By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

A police organization is criticizing the decision by a state commission to release a list of law enforcement officers, who have been disciplined for crimes and other misconduct. The Massachusetts Police Officer Standards and Training Commission database of disciplinary records, which was posted to the agency’s website last month, includes the names and other details of 2,165 officers who’ve been disciplined over the past four decades. The public disclosure is required under a 2020 law overhauling policing in Massachusetts.

But the Massachusetts Association of Professional Law Enforcement said the list — which it claims included “unconfirmed” disciplinary records — “raises serious questions about the competence of the POST Commission” and has “put the reputations of many hard-working honest police officers at risk.” “They are now vulnerable to attack by criminal elements and defense attorneys, who would use this information to harm their reputations and intimidate them from doing their jobs,” the union said in a statement. The commission’s decision to release the list with a disclaimer that it couldn’t verify the information shows a “cavalier attitude” about the reputations of law enforcement officers, the group said, which “reveals gross incompetence in the handling of very sensitive information.”

The association, which represents current and former police officers, argues that the agency’s release of the disciplinary records threatens policing reforms in the state by alienating police chiefs and rank-and-file officers “without whose support a reform effort cannot succeed.” “By exposing even minor disciplinary actions, which are often the result of arbitrary and capricious decisions made by police administrators, POST has contributed significantly to an effort to further demoralize a beleaguered and embattled service, hurting good men and women who are struggling against seemingly impossible odds to keep the peace,” the organization said.

The list included details of 3,413 disciplinary records from 273 law enforcement agencies dating back to 1984, with allegations ranging from assault and battery, to falsifying records, positive drug tests, use of force, insubordination, neglect of duty, harassment, and other misconduct. The Massachusetts State Police had the highest number of disciplinary records in the database, or 493, followed by the Springfield and Boston police departments, according to the POST commission’s database.

Many of the officers are still employed by local police departments, the database shows, but still faced discipline for their actions ranging from verbal reprimands to suspensions. Others were fired or left the agencies, according to the data. The POST commission, established in 2020, to overhaul policing in Massachusetts, includes six civilians and three members of law enforcement. It certifies police officers and has the authority to revoke police credentials for officers found to have committed wrongdoing, such as the use of excessive force or intimidation. Then-Gov. Charlie Baker pushed through the reforms in response to demonstrations over the 2020 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by Minneapolis police officers. It passed with bipartisan support in the state Legislature. 

 

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites.

Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com

(Editor’s Note: This article appeared in a State House News service release. It was also published in the Haverhill Gazette)