Wu supports Boston police after controversial demotion of an officer, contradicting Boston Police’s portrayal

A day after a police oversight board criticized the demotion of one of its members at the Boston Police Department, Mayor Michelle Wu supported Boston Police Commissioner Cox in his decision.

She also contradicted the department’s public denial that Officer Eddy Chrispin was demoted from his high-ranking position within the BPD in connection with his appointment as a member of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST).

“The commissioner truly believes that it is in the best interest of the department and the POST to function well and both do their jobs … that it would be in the best interest of the commissioner to keep those (the POST Commission and the Boston Police Command Staff) independent when he is going to select and assemble his command staff,” Wu said on Boston Public Radio Tuesday.

Chrispin was appointed to the Boston Police Department’s command staff under former Police Commissioner William Gross, a small group that sets policy and oversees the department.

The POST Commission is a statewide police oversight body created under a 2020 law with the power to de-license Massachusetts police officers for misconduct that would bar them from employment in any law enforcement agency in the state.

Chrispin was appointed to the POST Commission by state Attorney General Andrea Campbell in May. He was later demoted from deputy superintendent to sergeant detective.

Some lawyers and former police officers have publicly opposed his demotion. Larry Ellison, a retired Boston police officer and former MAMLEO president, told GBH News on Monday that the demotion could discourage others from serving and keep well-qualified officers off the POST commission.

Wu said she supported Cox’s decision to view service in the two organizations as mutually exclusive, saying Chrispin was faced with a choice.

“The decision was up to the command staff or the POST,” she said.

“There is a basic policy that he has established: POST positions should be filled by people who are not part of the command staff in Boston so that both units can fully perform their respective missions,” Wu said, adding, “(Cox) must have every opportunity to shape the team around him.”

Nevertheless, Wu described Chrispin as an “important voice” in the city’s police reform and welcomed his appointment to the POST Commission.

Wu’s defense of Cox’s decision to exclude BPD leadership from serving on the POST Commission contradicts a statement Boston Police made to GBH News on Monday.

When asked to respond to a social media post claiming Chrispin was demoted because of his appointment to the POST commission, Mariellen Burns, the department’s director of internal and external communications, said Monday, “The summary of what happened is inaccurate.”

Burns did not immediately respond to a request for clarification or further comment on the apparent contradiction on Tuesday after Wu’s comments.