In 1796, the watch was reorganized, and the watchmen carried a badge of office, a rattle, and a six-foot pole, which was painted blue and white with a hook on one end and a bill on the other.

The department was closely organized and modeled after Sir Robert Peel's (London) Metropolitan Police Service.

At the time, the police salary of $2.00 a day for the morning and afternoon beat and $1.20 for the night watch was nearly twice as high as the wages of laborers.

[9] On October 18, 2007, a memorial was held in honor of Hodsdon on the corner of Havre and Maverick Streets in East Boston.

[6] On July 14, 1863, Boston Mayor Frederic W. Lincoln Jr. (1858–1861 & 1863–1867) ordered all 330 officers in the Department to quell a draft riot among Irish Catholics attempting to raid Union armories in the North End.

This signaled a dramatic shift in traditional labor relations and views on the part of the police, who were unhappy with stagnant wages and poor working conditions.

Coolidge announced that the police did not have the right to strike against the public safety and brought in the state national guard to restore order to Boston.

Ironically, the new officers hired in the wake of the strike received higher salaries, more vacation days and city-provided uniforms, the very demands the original strikers were requesting.

[6] Coolidge's intervention in the strike brought him national fame, which, in turn, led to his nomination as Harding's running mate for vice-president in the 1920 presidential election.

An accomplished horsewoman, she was sworn in as a mounted officer of the Weston Police Department in 1913 during the town's bicentennial celebration.

[6][12] On May 29, 1930, Oliver Garrett was charged with 152 counts of conspiracy, extortion, and receiving gratuities for crimes allegedly committed as leader of BPD's liquor raiding unit during Prohibition.

The ring opposed Proposition 2½, which reduced the funds that Massachusetts municipalities could raise through property taxes and led to cuts in fire departments and police agencies.

Through committing arson, the ring hoped to cause social disorder to make the case for the necessity of firefighters and police.

BPD proceeded to conduct a manhunt targeting young black men, indiscriminately using stop and frisk tactics, especially in neighborhoods of Mission Hill and Roxbury.

[21] On August 23, 1995, the BPD became the first police agency to send fingerprint images to the FBI electronically using the newly created EFIPS (now IAFIS) system.

Within hours of the receipt of the fingerprints, the FBI determined that the suspect had a number of prior arrests, including one for assault with intent to kill.

[23] On January 31, 2007, 911 callers mistakenly identified small electronic promotions found throughout Boston and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville as possible explosives.

Upon investigation by Boston Police and other agencies,[24] the suspicious devices turned out to be battery-powered LED placards with an image of a cartoon character called a "mooninite" used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters, a film based on the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim.

[25] The United States Department of Homeland Security praised Boston authorities "for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.

[29] During the 2020 George Floyd riots, the department came under scrutiny by elected officials for its usage of tear gas against civilians.

[31] In early September 2020, United States Attorney Andrew Lelling indicted nine former and current Boston police officers for allegedly collecting more than $200,000 in fraudulent overtime payments while working in the department’s evidence warehouse.

During his time in the BPD, the department did nothing to limit his interactions with children, including allowing Rose to work on child sexual assault cases.

[36] The city of Boston subsequently hired an independent attorney to conduct an investigation; meanwhile, Walsh resigned as mayor upon his confirmation as United States Secretary of Labor.

[39] The Boston Police Department has approximately 2,015 officers and 808 civilian personnel, with patrol services covering an area of 89.6 mi2 (232.1 km2) and a population of 617,594.

BPD is also featured in the television series Spenser: For Hire, Rizzoli & Isles, Leverage, Crossing Jordan, Fringe, and the failed Katee Sackhoff/Goran Visnjic police show pilot Boston's Finest.