Healey taps former Boston police commissioner to advise on shelter security

The Healey administration has hired former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to advise the governor on security in the state’s emergency shelter system.

Healey has come under fire in recent days following a fentanyl and gun bust at a state-run shelter in Revere — and revelations that background checks were not being conducted at all sites.

Healey told reporters Friday that she'd ordered criminal record checks for all shelter residents last spring, but learned recently they were not happening everywhere. The governor has tapped Davis to lead an independent review of security protocols in the emergency shelter system, calling him a “a renowned expert on safety and security matters.”

“I want him looking at this,” Healey told reporters Friday. “I want him advising me directly about what else we can and should do to ensure that we're doing all we can here in Massachusetts to protect people.”

The Boston Globe first reported Thursday on the lack of checks under the Criminal Offender Record Information system.

Davis served as the city's top cop during the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Since leaving the Boston Police Department, he has amassed a long track record consulting for governments and other institutions after high-profile crises. In 2019 he was hired to investigate the shooting of Red Sox Hall of Famer David Ortiz. More recently, officials in Brockton brought in Davis to examine security in city schools.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Healey said surprise shelter inspections she ordered this week are now partially complete. And she said criminal background checks, commonly known as CORIs, are underway.

The lawyer for the man arrested in Revere told WBUR his client had no prior criminal record in the state — meaning it's unlikely he would have been identified in a background check.

On Beacon Hill, Republicans leaders have been calling for limiting shelter offerings since the migrant crisis began reaching unprecedented levels in the summer of 2023.

In an interview with WBUR, Republican Minority Leader Brad Jones called for "heads to roll" in state government as a consequence for what he characterized as mismanagement of the shelter system.

"Ultimately the Legislature needs to make some reforms that essentially bind the actions of the administration, because the administration, left to their own devices, isn't getting the job done," Jones said.

Healey has recently come out more strongly in favor of revising the state's 40-year-old "right to shelter" law, which guaranteed shelter to thousands of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts in recent years. On Friday, Healey said she wants to work with the Legislature to change the law.

"We're going to keep working at this, and we're going to get this right," Healey said. "It's too important to me as governor, and it's important to the safety and wellbeing of communities across Massachusetts."

WBUR's Deborah Becker and Lynn Jolicoeur contributed to this report.