He said minority candidates get passed over for top positions, as detectives or supervisors. 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. He also called for the FBI or the state attorney generals office to investigate the department. With that said, I will not be commenting on the internal personnel matter that is ongoing.. They pick and choose who they want to discipline and who they dont want to discipline.. 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. All rights reserved, FIRST ALERT: Storm Hitting Greater Boston Live Radar, Updates. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. 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 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. Roca said he did speak to both the attorney generals office and FBI at the same time, but that there was no subsequent follow-up from them. He said that currently, there were 46 total patrolmen with eight years or more of full-time experience on the job., Out of those 46, 12 are minority officers. Roca said he expected to face discipline after posting the video but was invested in calling attention to what he saw as problems within the department. One is a female who is being trained to investigate sensitive crimes involving children, females and domestic violence. var photocredit = "'GAZETTE FILE PHOTO' 'Holyoke police officer parks in the train station on Main Street on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Later that evening, however, Roca and another officer saw the fire department lieutenant drive by in his car again at high speed. 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 (photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring2) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring3) > -1 || photocredit.indexOf(sellablestring4) > -1) { 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." 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. How do cops view themselves and their work? Suspected. var tag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkRocaHolyokeFiring-hg-111721,ph2'); They took my gun and my badge and kicked me out of the email system," Roca said on Monday,according to MassLive. 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. HOLYOKE, Mass. Roca was suspended with pay Tuesday as Holyoke police pursue an internal investigation, he said. //var LBtag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkLBRocaHolyokeFiring-hg-111721,ph2'); Three of those officers claimed more than 800 overtime hours that year, and another claimed more than 1,200 hours. Roca responded saying he already appealed the decision to the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. ", 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. (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. Use our free directory to instantly connect with verified Police Misconduct attorneys. Last August, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia hired the New. Daily Hampshire Gazette Contests & Promotions, Daily Hampshire Gazette Evening Top Reads, Daily Hampshire Gazette Weekly Top Stories, Daily Hampshire Gazette Dining & Entertainment, Support the In August, the city of Holyoke hired a firm to audit its police department, including its internal affairs processes. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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. 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.. }. Growing up Puerto Rican in the Flats neighborhood of Holyoke one of the citys majority-Hispanic lower wards Maldonado Velez said he heard plenty of stories from those whom that system harmed. You can try, records from the Northampton Police Department, Amherst Police Department investigated 16 civilian complaints, Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, Holyoke police officer publicly alleged corruption, some characterized as excessive overtime, online, like the POST Commission now allows on its website, blocked from reviewing the police department's internal report. designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated 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. Whether its now or later, well see.. var tag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkRocaHolyokeFiring-hg-111721,ph1'); '"; var sellablestring = "GAZETTE STAFF"; //LBtag_id.innerHTML = ''; The suspended officers are listed below: Devon Bones, Holyoke Police Department Bryan Custadio, Fall River Police Department Leon Davis, Springfield Police Department Ernest Fontaine,. var currentheadline = document.getElementById("headline").innerText; var currentheadline = document.getElementById("headline").innerText; license. 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. 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. Notes. I want to ensure the citizens of Holyoke that they can continue to have confidence in the men and women of the Holyoke Police Department and the great work that they do every day, he wrote. On Nov. 10, then acting mayor Terence Murphy followed that recommendation after a city lawyer determined there was just cause for firing Roca. Rafael Roca, 37,. He alleged that later, somebody who had been arrested tipped police off to the rifles location in an effort to receive leniency in court. 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. He said that Febo and others have stepped in to prevent him from getting jobs with other police departments. 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. tag_id.innerHTML = ''; Position Type:Staff Full-time. On March 7, Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca posted a video on YouTube alleging racism and corruption by the Holyoke Police Department. Concepcion, who alleged that police unjustifiably yanked him out of his car at gunpoint in 2016, said he attempted to file a complaint against the officers that day, but police at the station told him they had no complaint forms on hand. In January, Holyoke settled the police brutality suit against the city and officers for $65,000. 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. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Officers have. So Romero arrested him for assault and battery on a police officer. 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. The father said in his complaint that his boys had been through a lot of trauma made worse by now living in a homeless shelter, and that as a result they didnt always react to what they were told to do. "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. For those reasons, Reyes cleared the officers of violating department policies. Yeah, they didnt waste any time. The officers on the scene denied that they had drawn their weapons and challenged the extent of the mans injuries; they said he refused to get out of the car and then reached for the center console. Febo, who plans to retire in July, said he has nothing to hide. The work of setting up a review board is difficult and time-intensive, Terrill said. 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. He wrote that because the boy refused several times to place his hand behind his back so that he could be handcuffed, Officer Romero was forced to place him on the ground.. In his video, Roca references alleged abuse of overtime pay. For this reason, the Holyoke Police department will have no further comment regarding Mr. Roca or his Case.. The attorney generals office declined to comment on Tuesday. NEPM has obtained a decades worth of civilian complaints against HPD officers and the departments own internal investigations of them. In another case filed in 2018, a city resident wrote on their complaint form: It shouldnt take over an hour to get this paperwork to file a complaint., In 2017, former Holyoke resident Janette Hernandez Pagan sued the city, claiming HPD officers beat her 12-year-old son unconscious in 2014. That decision was made after a Holyoke police officer publicly alleged corruption within the HPD and a Daily Hampshire Gazette investigation found what some characterized as "excessive. Bryan Custadio, Fall River Police Department. 'Officer shuffle': Some ousted cops find jobs at new departments in Mass. As of March 9, Roca has been suspended from the department due to his violation of a rule prohibiting officers from criticizing the department on social media platforms. Pages 17 Course Hero uses AI to attempt to automatically extract content from documents to surface to you and others so you can study better, e.g., in search results, to enrich docs, and more. He was deployed in 2009-2010 to Iraq where he assisted military police . Daily Hampshire Gazette Contests & Promotions, Daily Hampshire Gazette Evening Top Reads, Daily Hampshire Gazette Weekly Top Stories, Daily Hampshire Gazette Dining & Entertainment, Support the In this still from a video Roca posted to YouTube on March 7, 2021, Roca alleges there is corruption and racism in the Holyoke Police Department. I am a Latino. Of the remaining 34 non-minority officers in this group, 18 are in a specialized assignment. We definitely had examples of moments where we felt we were treated differently because of our activism and there was an underlying tone of retaliation.. I stand behind the video and what I said in it. 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. Roca said in his report that the driver attempted to back into a state trooper, at which point he fired his gun three times at the driver. 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. 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. A police officer says he's on paid administrative leave for refusing to take down the 43-minute video that alleges corruption within the police department in Holyoke, Massachusetts. 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.