His video, posted Sunday, has been viewed 27,000 times. Pyle told NEPM that police departments and other public agencies will continue to withhold records or slow-roll their release until lawmakers improve the states public records law, which many have criticized as one of the least transparent in the country. The police are policing themselves., Maldonado Velez is not the first city councilor who has come under fire from Holyokes police unions. During the debate, City Councilor Jos Maldonado Velez referred to the police as a gang., It literally is, he said in the meeting. Holyoke police officers arrived at the mall just before 7:00 p.m. for a report of shots fired. They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system," Roca said on Monday,according to MassLive. That part of the commissions work has yet to materialize either. In one 2011 complaint, a civilian alleged that during a traffic stop that involved Officer Jared Hamel, police held a gun to the civilian's head and knocked him unconscious, after which officers stomped on his face and dislocated his jaw. Amid Pandemic, Boston Loses Title as Country's Worst City for Traffic, Biden Hopes to Boost Offshore Wind as Mass. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Because when you speak up and you expose corruption, he said in the video, thats what they do.. For example, he characterized it as a workplace where now-former Police Chief Manny Febo favorites were not disciplined despite losing weapons and facing restraining orders, according to the accusations. And in Amherst, records show that during a 12-year period, theAmherst Police Department investigated 16 civilian complaints; in only one of those cases did an officer face discipline. Lorna McMurrey, 27, was filling . Get the latest news on COVID-19 delivered to you. Ill probably lose my job, but Im good. of If you go behind the curtain of law enforcement, oftentimes youll hear officers say the surest way not to get a complaint is not to interact with the public, he said. As of 2019, the estimated population was 40,117. Rafael Roca, 37, uploaded the now viral video early Sunday morning. . Holyoke St. Patrick's Committee holds 67th Grand Video / Feb 18, 2023 / 10:41 PM EST The 70th annual Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade is now nearly a month away and at the Log Cabin Saturday . The other officer was chosen specifically due to his extensive knowledge and expertise in firearms, he is assigned to the ATF task force, he said. }, Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. Roca, however, claimed that somebody stole the gun from Harts house during a party. If you need to reach our office by phone, contact us at 413-538-7118. He noted that he was terminated in the final days of Murphys tenure as acting mayor. In it, he alleged that superior officers falsify overtime pay, have protected each other from punishment for misconduct and have fostered a culture of favoritism and racism when it comes to promotion. But now he finds out if he will be charged with misdemeanor furnishing of alcohol and reckless endangerment of a. There are only two officers in this group that are assigned to specialized units. The chief did, however, address several of the allegations Roca made in the video. In 2016, Irving Concepcion says the Holyoke police pulled him over with their guns drawn, yanked him out of his car and slammed him down on the hood. This video posted online by Former Holyoke Police Officer Rafael Roca may well have been lost to history and future litigants contending with the police misconduct in Western MA if it had not been rescued by the Internet Archive (which is currently fighting off a vexatious lawsuit filed by a greedy publishing monopolist lobbying group which wants to burn down the Internet's proverbial 'Library . On March 9, spokesperson for the Holyoke Police Department Matthew Moriarty confirmed that Roca was on paid leave while an internal investigation was completed regarding the matter. "whether the employee has been guilty of substantial misconduct which adversely affects the public interest by impairing the efficiency of public service." School Comm. "Holyoke has always been known as the Paper City. Holyoke Massachusetts & Pennsylvania Legal Representation. They pick and choose who they want to discipline and who they dont want to discipline.. All rights reserved, FIRST ALERT: Storm Hitting Greater Boston Live Radar, Updates. The Holyoke Police Department has a chief, two lieutenants and four sergeants who are minority in the department command staff., Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. var sellablestring3 = "STAFF FILE PHOTO"; tag_id.innerHTML = ''; Former Brockton RMV manager, driving school owner charged by U.S. Attorney with giving passing test scores to people who failed, Complete Boston payroll for 2022: Your Tax Dollars at Work, Boston drug trafficker set to do 11 years in prison, give up Louis Vuitton bags, feds say, Union drive: Uber, Lyft drivers rally for right to unionize, Boston sees first open race for Suffolk Superior civil court clerk magistrate in nearly 50 years, High school tournaments: Winchester stuns No. var photocredit = "'Screenshot from YouTube.' The rollout hasnot been smooth, with commissioners sparring overinternal rulesandavailable resources. Murphy said that neither the district attorneys office nor the attorney generals office ever spoke to him about any investigation of Rocas allegations. The mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts has appointed a new police chief who will be the first Latino to lead the department. In 1894 the New York State Senate launched the first comprehensive investigation of corruption in the NYPD. Advocates call for more police oversight after WBUR investigation, Mass. He also said that academics have struggled to answer the question of whether a complaint against an officer represents a problem officer, a productive officer or some combination of the two. He said the promoted individual allegedly lost two weapons as an officer. He went on to say that one weapon had allegedly been lost and another had been stolen from the officers home, an incident which Roca claimed was covered up.. Ultimately, police found the weapon in February 2012 while Morse was riding along with officers on duty. In an interview, POST Commission Executive Director Enrique Zuniga said the agencys investigations will eventually come before the full commission, which can go so far as to decertify officers found to have violated state standards a career-ending type of decision, Zuniga said. He also mentioned that he was fired right before Joshua Garcia was sworn in as Holyokes mayor on Monday. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. var sellablestring = "GAZETTE STAFF"; He said that Febo and others have stepped in to prevent him from getting jobs with other police departments. Of those 18 officers, eight made more than $200,000. This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. Project Advances, What Happened to the Money?' Work Schedule:Monday through Friday Department Summary & Job Purpose: The Assistant Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator is a key leader of the College's equity and compliance work and an essential member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team centered around creating an inclusive campus community . Im very confident that something is going to come of it, he said. The Gazettes coverage of the incident notes that officers attempted to subdue Guyette with a stun gun as he rammed into cars attempting to escape. var currentLocation = window.location; The mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, has broken his silence about an NEPM investigation that revealed the city's police department almost never disciplines officers whom civilians accuse of wrongdoing. Officers have. ", He calls out corrupt officers, including the "corrupt police chief, and he is out to get me" He also talks about the "vast misrepresentation when it comes to minority police officers. In other words, having the power to question the suspect, having the power to question the officer.. 234 were here. I did exactly what I was trained and paid to do but people on my watch had a problem with that because they like to sleep in their cruisers overnight; they dont want to work.. In a nearly 45-minute speech, he alleges that superior officers in the department falsify overtime pay, have protected each other from punishment from misconduct and have fostered a culture of favoritism and racism when it comes to promotion. The reality is my community policing cops got a tip and they followed up on it, Neiswanger told The Republican at the time. In the video, Roca also alleged that department leadership has covered up the facts surrounding several instances when weapons have gone missing from the department. Iowa Police Chief arrested after selling black market military machine guns, "I'm a Cop" is a classic horror comic using real-life quotes from police departments, Transform your ideas into unique art with this CES-featured, AI art tool, now on sale for $49.99, Safely organize your devices and chargers with the CES-featured Bento Stack Charge 8000, Start your musical journey with the Populele Smart Ukulele, now only $159.99, Terms They label you a liar, he said. What I can say is that I have full confidence in the integrity and professionalism of the Chief of Police and the men and women that make up the Holyoke Police Department, he wrote. Whos policing the police? he asked. Within the department, he said he had been shamed. Its a problem within our commonwealth and it will continue to be a problem until we have an administrative agency that has teeth, that has enforcement power, that can punish municipalities and agencies when they withhold records improperly, Pyle said. Later that evening, however, Roca and another officer saw the fire department lieutenant drive by in his car again at high speed. Murphy said that Roca had been on paid leave for eight months, and that the city needed to resolve that matter. A 2020 city report of the top 100 salaries in the city shows that, including school staff, 18 out of the top 20 highest paid city employees that year were police officers. Current Police Chief David Pratt suspended Roca in March and then recommended that the mayor terminate Roca. Mayor Alex Morse said in a statement that he could not comment on a personnel matter. So far, the commission has only suspended 19 officers statewide because they were either arrested, charged or indicted on a felony charge. Here is the list of officers: Devon Bones, Holyoke Police Department. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Notes. They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system, Roca toldMasslive.comon Monday. Taken from that vehicle was two ballistic vests with two magazines in the pouches, along with some K9 gear, and a first aid bag. Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. //var LBtag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkLBRocaHolyokeFiring-hg-111721,ph1'); Now, he said, one of his sons was on pain medication because of the force Romero used to arrest him. 'Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca alleges there iscorruption and racism in the Holyoke Police Department. 2021
tag_id.innerHTML = ''; But for Concepcion, the man who alleged police abused their authority pulling him over in 2016, thats exactly the kind of work Holyoke and other cities should be doing. It was originally published by New England Public Media. program Howie Carr: What's so urgent in Holbrook, Mr. Speaker? One of our detectives who is assigned to a task force had his task force vehicle broken into, he said. I talked with two police chiefs in Minnesota about what happened when Tyre Nichols was stopped by Memphis police officers and fatally beaten last month. var sellablestring4 = "GAZETTE FILE PHOTO"; Holyoke Officer Rafael Roca, a former Marine hired in 2016, said in the 43-minute video posted on YouTube that Chief Manny Febo is "corrupt" and plays favorites, and he argued that members of. I am a Latino. He was reelected three times, with his final term expiring in January 2022. Holyoke Police Department killed 1 person from 2013-21. There are white people who try to make it difficult for us, make it difficult for the people who have done the right thing, make it difficult for the people who want to stand up for whats right, he said. He said that the officer had allegedly been instructed to give him remedial training on how to apply a tourniquet. This, he said, was a result of an incident in late January in which he had responded to an incident that resulted in a stabbing and been praised by his coworkers. According to the commissions decision, it had been Rocas first solo patrol in October 2016 when he pulled over a driver who had been driving down the street in the opposite direction. In 2017, for example, a civilian accused Holyoke police officer Patrick Leahy of putting him through hell for almost a year.. Holyoke Officer Rafael Roca, a former Marine hired in 2016, said in the 43-minute video . When presented with NEPMs findings, Maldonado Velez said the lack of discipline resulting from civilian complaints is just not surprising and not unique to Holyoke. Murphy said in a phone interview Monday that he felt no pressure from anyone to terminate Roca before he left office. A newly released independent audit of the Holyoke Police Department finds the HPD poses a "substantial risk" to the city it serves. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. HOLYOKE Mayor Joshua Garcia announced this week that the city has hired a firm to conduct an audit of the Holyoke Police Department. But the police reform bill changed that, clarifying that those investigations are not personnel records. Coughlin has been living large on his State Police pension of $131,961 a year. He says he was consistently singled out for vocalizing his opposition to the police chief, made to repeat pieces of training and attacked via email for not supporting one supervisors protest against police reform. In his own time, he said that he witnessed classmates incarcerated as part of the school-to-prison pipeline.. ", He calls outgoing Police Chief Manny Febo "corrupt," contending minorities are routinely passed over for upper-tier assignments and disciplined at higher rates. of The city settled that lawsuit for $65,000 in 2020. Degnan said in her report that she offered him the ability to participate via telephone and that she did not receive a physicians note with sufficient detail to verify that he could not participate in the hearing. Terrill said that often, complaints arent sustained because civilians have a misperception about what is, and isnt, a violation of department policy. Citizens in Holyoke, Colorado should be aware of illegal activities surrounding police brutality among their police departments and take actions against them. He said he was in the hospital due to stress from the situation. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. HOLYOKE - A Holyoke police officer recently released a YouTube video accusing the Holyoke Police Department of corruption. Among Roca's more generalized allegations, he called out the department for: a. Febo, who plans to retire in July, said he has nothing to hide. With that said, I will not be commenting on the internal personnel matter that is ongoing.. Moriarty, the president of the HPDs supervisors union, said at a press conference held specifically to address Maldonado Velezs comments. Roca said he was suspended for violating the departments social media policy, which bars officers from criticizing the department on social media platforms. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Holyoke Police Officer Rafael Roca suspended after posting viral video alleging corruption at the department 'Because of this video I will probably be fired': Holyoke officer alleges. He said cities would have to go all in to train civilians to do that work.