Brookline Select Board To Discuss Approving New Chief of Police

BROOKLINE, MA – The Brookline Select Board is set to discuss approving Acting Chief of Police Jennifer Paster to the permanent position of Chief of the Brookline Police Department in a public meeting tomorrow evening.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in the select board hearing room on the 6th floor in Brookline Town Hall at 333 Washington St. Attendees can also join via Zoom.

Paster has worked in law enforcement for 22 years, with twelve years in leadership roles according to her resume. She has been a Brookline Police officer since 2000, and was promoted to Sergeant in 2011, Lieutenant in 2017, and has been Acting Chief of Police in Brookline since August of 2022.

Brookline Town Administrator Charles Carey said in a letter to the Select Board included in the meeting packet he “hope[s] she will lead the Department into a renaissance era: not going back to the way things were, but putting things right and moving the community forward together.”

Brookline posted the job opening for chief of police on January 11 and received 23 applications for the position from candidates across the country, Carey said in his letter.

A panel of five citizen volunteers provided their opinions throughout the candidate evaluation process.

“In today’s hyper-polarized environment, our meetings were a brief breath of fresh air,” Carey said in regard to the candidate evaluation process with the panel. “I hope they all take the spirit of our conversations back out into the community.”

After reviewing the applicants with the panel, Carey invited six for further consideration via a two-round process. Three of those candidates were members of the Brookline Police Department; three were external candidates. One external candidate withdrew shortly after the initial evaluation began, Carey said in the letter.

Carey will present a draft employment contract between the Town and Acting Chief Paster for the Select Board’s review and approval in the meeting.