District A-1 has its fourth Police Captain in the last two years.
Kenneth Fong, previously a BPD Superintendent, has been re-assigned to Captain of District A-1 in a department reshuffling that, according to an announcement by Mayor Marty Walsh and BPD Commissioner William Evans, “underscores our commitment to a police department that represents and reflects the diversity of the neighborhoods that it serves.”
The assignment changes were made to increase the percentage of minorities and women in commander positions. Fong was demoted to Captain, along with others, because of a lack of minorities running police districts, according to the Boston Globe.
BPD District A-1 includes the North End, Beacon Hill, West End, Downtown, Chinatown and Charlestown.
Fong replaces James Hesson who was assigned to District A-1 less than fourth months ago after previous captain Thomas Lee left to be police chief in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Lee had replaced longtime captain Bernard O’Rourke who was promoted to Deputy Superintendent in the latest series of reassignments.
Welcome, Captain Fong.
I look forward to working with you.
-David Marx-
NEWNC Public Safety Chairman
The Globe article is interesting. It sounds like there were a ton of promotions/demotions solely for the purpose of having more minorities running districts, with no thought given to individual merit. I don’t understand why you would demote Ken Fong just because he is a minority. He was probably doing a perfectly good job in his more senior position. Same thing with many of the whites who were demoted to free up a spot for minorities. I understand there needs to be more diversity in command positions, but moves like this will just anger everyone. How are these new commanders supposed to gain respect if everyone knows they got the job for political reasons?
Welcome to Captain Fong. Now time to get him up to speed on the unique needs and issues of our neighborhood. Drug dealing and using, teen vandalism and abuse of parks, besides the usual discussion of noise and loud parties… We need to get in order before increased foot traffic this summer with feasts and other city events that highly affect our neighborhood. It is not Captain Fong’s fault but we can’t lose progress because of political posturing.
Or he should be caught up on the shootings stabbings and other violent crimes that occur in this district…but that’s just a thought
You consistently advocate for police presence to be anywhere but the North End. Why are you more concerned about neighborhoods other than your own? What are you hiding?
I am hiding behind the fact that other neighborhoods in this district that are way more dangerous than the north end. I am hiding behind the fact that the north end is one of the safest neighbor hoods in the city. I am hiding behind the fact that shootings and stabbings are a much more serious crime than a college party. I am hiding behind the fact that BPD has a finite amount of resources and has to allocate them based on need. I am sure there is other things I am hiding behind but that’s for starters
Just because our neighborhood does not have the violent crime that “salem st. kid” mentions, that we should sit idly by and not engage the police about our concerns or in fact question the validity of our concerns. Comparisons should not be made in the first place.
People posting on this thread should attend the next public safety meeting and address these concerns with the new Captain.
I am also curious as to what political posturing that “John” is referencing?
Thanks Jason