Our guest in this episode is Dr. Paul Joyce, a retired Superintendent of the Boston Police Department, and current Assistant Professor and Chair of the Criminal Justice and Criminology Program at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. 

In any serious conversation about the best methods to generate a meaningful, collaborative effort between police and the communities they serve, Paul should be the featured speaker. His professional qualifications put him in the upper echelon of those who can truly say they have, and continue to, “Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk”.

Paul spent three decades working as a police officer on the streets of Boston. He began his career as a uniformed patrol officer, before transitioning to the detective branch. Over time, he was promoted through the ranks, with a final assignment as the Superintendent overseeing the Bureau of Professional Development, Training and Education. A strong believer that an educated police officer would be well positioned to advance through the ranks into positions of leadership, Paul earned his way to an undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degree. He has retired from active policing, but his career in public safety continues in on a new path, as a highly regarded college professor with a specific focus on law enforcement and related criminal justice disciplines.

 Listen as he talks about his role in creating the highly successful Youth Violence Task Force in Boston in the early 1990’s. and the successful methods they developed and employed to combat rapidly growing street crime, a crack cocaine epidemic and raging gang warfare. 

It is time we brought knowledgeable, educated, street smart police officers like Paul Joyce back into any significant discussion about modern policing efforts and the need to engage with the communities they are sworn to protect. After listening to this episode, I’m sure you will agree.