Watchdog group slams MSP

In today's Globe by Matt Rocheleau

The new oversight unit that the Legislature created is now saying that the the payroll violations and lax oversight across MSP is bigger than just the unit that patrolled the Pike, according to the Inspector General's office. 
The new oversight committee operates on a 325k budget and is tasked with "monitoring the quality, efficiency and integrity" of the MSP and seeks to prevent fraud, detect and correct fraud, waste and abuse. 
What I take away from this is that the MSP STILL have ongoing management issues and can't seem to perform their duties without screwing the taxpayers. This problem is squarely on Baker's watch, but he seems to be just letting it all play out in front of our eyes.

Investigators found that troopers who worked paid details at Logan International Airport had cut corners for years, improperly collecting pay while commuting to and from their regular shifts. Meanwhile, a lack of supervision of overtime patrols permeated the state’s largest law enforcement agency.

The report, from the newly created Division of State Police Oversight, a five-person unit within Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha’s office, makes clear that mismanagement went further than the now-defunct Troop E, which patrolled the turnpike. Forty-six former Troop E members have been accused of taking overtime pay for hours they did not work. Nine have been convicted.


The report, published online last week without fanfare, contains broad findings but few specifics. The inspector general’s office declined on Thursday to comment, saying only in a statement that it’s "working directly with the Massachusetts State Police on each of the areas described in the report.”


The new oversight unit, created by lawmakers amid brimming State Police scandals in 2018, operates on a $325,000 budget. It’s tasked with “monitoring the quality, efficiency and integrity” of State Police operations and seeks to “to prevent, detect and correct fraud, waste, and abuse.”


The former inspector general, Gregory Sullivan, said the report appears damning, and the findings beg for follow-up.

“The report raises these serious issues, but where are the details?” said Sullivan, whose 10-year run as inspector general ended in 2012. “The obvious questions are: What is being done to get the money back? And what is being done to punish and hold accountable the people who allowed this to happen?"

State Police spokesman David Procopio said the department has addressed many of the issues raised in the report and implemented new policies to bolster accountability.In a statement, Procopio noted the department has clarified its pay policies to troopers. He said the actions outlined in the report were administrative issues and “do not equate to criminal activity.”

Governor Charlie Baker’s spokesman Terry MacCormack said the administration recently sent a bill to lawmakers that would increase accountability within the State Police and that he “continues to support the implementation of new disciplinary reforms and other efforts outlined by Colonel [Christopher] Mason to rebuild public trust in the Department.”

The attorney general’s office, which recently prosecuted several Troop E members for overtime fraud, said its lawyers were reviewing the report. The US attorney’s office declined to comment, citing its ongoing probe of State Police payroll fraud.

The inspector general’s investigators reviewed records covering 5½ years ended in June 2018. The "vast majority” of troopers who worked paid details at Logan improperly collected pay, according to the report. For example, a trooper who ended his regular patrol shift at 3 p.m. would collect pay for a detail shift at the airport that started at the same time. Often, troopers did not account for the time it took to commute between jobs.

The report said troopers violated rules that require them to use a minimum of 30 minutes of personal or vacation time to account for their travel to and from paid details, which are voluntary assignments that pay $50 an hour. The report didn’t specify the number of troopers or the amount of money involved.