Murphy said in a phone interview Monday that he felt no pressure from anyone to terminate Roca before he left office. Three of those officers claimed more than 800 overtime hours that year, and another claimed more than 1,200 hours. 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. A vehicle was stolen in Granby, Mass., that vehicle was driven by suspects who drove around and broke into parked vehicles in driveways in South Hadley. As of 2019, the estimated population was 40,117. In his own time, he said that he witnessed classmates incarcerated as part of the school-to-prison pipeline.. Amid Pandemic, Boston Loses Title as Country's Worst City for Traffic, Biden Hopes to Boost Offshore Wind as Mass. They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system, Roca told Masslive.com on Monday. Cannabis company Trulieve will pay $14,502 after reaching a settlement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over the death of an employee who worked at Trulieve's Holyoke cultivation site. It took the HPD more than a year and a half to turn over its 69 internal investigations, all of which the department redacted to remove information about the person alleging misconduct. MUGSHOTS: Nearly two dozen arrested in Holyoke during high - WWLP if (photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring2) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring3) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring4) > -1) { Published: 11/16/2021 9:42:49 PM HOLYOKE Last week, the city's acting mayor fired a police officer who earlier this year posted a viral video on social media alleging corruption and. We dont have that today.. Audit finds Holyoke Police Department poses 'substantial risk' to city When you speak up and when you expose corruption, thats what they do. 'Innocent bystander' killed in shooting at Holyoke Mall, one suspect in The five-year Holyoke Police officer who posted the video, Rafael Roca, explained in the beginning, that he wanted to "expose the corruption and the lies and the injustice" he felt was taking place within the department. It should be known as Corrupt City," he said in the video. }. Officer Leahy made up a substantial portion of his report, the man wrote. Project Advances, What Happened to the Money?' tag_id.innerHTML = ' Buy this Image'; Skilled in Microsoft Word, Police Procedures, Defensive Tactics, Emergency Management, Law Enforcement, Conflict Resolution and Public Speaking. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. 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 . 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 minority groups are passed over for plum assignments and that discipline is handed out selectively. 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. AMHERST Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone will retire in May after nearly 14 years leading a department he joined upon graduating from AMHERST Unions at the University of Massachusetts are contending that more than 100 state jobs, and their accompanying benefits, are being WALTERBORO, S.C. One of the last pieces of a legal dynasty that doled out justice in rural South Carolina for decades crumbled Friday as lawyer WASHINGTON President Joe Biden exudes confidence as the next race for the White House approaches.During last months State of the Union address Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca alleges there iscorruption and racism in the Holyoke Police Department. Internal affairs is corrupt as can be, Roca said in his video. Last year, a judge ruled in favor of the newspaper and ordered the city to pay $5,000 in punitive damages and $100,000 in legal fees. Click here to sign up for our weekly coronavirus newsletter. 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. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. 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. 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. Mayor Joshua Garcia also declined to sit down for an interview with NEPM. 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. The man, whose name the department redacted, said Leahy accused him of raising a handgun as he crossed the street in front of Leahys cruiser. Two of the civilian complaints that NEPM obtained alleged that police violently arrested students in the citys schools. This story has been updated to include a statement from Chief Manny Febo which he sent to the Gazette midday on Tuesday. HOLYOKE, Mass. The agency still has not released that data because of the need to clean up and validate the massive data set, according to Zuniga. Holyoke, MA Those who are paying attention to the ever-expanding police state in the land of the free know that the system is set up in such a way that it protects bad cops while punishing the good ones. and affiliate links. Massachusetts officer alleges corruption within department 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. Records obtained under new Mass. law show Holyoke police dismiss nearly Febo said a detectives vehicle was broken into and taken from that vehicle was 2 ballistic vests with 2 magazines in the pouches, along with some K9 gear, and a first aid bag. Some, but not all, of those items were later found in a vehicle stolen from Granby that was recovered in Hartford, according to Febo. //var LBtag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkLBHolyokePD-hg031021,ph1'); 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). Police Scorecard: Holyoke, MA Wine Alan v City of Holyoke - Massachusetts Find Top Holyoke, MA Police Misconduct Lawyers Near You | LawInfo var sellablestring4 = "GAZETTE FILE PHOTO"; Roca was immediately placed on administrative leave as the department conducted an internal investigation. Holyoke Chief of Police responds to allegations of department - WWLP Roca said he was suspended for violating the departments social media policy, which bars officers from criticizing the department on social media platforms. Police Corruption Holyoke, MA (not me in video btw. I'm just a Last week, Holyokes acting mayor fired Rafael Roca, a police officer who posted a video to YouTube making allegations of corruption and racism within the Holyoke Police Department, Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. His video, posted Sunday, has been viewed 27,000 times. 8. 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. Not one time did they respond to a call, not one time were they on the radio, he said. tag_id.innerHTML = ' Buy this Image'; One complaint for rudeness was not sustained by an investigation. Roca said that he has only received one formal and one informal complaint during his five years on the force a claim that appears to be corroborated by an internal affairs log the Gazette has obtained through a public records request. 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. Mr. HOLYOKE, Mass. There are only two officers in this group that are assigned to specialized units. if (photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring2) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring3) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring4) > -1) { He said that he saved the state troopers life, only to be treated like a piece of crap afterward, getting turned down for a job with the state police. The complaints allege HPD officers engaged in misconduct ranging from brutality and bullying to discourtesy and dishonesty. He attested that state troopers consistently call him to translate for them, as they do not have enough Spanish speakers on the force. Of those 18 officers, eight made more than $200,000. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Jorge Monsalve. In the departments investigation, police said they pulled him over for running a stop sign, then tried to tow his car after learning his license was suspended and registration revoked. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Springfield this past year reinstituted a civilian Board of Police Commissioners to oversee the department and decide on officer discipline. I am a Latino. Some people who filed a complaint with the HPD said that officers actions impacted their lives long after the alleged misconduct took place. HOLYOKE Last week, the citys acting mayor fired a police officer who earlier this year posted a viral video on social media alleging corruption and racism within the Holyoke Police Department. School Holyoke Community College; Course Title ENGLISH 1301; Type. The benefits of learning to play READ THE REST. During the mayoral campaign, Garcias opponent, At-large City Councilor Michael Sullivan, responded to the Gazettes reporting by calling for an audit of the police departments handling of state and federal grant programs, calling the use of overtime excessive. Garcia responded to say that he, too, would support an audit. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. And he said that when he would leave the station during those three weeks, police would pull his car over. Whether its now or later, well see.. That transparency has been slow to arrive, however. 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. Police Capt. Beyond changing the public records law, the 2020 police reform bill also created a new state agency, thePeace Officer Standards and Training Commission, which now tracks police departments internal investigations and can conduct its own preliminary inquiries into alleged misconduct. 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. For this reason, the Holyoke Police department will have no further comment regarding Mr. Roca or his Case.. 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. | Danielle Eatondeaton@thereminder.com, An officer with the Holyoke Police Deparment recently released a YouTube video, which contained allegations of corruption within the department.Reminder Publishing photo by Danielle Eaton. Carla Sinclair 11:00 am Tue Mar 9, 2021. No probable cause, there was no weapons, there was no reason to assume there were weapons., An officer told him to shut my mouth or much more than my rights would be violated, Concepcion wrote in a complaint he later filed with the police department.