On June 7 the Brookline Police Department swore in a new chief: fifth-grader Zoë Galaburda. The precocious new leader won the department’s annual “Chief for a Day” essay contest with a poignant piece on hate crimes against religious institutions.
“The essay was well organized and very well written. There was a personal element on this topic for Zoe,” says Officer Dana Inchierca, Chairman of the Chief for a Day Committee. “And finally, her proposed solutions of police presence as a deterrent and youth education as a preventative solution were right on the money of how tolerance in society is created and maintained.”
Galaburda mentioned two problems specifically, graffiti on a wall at St. Mary of Assumption Church and an egging at Temple Ohabei Shalom. She demonstrated wisdom beyond her years in selecting such a poignant topic to both Brookline and the greater world, and in her strategic solutions for the local community.
“In today’s climate, it is essential to continue police and community relationship building,” says Inchierca. “This program gives young students the opportunity to see and experience the inner workings of a police department and get some controlled, hands-on experience as well.” Demystifying the process makes police work more accessible and understandable to the program participants and residents.
Galaburda spent the day outfitted in a police uniform and going through the motions of the job like holding roll call, getting briefed by detectives, conducting a traffic stop, and making a mock arrest. The officers referred to her as “chief” throughout the day.
This is the third year of the contest, which was spearheaded by the late Lieutenant June Murphy, the first female police lieutenant of the Brookline force. Interested Brookline fifth graders are asked to submit a 500-word essay answering a question about local safety. The winner is made chief for the day. Sadly, Murphy passed away just weeks before the first ceremony. The event is now held in her honor. Former winners of the essay contest were Graham Horowitz (2017) and Emily Snyder (2018).
Brookline, like the country at large, has been impacted by tensions between law enforcement and at-risk populations. Inchierca hopes that this program will continue to forge goodwill within the town. He says, “Ultimately we hope to build a relationship with the community so that we can remove any negative stigmas of the police and reverse them so that the police are viewed as people you can trust and go to for help or even just say ‘Hello” to in passing.”
