Newton Mayor Names Interim Police Chief

Press release from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller:

July 2, 2020

I am pleased to announce my appointment of Newton Police Department Retired Police Chief Howard L. Mintz to the position of Interim Police Chief.

Chief Mintz will lead the Department during this period when we search for a successor to Chief David MacDonald who announced his retirement last month. Chief Mintz will begin work on July 13 and overlap with Chief MacDonald who will officially retire on July 17, 2020.

Chief Mintz grew up in Newton and graduated from the Newton Public Schools. In the 1960s, he was a member of the first Newton Police Explorer Post. Chief Mintz went on to earn an associate degree in liberal arts and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, both from Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice, and a Professional Certificate in Police Leadership from the Suffolk University Center for Public Management.

Chief Mintz began his criminal justice career as a Correction Counselor with the Massachusetts Department of Correction in 1979. In 1984, he joined the Newton Police Department as a patrol officer. After patrolling Newton neighborhoods for four and a half years, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and assigned to the Patrol Bureau as a patrol supervisor.

In addition to the duties of a patrol supervisor, Chief Mintz was tasked with training and education assignments. Consistent with this interest, he taught constitutional law to civilian students upon the establishment of the Newton Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy.

In 1997, Chief Mintz was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He continued his teaching roles and became a commander in the Patrol Bureau. After several more years, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned as the Patrol Bureau Commander, the department’s largest bureau with over 100 sworn and civilian personnel.

Chief Mintz also spent three years commanding the Support Services Bureau. A comprehensive in-service training program for police officers was developed under his command.

In 2009, Chief Mintz was placed in charge of the Traffic Bureau. Under his command, a commercial vehicle truck team was developed and the Traffic Bureau was presented the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Challenge Award.

On March 18, 2013, he was appointed Police Chief by Mayor Setti Warren. As Chief, he implemented for the first time a full-time clinical social worker within the Department to address social and mental health challenges of residents. In addition, Chief Mintz developed special training to protect schools and the community in case of homeland security or other threats. Due to the mandatory retirement of Police Officers in Massachusetts when they reach the age of 65, Chief Mintz officially retired in 2015 after more than three decades with the Newton Police Department.

I am grateful to have Chief Mintz’s long police experience, deep understanding of our Department and our community, and his proven leadership at this time. A person of integrity, he brings a thoughtful, measured and calm presence to this leadership role.

This press release was produced by Newton City Hall. The views expressed here are the author's own.