Cambridge Police Chief Moves On

Cambridge police commissioner Perry L. Anderson Jr. has announced that he is leaving his position as the head of the city's police force.

"I had been looking at [the situation] for a while...and then I got an offer I could not turn down," Anderson, who has been Cambridge's police chief since 1991, said in a telephone interview last week.

Anderson, 51, said he and his wife Arlet will return to Anderson's home-town of Miami Florida at the end of November. Anderson will become the Director of Security / Police Chief for Miami-Dade Community College.

"I have really appreciated the opportunity to serve the people of Cambridge. It has been an honor" Anderson said.

City Manager Robert W. Healy expressed regret at Anderson's departure.

"He has been a true professional, a leader, an innovator, and, in his four and a half years here, accomplished all of the tasks that were presented to him as goals during the interview and selection process," Healy said.

"He has led the department into the 21st century of policing."

Anderson, who collects an annual salary of $102,120, said he will take a pay cut in accepting the new post. But Anderson noted that he wanted to be closer to his family in Florida, specifically his daughter and her husband, as well as his 2-year-old granddaughter.

"I would tell my successor to be extremely professional, and to make sure services are provided in an equally proportionate way to all residents," Anderson said. "Cambridge needs to continue to develop professional standards in terms of its equipment and technology and to improve the level of supervision in the department."

During his tenure, Anderson was credited with recruiting more bilingual officers, establishing an annual open house, upgrading departmental equipment, and introducing community policing.

As far as relations with the Harvard police are concerned, Anderson's parting words of wisdom were the following: "We've had some minor friction from time to time, but I would say that when we get supervisors, and even the unions, together, we've been able to improve our relations."

City Manager Healy said he would be developing the process for choosing a replacement for Commissioner Anderson over the next few weeks.

Six New Officers

In related news, the Cambridge police will receive $450,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Policing to hire six additional police officers.

The grant, announced last week by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.), is part of the Clinton Administration's effort to put 100,000 additional police officers on the street.

"Today's grants are another downpayment on the 1994 Crime Bill's promise to put more police on the streets," Kennedy said in a press release. "These officers are a vital component in our national anti-crime strategy and are making commonalties safer across Massachusetts and the nation."