This week the Select Board ended a search that began six months ago, when former Police Chief Ed Denmark announced his retirement last June. After lengthy question-and-answer sessions Tuesday with the two finalists for the position, the Select Board voted 4-0 (with Rich Maiore absent) in favor of Acting Chief James Babu to become Harvard’s new police chief.
Babu has served in the Harvard Police Department for more than 18 years. “Coming here was my best career move,” he said during Tuesday’s public interview. When he was first hired, he said, he was asked what he wanted to be doing in 20 years. “My goal is to be the chief here in 20 years,” he recalled replying.
Babu joined the Harvard department in 2003 and was promoted to sergeant in 2008. Previously, he had nine years’ experience as an officer or reserve officer in several eastern Massachusetts towns. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Curry College.
Two years ago, Babu also earned a master’s in public administration from Clark University, where he had the highest GPA in his program. Over the years, he has taken part in numerous training programs both through UMass and the FBI, as well as specialized training in accident reconstruction. He has also been active in securing state and federal grants for the department.
The other finalist, Erik Josephson, had held positions in a number of different towns and cities including Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Egremont, Massachusetts, where he was chief; and Winchester, New Hampshire. He became chief in Winchester two months ago.
The Select Board members all spoke highly of both candidates, but they quickly agreed that Babu’s long service to Harvard carried the day. As Alice von Loesecke put it, Josephson spoke from experience as a chief, but she decided “to go with the person who has put his heart and soul into this town.”
In answering the Select Board members’ questions, Babu often emphasized the wide range of special training programs he and other Harvard officers have been able to take. He explained he believed in a “horizontal” structure for the department, with all officers taking leadership training. “Everyone is a leader,” he said.
Asked about issues of diversity and inclusion, Babu drew on personal experience. He recalled coming to the United States from Romania when he was 11 years old. He said his family lived in various minority communities in New York City and elsewhere. He said he saw the tactics police sometimes used in those neighborhoods, and the tactics were not ones he wanted to see where he worked.
Babu told the Select Board he agrees with former Chief Denmark that the police department is currently staffed at the minimum level and could use two more officers.
Harvard originally received about 25 applicants for the chief’s position. The field was narrowed to eight candidates who were interviewed and then the two finalists. The selection process included a 14-member ad hoc advisory committee with representatives from the schools, local business, the citizens group Arm in Arm, the Commission on Disabilities, the Council on Aging, and many other town departments. That committee helped identify the factors that were most important in choosing the new chief.
