It's now confirmed, State Police Supervisors directed troopers to lie
This is big big news. The Feds and the State AG have definitive proof that the OT scandal was directed by supervisors.
From the Globe’s Matt Rocheleau: “Several State Police supervisors regularly ordered rank-and-file troopers in a scandal-ridden unit to skip overtime shifts that they were paid for, a former trooper says in a newly unsealed court filing. The filing, submitted by the attorneys for one of the dozens of troopers implicated in the scandal, for the first time alleges that troopers were directed by their bosses when they racked up thousands of dollars in overtime for work that they did not perform.”
In some cases, commanders allegedly told troopers to “run silent, run deep” when it came to skipping OT shifts, thus proving this, if true: There are definitely some knowledgeable WWII movie buffs within State Police ranks.
By Andrew Martinez | amartinez@bostonherald.com |
PUBLISHED: November 11, 2019 at 7:13 pm | UPDATED: November 11, 2019 at 8:44 pm
Federally convicted ex-state trooper Daren DeJong gave the Attorney General’s Office specific names of lieutenants and commanding officers involved in the Troopergate overtime scandal in a 3-hour April meeting, unredacted portions of a court document reveal.
DeJong pleaded guilty to a federal embezzlement charge in 2018 for his participation in the Troopergate scandal, in which troopers in the since-disbanded Troop E patrolling the Massachusetts Turnpike lied about working portions or the entirety of their overtime shifts.
Six troopers and one lieutenant have since been sentenced with two seeing prison, but DeJong’s sentencing was postponed in May when his lawyer revealed DeJong’s cooperation with Attorney General Maura Healey’s Public Corruption Unit in its own Troopergate investigation.
Portions of DeJong’s April sentencing memo remained redacted until last week, when a judge’s order in response to a media motion uncovered the previously hidden mentions of commanding officers’ involvement in the scandal.
“Having other commanding officers either give directives to ‘take a slow ride home’ on rain days, or to ‘start writing early’ during shifts with high-volume traffic, creates a scenario where such systematic abuse begins to find greater structure and reinforcement,” a newly-uncovered portion of the memo referring to the scandal’s workings states.
The 18-page memo contains a dozen unredacted mentions of lieutenants and commanding officers, although it is unclear how many different state troopers were implicated. The document details alleged activities of the superior officers but does not reveal their names.
“None of these lieutenants, on information and belief, have yet been charged by the state,” the memo states. “DeJong, however, named each, described their practices, how they treated ticket quotas, and provided personal cell-phone numbers for each …”
State police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement, “Some of the 46 retired, others have been prosecuted and convicted, and still others remain on the Department, suspended, and the subject of Internal Affairs investigations.”
Healey indicted three state police lieutenants in December 2018, five months before DeJong’s cooperation.
The only lieutenant sentenced in the federal case, Gregory Raftery, was ordered to three months in prison and restitution of $51,337 for his fraudulent overtime pay.
A new sentencing date for DeJong has not been scheduled.
Troopergate lingers on as the State Police have seen turmoil from within their ranks. Col. Kerry Gilpin announced her retirement last week from her $200,000-per-year post after a two-year stint.
Former statie and union boss Dana Pullman is also battling federal charges of fraud, accused of spending union funds on gifts for his friends, family and a woman with whom he was having an affair.
From the Globe’s Matt Rocheleau: “Several State Police supervisors regularly ordered rank-and-file troopers in a scandal-ridden unit to skip overtime shifts that they were paid for, a former trooper says in a newly unsealed court filing. The filing, submitted by the attorneys for one of the dozens of troopers implicated in the scandal, for the first time alleges that troopers were directed by their bosses when they racked up thousands of dollars in overtime for work that they did not perform.”
In some cases, commanders allegedly told troopers to “run silent, run deep” when it came to skipping OT shifts, thus proving this, if true: There are definitely some knowledgeable WWII movie buffs within State Police ranks.
By Andrew Martinez | amartinez@bostonherald.com |
PUBLISHED: November 11, 2019 at 7:13 pm | UPDATED: November 11, 2019 at 8:44 pm
Federally convicted ex-state trooper Daren DeJong gave the Attorney General’s Office specific names of lieutenants and commanding officers involved in the Troopergate overtime scandal in a 3-hour April meeting, unredacted portions of a court document reveal.
DeJong pleaded guilty to a federal embezzlement charge in 2018 for his participation in the Troopergate scandal, in which troopers in the since-disbanded Troop E patrolling the Massachusetts Turnpike lied about working portions or the entirety of their overtime shifts.
Six troopers and one lieutenant have since been sentenced with two seeing prison, but DeJong’s sentencing was postponed in May when his lawyer revealed DeJong’s cooperation with Attorney General Maura Healey’s Public Corruption Unit in its own Troopergate investigation.
Portions of DeJong’s April sentencing memo remained redacted until last week, when a judge’s order in response to a media motion uncovered the previously hidden mentions of commanding officers’ involvement in the scandal.
“Having other commanding officers either give directives to ‘take a slow ride home’ on rain days, or to ‘start writing early’ during shifts with high-volume traffic, creates a scenario where such systematic abuse begins to find greater structure and reinforcement,” a newly-uncovered portion of the memo referring to the scandal’s workings states.
The 18-page memo contains a dozen unredacted mentions of lieutenants and commanding officers, although it is unclear how many different state troopers were implicated. The document details alleged activities of the superior officers but does not reveal their names.
“None of these lieutenants, on information and belief, have yet been charged by the state,” the memo states. “DeJong, however, named each, described their practices, how they treated ticket quotas, and provided personal cell-phone numbers for each …”
State police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement, “Some of the 46 retired, others have been prosecuted and convicted, and still others remain on the Department, suspended, and the subject of Internal Affairs investigations.”
Healey indicted three state police lieutenants in December 2018, five months before DeJong’s cooperation.
The only lieutenant sentenced in the federal case, Gregory Raftery, was ordered to three months in prison and restitution of $51,337 for his fraudulent overtime pay.
A new sentencing date for DeJong has not been scheduled.
Troopergate lingers on as the State Police have seen turmoil from within their ranks. Col. Kerry Gilpin announced her retirement last week from her $200,000-per-year post after a two-year stint.
Former statie and union boss Dana Pullman is also battling federal charges of fraud, accused of spending union funds on gifts for his friends, family and a woman with whom he was having an affair.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 9:43 AM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Seems to me pretty obvious that there is rampant corruption in our state police and the governor is not doing anything to address this issue.
You are posting a lot about this Statie scandal. How about our own FPD? Did you see the article in MW Daily this morning? So they are not really down the 22 officers that chief stated they were down. It is just that way too many of them are too sick to work and are expected to be out for 3-6 months. I think we either have a contaminated building with that many officers on long term sick, or we have a lousy management team unable to hold their employees to the same standard for showing up to work that the rest of us who are not police officers have to live by.
Janet Leombruno is good friends with our Governor. Why don't we ask her why the Governor is not doing more to address these issues.
I suspect Gilpin resigned knowing this information was coming out. Pretty tough for her to stand tall when she had to have known about this and done nothing to punish these bad cops
Has the governor named a new leader for the State Police? Why not try naming a non state police person, someone with no ties to all the corrupt cops. So many corrupt officers it is doubtful anyone in the state police does not know at least one of them. He,Baker, needs to step outside the rank and file if he truly wants to clean this mess up.
Good cop bad cop is becoming bad cop, worse cop.
I heard that there is a male colonel in waiting.. not sure his name. There's a law that says only the colonel can come from the ranks and not the outside. I believe it was under Deval Patrick that this was enacted and insures this type of OT scandal would continue. Remember, it was Deval who wanted to curb detail's and farm them out to flagers... and the wives of the State Cops protested outside Fenway Park.
I wrote to Maria Robinson today and she wrote back. "I spoke with Dave Linsky about holding oversight hearings as the Chair of the Post-Audit Committee, and he said that he would like to wait for the criminal investigation to be completed before holding hearings".
Doesn't do much for me since Linksy is tied into the State Cops already, but we may see something from Beacon Hill, someday.
Would like to see Robinson push more but at least they are talking about doing this and that is a good thing
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