Name Francis Roache | ||
Francis M. "Mickey" Roache is an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as Boston Police Commissioner from 1985 to 1993, was a member of the Boston City Council from 1996 to 2002, and was Suffolk County Register of Deeds from 2002 to 2015.
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Law enforcement
On February 1, 1985, Roache, a lieutenant who headed the Boston Police Department's Community Disorders Unit, was appointed acting Police Commissioner. On March 13 he was sworn in as permanent Commissioner by his lifelong friend, Mayor Raymond Flynn.
During his tenure as Commissioner, Roache instituted mandatory drug testing for BPD employees and won praise for his efforts to root out corruption in the department.
Roache was Commissioner during the Charles Stuart case. The police's mishandling of the case caused African-American leaders to call for Roache's resignation.
In December 1990, the Massachusetts Attorney General's office released a report which detailed a variety of civil rights violations committed by the Boston Police Department. Violations described in the report included random frisking of minority youth and coercing witnesses to testify in the Stuart case.
After several shootings of unarmed victims by police, alleged mismanagement in the Internal Affairs Department, and a report issued by United States Attorney Wayne Budd detailing allegations of police misconduct, Mayor Flynn was pressured to fire Roache. Flynn refused to fire Roache, which caused critics of the police department to claim that Roache's friendship with the Mayor was the reason he was still Commissioner. During the 1991 mayoral election, candidate Edward J. Doherty promised that if elected, he would fire Roache. Flynn appointed a commission led by Boston attorney James St. Clair to investigate the Police Department. The commission recommended that Flynn fire Roache. On June 24, 1993 Roache announced his resignation effective June 30.
Political career
After his resignation, Roache became a candidate for mayor in the special election to succeed Ray Flynn, who resigned to become United States Ambassador to the Holy See. He finished in seventh place with 3.01% of the vote.
He was elected to the Boston City Council in 1995 as an At-Large councilor. He was reelected in 1997, 1999, and 2001. In 2002, he left the City Council to become Suffolk County Register of Deeds, a position he held until his resignation on December 31, 2015.