BOSTON - The pomp and parties of inauguration day are over - now it's time for Gov. Deval Patrick to govern.

After a late night at the inaugural gala, Patrick started his first full day as governor with a 9 a.m. Friday morning Cabinet meeting, the first time the seven-member team met.

Patrick, speaking to reporters during a brief break, identified a short list of short-term priorities: community policing; improvements to commuter rail service in New Bedford and Fall River; and continuing work on health care reform.

And, in a first step toward following through on his inaugural pledge to overhaul state government, Patrick said he's instructed his Cabinet secretaries to evaluate the condition of their agencies and report back on potential ways to consolidate, save money and provide services more efficiently.

Patrick has assembled a team Beacon Hill observers say is full of political skill and public policy experience - the sort of collection that can transform Patrick's campaign rhetoric into the sort of reform-minded government he promised.

"I think it's a top-notch group of people," said Warren Tolman, a former Democratic state senator and gubernatorial candidate. "They care about government."

Patrick, in his inaugural address, put public safety and crime prevention front and center. Patrick said investing in education would prevent having to invest in prisons. He also said the administration would take on the scourge of drug abuse.

Former Essex County District Attorney Kevin M. Burke, who was chosen as the public safety secretary, will be the point person on those initiatives.

Burke, 60, was Essex County District Attorney from 1979 to 2002, and before that was state representative from Beverly from 1975 to 1979.

Burke, the only Essex County resident in the Cabinet, said having a local person so close to the governor is important.

"It is symbolic of a recognition by the governor that it's a big state out there, and people like to feel they're represented and recognized," Burke said. "People see an official from their area and they feel their needs are being looked at. Geography is critical."

Republican Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins agreed.

"It's always nice when you know someone when they're going in," Cousins said.

But it's also nice to know you and the public safety secretary agree on issues like crime and drug abuse prevention. Burke helped create the state's Bill of Victim Rights and supports getting treatment for drug abusers.

The other Cabinet members include:

* Leslie Kirwan is the administration and finance secretary, the person who'll put together the Patrick administration's budget and oversee state spending.

Kirwan was director of administration and finance for the Massachusetts Port Authority, directing the agency's annual $500 million budget. She also oversaw Logan International Airport's fiscal recovery after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She was chief of staff for former Gov. William Weld's budget office.

* Energy and Environment Secretary Ian Bowles is the former president and CEO of the MassINC think tank. Bowles was an environmental official in the Clinton administration and has nearly 20 years of experience in environmental and energy policy.

* Dan O'Connell is an attorney and real estate developer. O'Connell, the secretary of Housing and Development, has worked in federal, quasi-public and private institutions in Boston and Washington, D.C. O'Connell's government experience includes a stint as former executive director of MassDevelopment, and as director of planning for Massport.

* JudyAnn Bigby was tapped to head Health and Human Services. She replaced North Andover's Timothy Murphy. The 55-year-old Bigby was medical director of community health programs at Brigham & Women's Hospital and served on Boston's Public Health Commission since 1996.

* Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen. Cohen, 60, had been deputy managing director of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., overseeing commuter rail service in the Boston area. As transportation secretary, Cohen would oversee the Big Dig.

* Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Suzanne Bump, 50, was a Braintree legislator from 1985 to 1983, and helped overhaul the state's workers' compensation law. She was the Patrick campaign's political director.

One name so far not in the mix is Rep. Anthony J. Verga. The Gloucester Democrat has been rumored by some to be the state's next director of the Department of Veterans' Services.

However, Verga said Patrick has not raised the topic in discussions, and a Patrick spokesman did not know the status of that appointment.