large City Councilor Jean Bradley Derenoncourt called getting rid of residency a "recipe for disaster." He's against lifting the requirement.

How does the civil service list work?

City Councilor Win Farwell, himself a former law enforcement officer, invited Pérez and her staff to discuss changing the residency rules with councilors. She and Amaral laid out a grim picture of hiring under the current scheme.

The chief said the force had 24 vacancies as of March 18. And another 22% of sworn officers aren't available for patrol because of long-term active military deployment or on-the-job injury. Amaral detailed efforts that began in September 2023 to recruit 30 new officers. It takes an average of six months to hire and train officers, he said.

Police get hired from a civil service eligibility list. Such lists aim to level the playing field by ranking candidates by test scores, military service and other factors. BPD contacted 146 of the 700-plus people on the list, Amaral said. Of those, 88 came in to express interest. But after he told them about the residency requirement, 22 of those didn't show up for their orientations. Another 12 dropped out during background checks.

Brockton residents move to the top of the list. Amaral said the department had to also consider non-residents since so few residents accepted offers of employment. He said it's the first time in his 20 years on the job that the list was exhausted.

Brockton police gained a bit of flexibility in its hiring in July 2022. That's when a judge ended 47-year-old court order that required Brockton Police to hire more minority officers until they reached a parity between Brockton's racial makeup and the department's. Pérez said minorities now account for 54% of sworn officers. As recently as 2020, only 36% of Brockton police were Black or Latino.

The chief herself is one of those barrier-breakers. In April 2022, the Brockton native became the city's first female police chief and the first person of color to lead the department.

What's next?

So, what's next? If the city does try to change the residency requirement, the issue could need to go back to voters, City Clerk Tim Cruise said.

City Councilor Susan Nicastro of Ward 4 urged a study of whether residency has past its prime for Brockton. She said she prefers to incentivize residency rather than penalizing cops who don't live in the city limits.

Another option, favored by Thompson, is declaring a moratorium on the rule until police can refill their ranks.

Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on X at @HelmsNews.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton police residency: City council considers removing requirement