But now he finds out if he will be charged with misdemeanor furnishing of alcohol and reckless endangerment of a. "I'm here to make this video to expose the corruption, and the lies, and the injustice that is taking place within the police department in Holyoke, Massachusetts," he says at the start of the video. He also made the case that his statements were on matters of public concern; a Holyoke Police Department rule bars criticism of the department except on matters of public concern.. They want to send a message to other officers: Dont be like Roca, because this is exactly whats going to happen to you., Febo said in a statement released Tuesday that it is not standard practice for police departments to comment on issues that have an ongoing personnel investigation for violations of policy. 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. Holyoke officer suspended for viral video alleging corruption, racism Mayor Alex Morse said in a statement that he could not comment on a personnel matter. Holyoke officer who exposes police corruption in video gets suspended Here is the list of officers: Devon Bones, Holyoke Police Department. When Romero put his hand on the boys shoulder and told him to go back to his classroom, Reyes said the boy smacked the officer's hand and swore at him. One officer was accused of using his siren at a drive-thru window to get his ice cream more quickly. Manuel Febo, a Holyoke native who grew up in the. Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. They put him in handcuffs at his home, but Monsalve ultimately decided to place the driver in protective custody instead of arresting him, declining to give the driver a breathalyzer, according to testimony included in the commissions decision. They would just tell me to just stop doing what I was doing, its not going to go nowhere, its only going to cause me more hardships and problems, Concepcion said. }, Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. Notes. He also called for the FBI or the state attorney generals office to investigate the department. (They) never investigated any of my allegations to see if I was lying, he said. Bryan Custadio, Fall River Police Department. In his internal report on the incident, HPDs internal affairs officer, Manuel Reyes, said police pulled over Concepcion for a traffic violation. On Nov. 10, then acting mayor Terence Murphy followed that recommendation after a city lawyer determined there was just cause for firing Roca. I already knew they were going to wait until the last minute, he told the newspaper. Pictured above: thumbnail of the Youtube video posted by Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. NEPM has obtained a decades worth of civilian complaints against HPD officers and the departments own internal investigations of them. That is roughly 75% of minority officers with 8 years or more [of experience] in specialized assignments. Febos statement added, The Holyoke Police Department has a Chief, 2 Lieutenants, and 4 Sergeants who are minority in the department command staff.. Mass. police officer alleges corruption within his department - Boston.com Reyes ultimately exonerated Romero. Im very confident that something is going to come of it, he said. Carla Sinclair 11:00 am Tue Mar 9, 2021. Jorge Monsalve. Roca said he also plans to file a lawsuit over his treatment. The mayors office said it expects the report to be completed in the coming days. var photocredit = photocredit.toUpperCase(); . 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 . Febo addresses the allegation that minority officers are not given opportunity for specialized assignments, as Roca said in his video that minorities are underrepresented in specialized positions. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts has appointed a new police chief who will be the first Latino to lead the department. School Holyoke Community College; Course Title ENGLISH 1301; Type. After nearly a year, Reyes closed the departments investigation of the incident, saying he was unable to reach the man who complained. That decision was made after aHolyoke police officer publicly alleged corruptionwithin the HPD and aDaily Hampshire Gazetteinvestigation found whatsome characterized as excessive overtimein the department, including among some of its highest-paid officers. In March, Rafael Roca, who had been a Holyoke police officer since 2015, posted the video to YouTube, where it has since been viewed more than 56,000 times. In the almost 45-minute video, Roca recounted favoritism, covering up lost and stolen weapons and other instances of corruption. He expressed frustration that former Mayor Alex Morse did not do enough to address issues of racism during his tenure. I already knew they were going to wait until the last minute, he said. The reality is my community policing cops got a tip and they followed up on it, Neiswanger told The Republican at the time. Becoming a police officer was his "life long dream" but that dream was "quickly affected" and "hurt" by the corruption and racism of police officers, which "goes back to as long as anyone can remember. (AP) A Massachusetts police officer who posted a video online alleging corruption within his department says he has been placed on paid administrative leave after refusing to take it down and will probably lose his job. Speaking to the Gazette, he alleged he has worked on grant-funded shifts during which supervisors who were supposed to be working were nowhere to be found the entire shift.. And often, legal protections and collective bargaining agreements with police unions prevent those boards from interviewing officers, he added. Rocas video has reached over 50,000 views. It was not there to help me.. After Customers Paid Large Deposits for Home Projects, Contractor Files for Bankruptcy, How Much Snow Has Fallen in Your Area So Far, The House Where JonBenet Ramsey Was Found Dead Is Listed for Sale at Nearly $7M, FIRST ALERT: Wintry Mix Keeps Falling as Storm Hits New England (Live Radar). If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. I plan to fight this to the end. He said they did the same to a few teenagers in the car with him, taking one of them to the ground, putting a knee to his back and arresting him. Thats what police was for. 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. Last fall, five of the remaining six members of the board quit after they wereblocked from reviewing the police department's internal reporton the police killing of city resident Miguel Estrella. 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. Febo responded with a statement that noted that, of the total 29 minority officers on the force, there are roughly 75 [percent] of minority officers with [eight] years [of experience] or more who focus on specialized assignments. Of non-minority police officers with eight years or more of experience, 53 percent focus on specialized assignments, according to Febo. The police reform bill also required police departments to turn over data on their internal investigations to the commission, which pledged to make that information public last spring. The city attorney suggested that under the circumstances the city was getting off easy. I find that the amount of force used was reasonably necessary under the circumstances, the internal investigation concluded, noting that fellow officers described Hamels initial interaction with the man as peaceful, calm and cooperative.. Our forum rules are detailed in the Community Guidelines. designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated Officer Leahy made up a substantial portion of his report, the man wrote. Wine Alan v City of Holyoke - Massachusetts Murphy didnt have to answer to anybody. var sellablestring = "GAZETTE STAFF"; Yeah, they didnt waste any time. At the end of the video, Roca went on to tell viewers to seek accountability from elected officials. Theyre there to protect each other, to look out for each other, and to come out with force in our community. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in Hartford, CT and one of the vests and some K9 gear was recovered. Mass. police reform commission suspends 15 officers Whether its now or later, well see.. (WWLP) - The Holyoke Fire Department was sent to Hampshire and Maple Streets for a car accident on Friday. if (photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring2) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring3) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring4) > -1) { The agency still has not released that data because of the need to clean up and validate the massive data set, according to Zuniga. Good Cop Predicts His Video Exposing Crimes in Dept Will Get Him Howie Carr: From lab scandal to pool death, a statie's sad story //LBtag_id.innerHTML = ' Buy this Image'; Roca had argued that the citys social media policy illegally infringed on his First Amendment rights, and that his statements were true and therefore were not defamatory. Murphy said in a phone interview Monday that he felt no pressure from anyone to terminate Roca before he left office. tag_id.innerHTML = ' Buy this Image'; They pick and choose who they want to discipline and who they dont want to discipline.. Sgts. OSHA, cannabis company reach $14k settlement in Holyoke worker's death In an interview with NEPM, Maldonado Velez said his critique of the police department is not about individual officers but rather the system of policing. Consultoria de Marketing e Publicidade holyoke police corruption. Schedule an appointment online for a New LTC / Firearms license. Holyoke officer who exposes police corruption in video gets suspended 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. Based on the report, Police Chief David Pratt suspended Roca for five days and recommended that the citys mayor terminate him. list of candidates for Holyoke police officer. If youre in the police department, you have to obey orders.. Ill probably lose my job, but Im good. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected the youngest mayor of Holyoke at age 22. The report, which Roca shared with the Gazette, was completed on July 2. 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. He also mentioned that he was fired right before Joshua Garcia was sworn in as Holyokes mayor on Monday. In my view, the violation of Rule 3 of the Holyoke Police Department rules alone is just cause for the five-day suspension and termination because police officers must follow lawful orders, Degnan wrote. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Audit finds Holyoke Police Department poses 'substantial risk' to city Now, he said, one of his sons was on pain medication because of the force Romero used to arrest him. I stand by the integrity of the men and women of the Holyoke Police Department and I welcome any outside agency that would like to look into any of the alleged allegations from the video, he said in a statement. Two officers did respond to say that department policies prohibit them from speaking to the press without permission from higher-ups. When the state Legislature passed its police reform bill, state Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Ashland, described the legislation as a necessary first step towards achieving systemic change through law enforcement accountability and transparency.. It was originally published by New England Public Media. At the time, then-Police Chief James Neiswanger said the weapon had fallen out of Harts pickup truck. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. . You hear from those that came before us saying the police would kick you back down to the Flats; you couldnt be seen up above High Street, Maldonado Velez said. Holyoke Police Department | Holyoke MA - Facebook HOLYOKE A Holyoke police officer said he has been suspended after posting a lengthy video online alleging widespread corruption and racism within the police department. Many of those officers all but one of whom are supervisors collected tens of thousands of dollars last year in overtime pay. Nine of those 12 are in specialized assignments other than patrol operations. Previously, police departments were able to argue that those documents were personnel records, which are typically exempt from disclosure under the law. "Yeah, they didn't waste any time. Roca said he had performed consistently in his role as a police officer and engaged in crime fighting when others were allegedly sleeping in their police cruisers and ignoring crime. He went on to say there had been officers he knew of that were allegedly involved in drunk driving incidents, who had assaulted people with their boats who have been labeled as racist and officers who had stolen money. He went on to say there were police officers who allegedly have made an excess of $260,000 a year and no one had questioned the situation. The investigating officers found that Roca had violated four department policies: failing to comply with an order to take his video down, unbecoming conduct, criticism of the department and social media rules. Massachusetts officer alleges corruption within department Early on in his tenure with the department, Roca was called to testify in an appeal hearing before the state Civil Service Commission over the suspension of a superior, Sgt. In 1894 the New York State Senate launched the first comprehensive investigation of corruption in the NYPD. A newly released independent audit of the Holyoke Police Department found the HPD poses a "substantial risk" to the city it serves. John Hart was suspended and fined for losing a department-issued sniper rifle. No civilian complaints data obtained for this agency. The attorney generals office declined to comment on Tuesday. In fact, a year later, Valentin filed a civilian complaint against an HPD officer over his rudeness to her at the scene of a car crash involving her wife treatment Valentin alleged was related to her political stances. A handful of other officers were "spoken to" or "cautioned" by their superiors for other offenses, but the records show no evidence that the officers were disciplined for those violations of department rules. Subscribe Today, Amherst Police Chief Livingstone stepping down in May, Unions: UMass putting 100 jobs in jeopardy with privatization plan, Murdaughs fall from grace ends in life sentence for murder, Biden leaving room to change his mind on reelection. The backlash was swift from the citys two police unions, which called on Maldonado Velez to apologize or recuse himself from votes related to the police department. Holyoke police officer parks in the train station on Main Street on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Academic studies have shown its fairly common for police departments to sustain a small percentage of civilian complaints. Rafael Roca, a former US Marine who became a Holyoke, MA police officer in 2016, released this 43-minute video on Sunday exposing the corruption in his . Holyoke police officer fired over video accusing department of He alleged that he was denied a job with the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus police at the request of his police chief and that when he saved the life of a white state trooper, the state trooper was rewarded over himself. Position Type:Staff Full-time. Skilled in Microsoft Word, Police Procedures, Defensive Tactics, Emergency Management, Law Enforcement, Conflict Resolution and Public Speaking. All rights reserved (About Us). Subscribe Today, Amherst Police Chief Livingstone stepping down in May, Unions: UMass putting 100 jobs in jeopardy with privatization plan, Murdaughs fall from grace ends in life sentence for murder, Biden leaving room to change his mind on reelection. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Leon Davis, Springfield Police Department. Reyes the internal affairs officer found the officers actions justified and proper, and consistent with standard protocols for crash-scene response and safety. Last August, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia hired the New. Reyes, Police Chief David Pratt and Capt. 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. Holyoke Police Department's 24 hour anonymous "TEXT-A-TIP" Dial CRIMES (533-TIPS or 533-8477). Similarrecords from the Northampton Police Department, for example, show that of the 90 times an officer faced a civilian complaint from 2010 and 2020, department superiors only disciplined officers nine times. Ill probably lose my job, but Im good. '"; Ernest Fontaine, Fitchburg State . He noted that he was terminated in the final days of Murphys tenure as acting mayor. ", 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. Police Capt. On March 7, Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca posted a video on YouTube alleging racism and corruption by the Holyoke Police Department. A former military police officer, Terrill has for many years researched civilian complaints against police officers in cities across the country, including a2016 study that looked at departmentsin eight different cities.
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