Members of BCPD were recently promoted to higher leadership positions within their respective bureaus of the department, with the promotions taking effect Jan. 1.
The five officers, some of whom have served on BCPD for over a decade, were recently honored at a ceremony recognizing their promotions. Boston College Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety John King acknowledged the five members of his police force and their accomplishments.
“These promotions will further serve to improve the delivery of services to our community and will strengthen our community policing initiatives,” King said in a statement. “Those being promoted today are being recognized for their contributions to the department’s successes and in these new roles will have a more direct influence on our department’s strategic objectives.”
The five promoted officers are Detective Sgt. David Flaherty, Capt. James Hussey, Capt. Peter Keating, Lt. Jeffrey Postell, and Lt. Laurene Spiess.
Hussey, a retired Boston Police Department captain who joined BCPD in 2012, was promoted to captain in the Bureau of Patrol Operations. Before his promotion, Hussey served as the day shifts operations lieutenant for BCPD, working with various components of the department, including day shift sergeants, police and security officers, gate attendants, and medical van operators. In his new role, his involvement with those components will expand over all three shifts.
“In my new assignment we will continue to expand on our mission of working in partnership with our community to maintain the safety and security of all our members,” Hussey said in an email.
Hussey also noted that the department, beyond just his bureau alone, is focused on establishing connections with the BC community.
“We are always looking for new and innovative ways to build rapport with our community,” Hussey said. “Officers are now brainstorming on springtime activities where we can increase our interaction with our community. When we are out of our vehicles and talking with our students, faculty, and staff, that is when I know we are doing our jobs right.”
Spiess was promoted to lieutenant within the Administrative and Technical Services Bureau, and she will continue to serve as the department’s accreditation manager, training coordinator, and recruitment officer. Before becoming an officer for BCPD in 1998, Spiess worked as a part-time escort van driver and full-time security officer and police dispatcher at BC.
In her time at the University, she has become involved with a number of different areas outside the scope of her position’s normal duties. These areas include aiding in sexual assault investigations, providing Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) and first responder/CPR instruction, and serving as a liaison with the Women’s Resource Center. She has also overseen the process of BCPD gaining accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Committee.
“My new role will enhance my previous responsibilities by bringing together five major components within the Administrative and Technical Service bureau that are directly aligned with the department’s vision to exemplify the best practices and professional standards in our field,” Spiess said in an email. “Each bureau within the department works closely together as a team to serve our community with professional police and public safety services. In my new role, I plan to continue to work with our team for continued department growth and exploration and to expand our staff development and training program as well as our recruitment efforts.”
King said that Spiess has specific focuses for BCPD recruitment in the near future.
“We have some vacancies, and we’re going to be looking to see if we can improve the AHANA and female representation in the department,” King said. “That’s one of her goals.”
Within the Investigative Services Bureau, Flaherty was promoted to the rank of detective sergeant. Flaherty joined BCPD in 1989, became a full-time patrol officer in 1991, and began working as a detective in 2009. As the team leader for the detective unit, Flaherty will oversee and manage detective work in a variety of services, including state and federal crime reporting, fingerprinting for background checks, evidence control, and court prosecutions.
“Managing the ever-increasing volume of work, keeping-up with the changes in technology and the resulting investigative challenges is a non-stop job that is now my responsibility,” Flaherty said in an email.
Flaherty said his department is constantly seeking to assess and refine its investigative and support roles.
“Moving forward, I’ll be looking to expand our abilities for in-house evidence processing and crime analysis capabilities in support of our crime prevention program,” Flaherty said. “With the well-being of the community in mind and consistent with our vision, I’ll also be looking closely at our processes to see if any room for improvements exist which could lead to preventing more offenses before they occur.”
Postell, who was recently recognized for his innovations in community policing for BCPD, was promoted to lieutenant for the Operations and Community Policing Services Bureau.
“He will now have more of an ability to have a direct influence on community policing with the patrol staff because now he’s one of the lieutenants in that area,” King said.
The final promotion was for Keating, who is now captain in the Administrative and Technical Services Bureau.
