After a WBUR and ProPublica investigation, officials say insider-only hiring practices in police departments like Revere’s may limit diversity and violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Restrictions on hiring police chiefs from outside their departments are common in Massachusetts. In Revere, the mayor wanted the option to look for a top cop externally to clean up a "toxic culture" within the city's police force. But, a city law made that impossible.
A Massachusetts mayor wanted to look outside for a chief to clean up a “toxic” police department. But a city ordinance forced him to promote from within.