News & Features Feedback
New This WeekAround TownMusicFilmArtTheaterNews & FeaturesFood & DrinkAstrology
  HOME
NEW THIS WEEK
EDITORS' PICKS
LISTINGS
NEWS & FEATURES
MUSIC
FILM
ART
BOOKS
THEATER
DANCE
TELEVISION
FOOD & DRINK
ARCHIVES
LETTERS
PERSONALS
CLASSIFIEDS
ADULT
ASTROLOGY
PHOENIX FORUM DOWNLOAD MP3s

  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
New sheriff in town
BY SETH GITELL

The new Suffolk County sheriff, Andrea Cabral, faces what many would consider an unenviable task. Sworn in a little more than a month ago, Cabral must bring order to a somewhat unwieldy 1100-person bureaucracy at a time of statewide fiscal crisis, without the help of a powerful ally in the governor’s office. The governor who appointed her sheriff, Jane Swift, is gone, and Cabral has less than two years to prepare for what is likely to be a competitive election in November 2004. Welcome to Boston politics.

Cabral, a veteran of Ralph Martin’s district attorney’s office, took over as sheriff in November after the resignation of Richard Rouse, who had served since 1996. Rouse resigned after former US attorney Donald Stern issued a report criticizing his management of the office, which runs Boston’s jails and correctional facilities. While something of a newcomer to politics, Cabral, a Cape Verdean and the first woman of color to run a sheriff’s office in Massachusetts, is already fighting to get her message out. On Tuesday, she met with both House Speaker Tom Finneran and Senate president Robert Travaglini to let them know she is open to working together and willing to help streamline her office’s budget. She has yet to meet with Governor Mitt Romney, but says she finds common cause in some of the things he and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey are trying to do. Currently unenrolled, Cabral says she will soon announce her intention to register as a Republican.

" I’ve been reading and following the things [Romney’s] been saying about the tone and tenure of his administration, " says the new sheriff, a former director of the Family Violence Project at the Roxbury District Court. Of Healey, with whom she shares some common interests, Cabral says, " She’s got a background in crime and law enforcement. She seems to have a passion for the criminal-justice arena and public safety and domestic violence. "

Cabral says political events have not left her feeling abandoned. " I don’t feel left hanging, " she says, adding that she can go to former prosecutors, such as Martin or Scott Harshbarger, for advice. " I have to focus on the work of the department. "

While she declines the moniker, Cabral may find her reputation as a " reformer " in synch with the political climate. Unlike Rouse, who relied on employees to fund his re-election efforts, Cabral vows that she will not take campaign contributions from employees of her department. " I’m not taking money for my campaign from any employee, " she says. " I want my relationship with them to be strictly professional. My dealings with them will be merit-based. " That said, Cabral believes she will be able to raise money from " several organizations " and individuals — although she would not yet disclose which ones.

While all government agencies will surely have to focus on belt-tightening in the coming months, Cabral says she will seek innovative ways to fund the sheriff’s office. She will, for one, attempt to obtain grants for new programs, such as employing a victims-services advocate. While the DA has advocates who work directly with victims, the sheriff does not. Cabral’s proposed program would fill in the gaps. " It would take up where victims-services advocates in the DA’s office leaves off, " she says. " It would notify [victims] about parole dates, hearing dates. " Such a program would be a relief to the " people [who] live in anxiety awaiting the release of certain inmates and alter their lives according to who’s in the street and who’s not. "

But in order to implement her policy programs and fix the problems at the sheriff’s office, Cabral will have to learn the political system. One can envision an array of challengers from City Council and the House of Representatives — the usual breeding grounds for sheriffs. For the time being, she’s boning up on the local political scene — becoming part of the world of committed political junkies who watch shows such as WLVI’s Keller at Large and New England Cable News’s NewsNight.

" I’m not particularly bothered by not having a political patron in my corner, " says Cabral. " It’s always what I’ve done in my career. You make your achievements and you build a political base. "

Issue Date: January 9 - 16, 2003
Back to the News and Features table of contents.
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend