Just two years after riding into town, Police Chief James Craig is on his way out again, leaving southern Maine for southern Ohio.
Craig was brought to a department in need of a shake-up. After 17 years under the command of Michael Chitwood and three years of his successor Timothy Burton, Chitwood’s deputy chief, the department needed a new perspective. And Craig, who had been a command officer in the city of Los Angeles’ war on gangs, had that.
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Craig brought in new techniques, including methods of measuring crime and apportioning resources based on computer-aided analysis. He introduced technology, like non-lethal Taser stun guns for officers, that was new to the department but common elsewhere.
He made an effort to reach out to Portland’s diverse communities, including neighborhood groups, immigrant organizations, gay and lesbian residents and the city’s youths.
Craig identified Old Port rowdiness as a major public safety problem and instituted a system in which bars communicated with each other and police to avoid over-serving potentially dangerous drunks. He also targeted gangs and the drug trade.
Two years is not enough time to solve the city’s problems, but it was enough time to set priorities and get started. Craig did not do it alone, promoting members of the department to his command staff.
Those staff members should make a strong pool of applicants when it comes time to hire Craig’s successor.
The Portland Police Department doesn’t need another shake-up. What it should have is a sustained effort to carry out the ideas that Chief Craig brought with him to town. The best people to do that are the ones who helped Craig adapt his ideas to the particular character of this community.
The person who will make this call will be new to the city himself. Under Portland’s charter, the city manager hires department heads, including the police chief, and Portland’s new manager, Mark Rees, won’t start work until next month.
When he looks at this first challenge of his administration, Rees should realize that sometimes an organization needs a shake-up, and sometimes it just needs time.
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