I was pleased to read in Mayor Laredo’s most recent Newton Update that a feasibility study on a new police station has begun. In working with Chief Mintz, the late Setti Warren recognized the necessity of a new police facility back in 2015. The funding for a feasibility study and an initial outlay for architectural studies began making the slow slog up the Capital Improvement Plan.

At my first meeting after Jan. 1, 2018, with the Capital Improvement Committee, I discovered that these two items had been removed unilaterally without a vote by the committee or any input from the Police Department. I can only imagine the extra millions of dollars that the city will now have to pony up to provide the men and women of the department what they have needed and deserved for many years.

David MacDonald, retired Newton police chief

Quincy, Mass. (Upper Falls native)