"The commissioner has a contractual obligation to attend various conferences," Santille said, adding, "For example, he is the president of the National Organization of Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and attends their annual conferences as well as three annual meetings."
Santille said Anderson attended the NOBLE conference in New Orleans last year as well as the conference and meetings of the International Association of the Chiefs of Police, which were held in Detroit.
City council officials, who spent a combined $16,200 on travel and training last year, said they have a choice between attending National League of Cities meetings in Washington or New Orleans.
Officials from departments with smaller budget allocations for travel and training said they limited travel expenses to keep them in line with tight budgets.
David Haley, who is in charge of finance for the department of public works, said his department had curtailed travel expenses last year.
"We sent a couple of people to Rensselaerville, New York, and sent our arborist to North Carolina for an arborists conference," Haley said.
William Frazer, financial director of the Human services department, which spent $3,000 on travel and training, said his department also limited its travel last year.
"Usually what happens is that there may be one or two trips to areas other than Greater Boston," Frazer said, "There was one trip to California and at least one to either Dallas to Denver."