The Chief Headache

Police Chief Edward Cronin must have had a bonus-sized headache yesterday, based on stories regarding the so-not-a-secret fourth captain idea, and the old sex-offender residency issue.

Cronin gets raked over the coals by the police union for floating the idea of a fourth captain. Everyone considers cops on the streets to the be issue Number 1 in the department, with new cars probably Number 2, considering the screaming and yelling for cars in the budget. For a city that can barely afford to keep the lights on, looking for another high-level manager job at this point seems not just unlikely, but really kind of fiscally and politically tone deaf. Cronin says he was just floating a trial balloon, but he should probably tuck that balloon back into the barn for now.

Then there's Cronin's continued complaints about the new sex-offender residency requirement. Simply, if a Level 2 or 3 sex offender moves into the city, he or she can't live near a school, park or day care. It doesn't include offenders currently living in Fitchburg.

On it's face, this seems like such a simple law: Sex offenders can live near where kids hang out. Is that so bad? No. But that simple logic leads to Cronin's complaints that it is politically incorrect to speak out against the law. Well, yes, it is. At its most basic level, this law is good and makes sense. What, exactly, is the problem?

More troublesome is Cronin's carping that his department can't keep tabs on all the offenders and that some offenders will not register and instead just not register when moving into the city.

They are, actually, legitimate concerns. The department can do only so much to make sure offenders who move into Fitchburg are registered. But isn't there ways to do random computer-based checks? Is there an updated RMV database if an offender changes their address on their license. Doesn't Dean Tran's landlord regulations create a database of renter's names? Couldn't that be cross-checked. There is a lot of information available electronically. There must be some way someone can periodically (every month or two?) check for names. Maybe the new captain could do it. Snarkiness aside, the non-registering is an issue worth considering. But instead of complaining about it, Cronin needs to come up with the best solution he can to the issue.

Cronin's main problem on this issue is that it isn't his job to consider constitutionality (where is that lawsuit from the ACLU, by the way? It's been a couple of months already. You'd think they'd be a bit more proactive this was a slam-dunk) or to publicly consider the political process. It's his job to do what he can within reason to support the regulation. And it wouldn't hurt if he was a bit more upbeat and team-playerish about the whole thing. No reason to be Nate Negative all the time. It's going to be OK.

Certainly, Cronin is feeling the heat right now. One councilor (Ted DeSalvatore) called for the guy's head earlier this year. Hit the comments section from the post under this one, and you see another (Dean Tran) won't be offering Cronin the first slice of turkey on Thursday. Cronin also went after the mayor last week. Politically, he's bleeding from a number of wounds right now, and he's fighting battles on multiple fronts that he doesn't appear to be winning.

Here's what we want from the Police Department: Safe streets and the feeling that when we turn the lights off at night we're going to wake up and find the TV and TiVo where we left it. We want the police chief to provide the leadership to make that happen. No department in the city can operate right now the way it wants to. Cronin needs to prove to be a strong manager by making the best of the situation, get out of the papers, and find solutions rather than point out problems.