Justin Barrett, who re-ignited controversy over Gatesgate with racist e-mail about Gates, filed a federal lawsuit against the city yesterday. He's demanding unspecified damages for his pain and suffering - and an end to efforts by Police Commissioner Ed Davis and Mayor Tom Menino to bounce him from the force, at least without a hearing.

Transcript of Police Commissioner Ed Davis's statement at a news conference today on Justin Barrett's e-mail to Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham:

The Boston Police Department is committed to a standard of excellence. Our community rightly has high expectations for us. It is a standard that the community deserves and we are required to meet. Officer Barrett's actions do not comply with those expectations.

Barrett's email was racist and inflammatory. These racist opinions and feelings have no place in this department or in our society and will not be tolerated.

Barrett's comments were directed at Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates. I regret the direct insult toward Professor Gates and have personally reached out to him to apologize for this offense and inform him of the Department's immediate efforts to make this officer accountable. ...

The commissioner denies the rumor in a memo to Boston Police:

... This rumor is false. I am personally proud to have the opportunity to lead this extraordinary organization and I look forward to our future successes.

Bobby Constantino read the Globe story yesterday that reported Police Commissioner Ed Davis is putting more cops back into plain clothes because underlings felt uniforms hindered their ability to get people to cooperate with them. Constantino replies that a) Davis should remember who's in charge at BPD and b) It's not the uniforms:

... Every officer in the City of Boston knows that people in urban neighborhoods will not talk to them whether they are in uniforms, plainclothes or Halloween costumes. The lack of trust and cooperation has nothing to do with what police are wearing and anyone that tells you so is not being honest. Residents know why police officers don't want to wear uniforms, walk around in their neighborhoods and build relationships. They sense it. They see it. They feel it. And the transparent excuses why reinforce rather than repair feelings of mistrust.

Here is the complaint filed this week in federal district court against Boston and Police Commissioner Ed Davis by would-be better-than-a-Duck-Boat operator Erroll Tyler of Medford.

In it, Tyler recounts years of struggle with Cambridge and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (he originally wanted to launch his boats by the Museum of Science; both city and state, he claims, fought him) and, now, the city of Boston, which he says is acting to protect Boston-based tour operators, who essentially have expensive cab-medallion-like license deals, against outsiders.

Tyler's lawyers are from The Institute for Justice, which describes itself as "our nation's only libertarian public interest law firm."

When Ed Davis stopped by the West Roxbury Roche Bros. for some shopping and saw a shoplifter race out the door, he couldn't just stand by. So he joined store security officers (wait? Roche. Bros. has security officers?) and helped grab the guy on nearby Belgrade Avenue, the Globe reports.

Ed. parochial note: As a frequent visitor to that store, the story left me wondering just how far down Belgrade the guy got. Did he get across the parkway, or did they nab him by that little field behind the old gas station?

Boston today approved higher fares for local cabs - but at a price: In addition to allowing rates to go up (from $13.95 to $16.20 for a five-mile ride), Mayor Tom Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis announced a series of new regulations aimed at making local cabs - and their drivers - cleaner and safer.

By 2015, all Boston cab drivers will have to convert their vehicles to hybrids. More immediately, a series of new measures aimed at cleaning up the soiled reputations of local cabs goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, including:

• Cabbies will be required to accept credit cards.
• Cabs must be clean "at all times" - washed and vacuumed at least once a day.
• Same goes for drivers, who will no longer be allowed to wear T-shirts (clean or not) or any sort of ripped apparel or apparel bearing offensive words or logos. Swimsuits, jogging suits, tank tops and gym shorts are right out.
• Drivers will no longer be allowed to talk on cell phones while driving.
• Owners have to install roof lights that indicate whether a cab is available or not and prominently display fare information in the passenger area.

"Today's announcement underscores our commitment to ensuring that Boston residents, members of the business community and our many tourists are provided with safe, clean and efficient taxi service," Davis, whose Hackney Carriage Unit oversees Boston cabs, said in a statement. "The implementation and strict enforcement of these improvements will significantly enhance our local taxi service and provide a more customer-friendly experience."

Menino said requiring hybrid cabs would lead to cleaner air, reduce gas costs for drivers and improve service for customers.

Police Commissioner Davis has not been sitting around on his arse as his detectives, the FBI, and Attorney Donald Stern investigate BPD procedure, potential negligence, civil rights violations or criminal action.

Rather, Davis has been exploring ways to improve policing large crowds in Boston with direct and immediate oversight by human rights lawyers, a technique developed in Northern Ireland.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis yesterday recorded a message for his officers following former officer Robert Pulido's decision to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. It will be shown at police roll calls today. "We will not allow the loathsome actions of Robert Pulito and company to define who we are as a police organization," Davis says, vowing to go after the unnamed officers Pulido mentioned:

It's Suffolk DA Dan Conley vs. Police Commissioner Ed Davis over who gets to head up homicide investigations in Boston.