Davis’s call comes as state and city police work on how to patrol areas such as the burgeoning Seaport area and Carson Beach in South Boston, where state troopers said they were overwhelmed by a crush of teenagers who gathered over the holiday weekend.
Police jurisdiction is a hotly debated issue in Boston, where city and state investigators have long disputed who should have control over a given crime scene. There is also a financial benefit to patrolling the once-faded Seaport area, which in recent years has been transformed into a hot spot for bars and restaurants. Those new venues provide potential for police security details that could mean extra money for officers.
Davis said yesterday that his call is not driven by a desire to provide his officers more opportunities for details.
“I’m concerned about ensuring that the Seaport community receives the community policing services that they are entitled to,’’ he said.
Davis said he would like to sit down with representatives from State Police, state agencies, and the Legislature to discuss the proposal. Davis said he was not calling for city jurisdiction over other areas considered state property, such as the Esplanade, which tend to draw people from across the state.
A State Police spokesman referred comment to the Executive Office of Public Safety.
Governor Deval Patrick said he is still examining the issue and spoke to Mayor Thomas M. Menino about it yesterday.
“We talked about how important it is that we have as much cooperation and as much ability to leverage the respective law enforcement resources that we have,’’ Patrick said.
A spokesman for the mayor said Menino supports the commissioner’s position.
Rick Brown, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, referred questions to a spokesman.
“The Seaport is under the control of [the Massachusetts Port Authority] and the State Police,’’ said the spokesman, Scott Ferson. “It works well and has for years. If the Boston police are needed in an incident, we call them.’’
