Why Boston's Police Commissioner Wants Officers Wearing Nametags

BOSTON, MA — The fight over body-worn cameras has just left the courts. Now, Commissioner William Evans has a new goal in mind: mandate that Boston Police Department officers where name-tags on their uniforms.

He first confirmed those efforts to WGBH last week. The head of Boston's largest police union has said such a move would be "unnecessary."

In a conversation on WGBH's "Greater Boston" program, host Jim Baude pressed Evans for other projects on which he was working with police unions, and where he might be feeling frustrated.

"Little things, like... trying to put name tags (on officers)," Evans said. "That's one of the things I'm bargaining with (the unions) now on. And, you know, those superior officers have them. My command staff has them. But, you know, I'm working to get them on (all officers)."

In subsequent statements, BPD spokesman Lieutenant Detective Michael McCarthy told multiple news outlets the badges were meant to "increase transparency and trust."

Evans "hopes to have name tags issued to all officers in the department and is working with the remaining two unions... toward that goal," he said, noting that command staff members are already wearing name tags.

Related: Judge Green Lights Boston Police Body Camera Pilot Program

Police Commissioner Says 'Resistance to Change' Impedes Body Camera Pilot

It's an echo of the command staff's move to set the example on body-worn cameras, an issues which union push-back landed in court earlier this month. In that case, the judge sided with Evans and the City of Boston, suggesting union leadership had pressured officers not to volunteer, despite previously agreeing to a one-year-pilot program.

In this case, like the cameras, Evans on "Greater Boston" again attributed the unions' reticence to wear tags to general opposition to change. The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association union head told The Boston Globe, however, that it could create issues of safety, should officers' names become more accessible. Other community groups have spoken in favor, saying the tags humanize officers, particularly in tense situations.

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Photo via Boston Police Department