City Council Kills Police Bill; Conflict Centers on Residency

The Cambridge City Council defeated a proposal to hire a civilian police commissioner Monday night because of conflicts in Cambridge's residency requirements.

Under Cambridge law, civil service employees are required to live in Cambridge, police officers must live within a ten mile radius of the city, and professional employees have no residency requirement to meet at all. A professional police commissioner would fall under all three categories.

In Monday's deliberations, City Councilor Walter J. Sullivan moved that the council require the police commissioner to reside in Cambridge. In the debate following Sullivan's proposal, Mayor Alfred E. Velluci questioned the legality of such a residency requirement.

City Councilor Francis H. Duehay '55 said at the meeting that after a prospective commissioner is informed of his appointment he could move into Cambridge "two days before" it becomes official, rendering the residency requirement ineffective.

City Councilor Saundra Graham then proposed, as a substitute amendment to Sullivan's motion, that the council allow a commissioner one year to establish Cambridge residency before requiring that he forfeit the position. This motion was passed.

Graham then asked that the council delay for one week its vote on the proposal to hire a civilian police commissioner in order to resolve the conflicts in Cambridge's residency laws.

Graham's motion was rejected and the council voted 5-3 not to hire a police commissioner. Velluci voted against the bill saying that the bill needed "more work" and should have been tabled as Graham had proposed.

The council will hold a public hearing on December 8 to discuss the Cambridge residency requirements and attempt to establish more uniform residency laws for the city, Graham said.