BC Law’s Huber Distinguished Visiting Professor and former Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Geraldine Hines was chosen by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to chair the Boston Police Commissioner Search Committee.
The search for commissioner is seen as an important step in “achieving reforms and stability in the nation’s oldest municipal law enforcement agency,” according to the city’s announcement. It also comes at time of national reckoning and calls for reform of law enforcement practices and systems.
As committee chair, Hines will run point for a group of law, public safety, and civic professionals as they meet with community notables and members of the public to find a candidate who will serve the needs of the city and the Boston Police. “We are committed to building a public safety infrastructure that addresses the root causes of violence and trauma, that is equipped to keep all of our residents safe and well,” Wu said when announcing the search committee.
The other four members are former Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis III; Greater Love Tabernacle Church Senior Pastor William E. Dickerson II; Teen Empowerment Executive Director Abrigal Forrester; and Professor and Deputy Director of Research & Policy at the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research Jasmine Gonzales Rose.
Hines, a Black woman who grew up in the segregated South, first came to BC Law as a Jerome Lyle Rappaport Visiting Professor after retiring from the SJC. As a founding partner at Burnham, Hines & Dilday—the first law firm of women of color in New England—she litigated cases on discrimination in education, labor and family law matters, employment discrimination, and police misconduct claims. During her commencement speech for BC Law Class of 2017, Hines discussed law as a tool to be used against discrimination and inequality.