Fallout after Boston police leader was demoted following his appointment to POST commission

A former Boston police detective and former member of the state's police standards commission said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox used language that is "a disqualifier of his leadership" when he demoted a celebrated officer.

Speaking Thursday on WBUR's Radio Boston, Larry Ellison, who served on the Massachusetts Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, said Boston Deputy Superintendent Eddy Chrispin told him Cox said he'd have to resign from the POST Commission or face demotion in the department. In doing so, according to Ellison, Cox told Chrispin he could not "serve two masters" by keeping both his command position and role on the reform board.

Cox is Black, as is Chrispin, who up until last week was an appointed member of Cox’s command staff. Chrispin served as a deputy superintendent when he was named a new commissioner on the POST Commission. Chrispin chose to continue as a POST commissioner despite the demotion.

Ellison called out the "masters" phrase and said Cox shouldn’t get a pass for using it because he’s also Black.

“That's something that really infuriates me and really triggers Black folks,” he said. “It should trigger anyone regardless of the race of the person making a comment like that, that he could only serve one master at a time.”

“We are not slaves,” he continued.

Spokespeople for Boston police and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Chrispin corroborated that Cox used the phrase in their conversation, but declined to comment directly on the commissioner or the situation.

“My concerns are with systems and issues, not individuals,” Chrispin told WBUR. “I think as long as these systems are in place people will continue to behave in much the same way.”

Chrispin, who served on the Boston Police Reform Task Force four years ago, called back to the racial justice protests in 2020.

He recalled saying at the time, “if all we do is change policing, we’re falling short of the mark,” he said. “All I ask people: is this what you expected four years later after the protests in the streets?”

Wu has stood by Cox's decision to demote Chrispin, saying in a statement Tuesday that she “fully supports the commissioner’s judgment on how best to build his command staff as the most effective senior leadership team for the department and the city.”

The statement added that she was grateful for Chrispin’s leadership on POST.

Several local leaders and lawmakers protested Chrispin’s demotion to sergeant detective – which came with a $40,000 pay cut. That includes Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who appointed Chrispin to POST. She challenged Cox’s assertion that Chrispin had a conflict of interest.

“Deputy Superintendent Chrispin has served Boston’s communities for 25 years, where he has advocated for better community policing and greater opportunity for officers of color and women," she said in a statement. "After a thorough vetting process, I was proud to appoint Chrispin to the POST Commission, an appointment that was entirely consistent with the state conflict of interest law.”

POST commission executive director Enrique Zuniga also called for Chrispin’s reinstatement.

“The POST Commission has procedures to deal with conflicts of interest that may arise. Commissioners routinely disclose or recuse themselves from a particular matter,” he said.

Material from the Dorchester Reporter was used in this report.