Newton Mayor Names Next Police Chief

NEWTON, MA —Walpole Police Chief John F. Carmichael Jr. will be the next chief of the Newton Police Department.

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller made the announcement Thursday. He is expected to begin his role as chief in June.

Carmichael has spent the past five years as chief of the Walpole Police Department.

"He has a proven track record of embracing and implementing the principles underlying NPD’s mission of improving the quality of life and supporting the full spectrum of needs for all residents by delivering fair, just, respectful, safe and effective policing," Fuller said in a statement.

• Read more:: Newton Police Chief David MacDonald To Step Down

The Newton Police Department has been led by former Newton Police Chief Howard Mintz as interim chief since Police Chief David MacDonald resigned abruptly in June.

MacDonald, who is 56, gave his notice as the city prepared to "reimagine" Newton's police department amid a rekindled Civil Rights movement. At the time the mayor's office said his successor would be better off starting the work.

The city undertook a nationwide search for the next chief. In January, the mayor solicited feedback from residents. But little else was said about the process. Members of the selection committee were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The mayor's office did not elaborate on the process, or the number of candidates.

The Newton police chief is among the highest paid city officials. The base salary would be between $200,000 and $215,000, according to a job posting.

Fuller said Carmichael has a proven track record of moving the Walpole Police Department forward based on collaborative partnerships between the department and people across the community.

As chief in Walpole, a department which is not part of the civil service system, he intentionally increased the diversity of its members. His strategic plan for the Walpole Police Department purposefully embraces the philosophy of 21st Century policing and weaves together reform with building trust and police legitimacy with the community and a problem-solving approach that focuses on the root cause of incidents, the mayor said.

Carmichael who hails from Hyde Park in Boston, began his career with service in the Unites States Army Military Police Corps, then transitioned to becoming a dispatcher for police, fire and EMS in Medfield before serving as a police officer, sergeant, deputy chief before becoming chief there. He has his bachelors and masters in law enforcement and criminal justice. He also completed the FBI National Academy for law enforcement in 2012.

What he steps into in Newton

Carmichael will be expected to work with the pages of recommendations coming from the mayor's task force to reimagine policing.

MacDonald's department faced criticism in 2020, when an officer drew his weapon on a Black man walking down the street with his wife. The college athletic director said he was surrounded by multiple police and at least one officer drew his weapon. The police department apologized for that, saying a man wanted for murder was suspected of being in that same neighborhood. The suspect was also tall and Black and had facial hair and was arrested some five days later in the neighborhood. The mix-up garnered headlines across the region and criticism from many residents.

Then this January, Newton police officers shot and killed a man who was having a mental health crisis in Newton Highlands. Several officers are on leave pending an investigation determination.

In 2015, when Mintz was still chief, a Black Emerson professor disputed a Newton police officer's account of a speeding ticket, the ACLU got involved and later the ticket was vacated.

Newton City Council will begin its approval process in May.

Read more:

• Mayor Taps Retired Police Chief After Police Chief Abruptly Retires
• Newton Police Chief David MacDonald To Step Down
• 10 Complaints Against Newton Police In 2020