Norwood Police Chief Criticizes Globe-Published Cartoon Critical of Police

NORWOOD, MA — Norwood Police Chief William Brooks is criticizing a decision by the Boston Globe to run a cartoon drawn by Mike Lukovich.

In a letter dated Aug. 16 to Globe publisher and owner John Henry, Brooks said "I am appalled at your paper's continued use of cartoons by Mike Luckovich that take gratuitous shots at police officers."

At the heart of the issue is a cartoon run on the Globe's editorial page with two officers in the frame. The officer that sees a white suspect is holding a piece of paper that says "Miranda rights" and the other that sees a black suspect has a paper that says "last rites." In other examples given by Brooks, he says the paper has run other cartoons critical of police officers by the same author.

"The Globe's decision to feed the frenzy by running the inflammatory cartoons that ignore the true picture deserves your personal attention. As my offices work every day to deal with society's failed challenges of drug abuse, mental illness, and poverty, Mr. Luckovich is home drawing cartoons that make their jobs even more difficult," Brooks wrote.

Earlier this week, Ellen Clegg, the Globe’s editorial-page editor, defended the cartoon to WGBH and said space would be dedicated to letters against the cartoon in last Wednesday's paper.