Commissioner Robert C. Haas was appointed on April 9, 2007. 

Robert Haas has distinguished himself during thirty years of law enforcement experience. He most recently served as the Secretary of Public Safety for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, responsible for oversight of the Massachusetts State Police, the Department of Corrections, the National Guard, the Department of Fire Services and numerous other criminal justice and public safety agencies of the Commonwealth. While serving, first as the Undersecretary for Law Enforcement and Homeland Security, and later as the Secretary, he focused on improving the law enforcement response to homeland security matters and encouraging innovations in police responsiveness to community needs. He had the major leadership role in developing and implementing improved procedures and reporting requirements to ensure that police departments were not engaged in racial profiling through their enforcement activities. Among his other important assignments, Commissioner Haas directed his attention to improving the transition of prisoners to civilian life after their incarceration, an important issue in Cambridge.

Prior to his four years of leadership in the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Public Safety Commissioner Haas served for twelve years as the Police Chief for the Town of Westwood. He distinguished himself in that role by making many improvements in the department’s capacity to serve the community, in particular the juveniles, adolescents and seniors within the community. He excelled in developing collaborative partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, schools, social service providers, and community groups both regionally and locally. Prior to becoming the Westwood chief, he served as a patrol officer, sergeant and lieutenant in the Morris Township Police Department in Morris Township New Jersey. In his final assignment there he served as Administrative Assistant to the Chief, responsible for coordinating efforts to obtain national accreditation for the department.

As was made clear during our screening process, throughout his career Commissioner Haas has distinguished himself through his leadership, dedication, hard work, imagination and commitment to making law enforcement agencies more responsive to community needs and concerns. He approaches law enforcement from the perspective of customer service as well as crime prevention and apprehension.

Commissioner Haas has a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Rutgers University and has completed all the coursework in the Doctorate Program in Law, Policy and Society at Northeastern University.