Boston Police Superintendent Baston Honored by RFK Community Alliance

Growing up in Hyde Park, Nora Baston had a rocky relationship with police. She remembers local officers patrolling her apartment complex, chasing her and her friends out of the cul-de-sac where they’d play, often without cause. From sixth grade through high school, mediocre grades consistently landed her in summer school. It wasn’t until she joined the UMass Lowell Women’s Basketball team that Baston found the mentorship, she desperately needed to take her education and future seriously. And it was those same women and teammates that supported Baston after her mom passed away of cancer during her sophomore year of college. Decades later, she is now leveraging the sport to bridge gaps between police officers and the communities they serve as the 4th female appointed to the rank of Superintendent in the Boston Police Department’s history.

What began in 2007 as an effort led by Baston, then a rookie on the force, to show up in street clothes to shoot hoops with neighborhood kids across the city to build trust has transformed into a generation of officers that lead innovative programs such as GROW Girls, Act Up with 5.0, We Belong and Women in Blue, just to name a few. From playing basketball at a local YMCA, to holding an acting class for kids who’ve experienced trauma, to running a mini-CSI camp for girls interested in science, dedicated officers of various ranks and units are tapping into their passions and interests to facilitate dialogues and expose youth to new experiences. Backed by the Boston Police’s Activity League, the Corey C Griffin Foundation, the Charles Hayden Foundation and other nonprofit organizations, these programs are examples of how the Superintendent’s leadership and vision have influenced the younger generation of officers to carve their own paths to building relationships and trust with their communities through programs that provide mentorship, empowerment, opportunities, resources, skills and mental wellness for Boston’s youth who face tremendous challenges every day.

“Basketball is such an important part of my life as playing the game gave me confidence, skills, an education, lifelong friendships and respect,” says Baston, who was recruited to play basketball at UMass Lowell as a junior at Boston Latin Academy. “Without my basketball team I would not be where I am at today and that is certainly true with my team at work who support me every day.”

After advancing through the ranks, Superintendent Baston is now the Chief of the Bureau of Professional Development. In this role, she helps to train and mentor rookie officers. Part of their development involves creating pathways into the community, through initiatives like Women in Blue. She carries with her a question she was asked by her first boss on the job when he challenged her on the concept of community policing.

“When I joined the department, we had a new commissioner who came in wanting to build relationships in our assigned patrol areas,” says Baston. “He appointed me to Sergeant relatively quickly and I took pride in my team’s efforts to clean up crime in the streets. However, after taking a walk in the neighborhood, he turned to me and asked: “how come nobody in the community knows your name?” It was then that I learned that part of keeping neighborhoods safe meant that people needed to know, trust and respect you. I work to instill that concept in future generations of the force.”

Outside of the Boston Police Department, Superintendent Baston is a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Massachusetts Association of Women in Law Enforcement, the FBI National Academy Associates and the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers. In addition, she sits on the board of the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), the Boston Area Church League, and works closely with the Boys and Girls Club and Martin Richard Foundation.