Roca said the straw that broke the camels back and resulted in him posting the video was a call from a coworker he received the day the video was posted, March 7. 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.. In other words, having the power to question the suspect, having the power to question the officer.. Holyoke police officer parks in the train station on Main Street on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. var currentLocation = window.location; "We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we var sellablestring2 = "STAFF PHOTO"; TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious plan to overhaul the country's legal system, as the governm var currentheadline = document.getElementById("headline").innerText; The city settled that lawsuit for $65,000 in 2020. Three of those officers claimed more than 800 overtime hours that year, and another claimed more than 1,200 hours. 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. Daily Hampshire Gazette. He also called for the FBI or the state attorney generals office to investigate the department. }. //var LBtag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkLBHolyokePD-hg031021,ph1'); 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. He noted that he was terminated in the final days of Murphys tenure as acting mayor. The city of Holyoke is not alone in resisting transparency, and I think thats the only way to describe an 18-month delay in providing access to records that clearly were public, said Jeffrey Pyle, an attorney with the firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP who specializes in media and First Amendment law. They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system, Roca toldMasslive.comon Monday. I think the challenge with that is in most jurisdictions that have a civilian review board or some version of that, its very rare for that board to have investigatory powers, Terrill said. Roca then went on to accuse current Holyoke Police Chief, Manny Febo, of being a corrupt police officer. In his internal report on the incident, HPDs internal affairs officer, Manuel Reyes, said police pulled over Concepcion for a traffic violation. NEPM has obtained a decades worth of civilian complaints against HPD officers and the departments own internal investigations of them. The HPD is not the only local department that rarely disciplines officers based on civilian complaints. var sellablestring = "GAZETTE STAFF"; And I think were allowing a lot of these police departments to be above it.. There were obviously violations of police procedures, Murphy said. In March, Roca was placed on suspension after his video, which has over 56,000 views, accused officers of false overtime pay, protecting each other from punishment after misconduct and creating a culture of racism and favoritism, especially with promotions. The so-called Lexow Committee revealed to the city and nation in unprecedented detail. 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. In his 2016 study in the journalPolice Quarterly, Terrill and fellow researcher Jason Ingram found that in cities that had police conducting internal investigations, but where an external civilian oversight agency reviewed their decisions, the department was "significantly more likely to sustain complaints." Project Advances, What Happened to the Money?' The Holyoke Police Department is working very hard to reduce crime and impact violence in this industrious Western Massachusetts city. He went on to say that he had tried to sue, tried speaking with the supervisors, Ive tried my union, Ive tried it all. Roca said he hoped that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General, along with the FBI, would open an investigation into the department. After nearly a year, Reyes closed the departments investigation of the incident, saying he was unable to reach the man who complained. 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. 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. Holyoke Police Officer Rafael Roca Fired Over Video Accusing Department Of Corruption And Racism November 23, 2021 | No Comments Last week, Holyoke's 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. And often, legal protections and collective bargaining agreements with police unions prevent those boards from interviewing officers, he added. Screenshot from YouTube. Reyes the internal affairs officer found the officers actions justified and proper, and consistent with standard protocols for crash-scene response and safety. "Holyoke has always been known as the Paper City. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. 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. I already knew they were going to wait until the last minute, he told the newspaper. 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. 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.. Later that evening, however, Roca and another officer saw the fire department lieutenant drive by in his car again at high speed. They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system," Roca said on Monday,according to MassLive. There was no set up.. The driver, who officers alleged smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech, turned out to be a lieutenant with the Holyoke Fire Department. 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. | 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. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. At issue in Rocas case was whether he disobeyed a legal order from a superior, brought the Holyoke Police Department into disrepute with his statements, violated policy by posting to social media without permission from the police chief, and made public criticism that was defamatory. 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. Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. if (photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring2) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring3) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring4) > -1) { Holyoke Police Department Friday: 03/25/2022 Juvenile (16) from Springfield is charged with: Possession of Class A Possession of Class A to Distribute Possession of Ammunition without a FID. 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. One officer was accused of using his siren at a drive-thru window to get his ice cream more quickly. 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 department. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising It varies, obviously, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and time to time, but generally the studies have found that the sustained rate, if you sum them all up, is usually about 10%, Terrill said. Officer Leahy made up a substantial portion of his report, the man wrote. Leon Davis, Springfield Police Department. Last August, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia hired the New. She wrotethat she believed Rocas public statements to be untruthful and self-serving, and that he made them with the intent to defame the Holyoke Police Department.. Rafael Roca, 37,. Service, a Creative Commons 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. 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. ", He calls outgoing Police Chief Manny Febo "corrupt," contending minorities are routinely passed over for upper-tier assignments and disciplined at higher rates. The police are policing themselves., Maldonado Velez is not the first city councilor who has come under fire from Holyokes police unions. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say, Roca said in March. SCREENSHOT/YOUTUBE Roca said Monday that he wasnt surprised to have been fired, though he said he was disappointed that no city, state or federal authorities fully investigated his allegations. Lorna McMurrey, 27, was filling . While on the ground, [redacted] placed his hands under him refusing to place his hands behind him forcing Officer Romero to again employ more force to force his hands behind him, Reyes wrote. 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. var photocredit = photocredit.toUpperCase(); He said he is disappointed with how city officials reacted to his allegations. They kept trying to use the grabbing of the genitals to kind of quiet me down as a form of punishment and pain, Concepcion said. He expressed frustration that former Mayor Alex Morse did not do enough to address issues of racism during his tenure. Reyes ultimately exonerated Romero. For those reasons, Reyes cleared the officers of violating department policies. var sellablestring2 = "STAFF PHOTO"; As part. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. var sellablestring3 = "STAFF FILE PHOTO"; Murphy said in a phone interview Monday that he felt no pressure from anyone to terminate Roca before he left office. 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. Springfield this past year reinstituted a civilian Board of Police Commissioners to oversee the department and decide on officer discipline. One complaint for rudeness was not sustained by an investigation. I already knew they were going to wait until the last minute, he said. 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. Febo also issued a statement on the matter, and said while he would not be commenting on the internal personnel matter that is ongoing, he did take the opportunity to address some of the allegations and give facts., Febo said with regard to the allegation that the department covered up stolen and/or lost rifles, the incident in question took place 10 years ago and was fully investigated by [the] previous chief, discipline meted out, and every step was reported publicly at that time., Additionally Febo referenced the claim regarding a detective that had his vehicle and weapon stolen, which was covered up. That is roughly 53 percent of non-minority officers with eight years or more who are assigned to specialized assignments., Additional he said there were 38 officers total with six years or less of full-time experience, Of those 38, 17 are minority officers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Reminders Publishing. Pyle represented the WorcesterTelegram & Gazettein the newspapers 2018 lawsuit against the city of Worcester over its police departments illegal withholding of misconduct records. Moriarty, the president of the HPDs supervisors union, said at a press conference held specifically to address Maldonado Velezs comments. Roca, a five-year veteran of the police force who served in the U.S. Marines before that, said he refused to remove the video upon Febos orders on Sunday. In August, the city of Holyoke hired a firm to audit its police department, including its internal affairs processes. var sellablestring4 = "GAZETTE FILE PHOTO"; The HPDs log of complaints and internal investigations contains no evidence the department ever opened an internal investigation into the incident. Nobody should get away with taking the law into their own hands and being above it, he said.