Massachusetts Cop Block

Here are the stories I tracked this past week:

• Carlos Miller reports that a warrant has been issued for Hector Nunez, the Haverhill resident who posted two videos of police visiting his home during the past few weeks. The warrant is for maintaining a noisy and disorderly house. As Carlos Miller points out, the warrant was probably issued in retaliation for Nunez posting videos of his police encounters online.
• The Patriot Ledger reports that the trial of Weymouth Police Officer Steven Gomez has been postponed for a second time. Gomez was charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 after allegedly groping a female State Police employee at a Thanksgiving party in 2010. The trial was postponed due to scheduling conflicts with witnesses.
• WBZ-TV reports that three guns have gone missing from the Chelsea District Court and are believed to be stolen. Kevin Murphy, the clerk magistrate, has been reassigned to the Salem District Court while the State Police investigate to determine what happened to the guns.
• The Chelsea Record reports that a man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chelsea police alleging that he was arrested for taking photographs at his son’s soccer game. After a boy was injured by a falling goalpost, Rodrigo Blanco, a professional photographer, a few pictures to document the incident. Police allegedly ordered him to delete the photos and arrested him when he refused.
• Finally, earlier this week, I posted the report of the internal investigation of a UMass Lowell police officer who threatened to assault a student for video recording him. Make sure you check it out here.

In October of last year, UMass Lowell student Brendan Brown was threatened by a campus police officer for video-recording a group of police officers who were responding to a fight that had taken place outside an apartment. Brown was approached by UMass Lowell Police Officer Noberto Melendez who told him to “Shut that fucking thing off before I slap you.” Brown decided he’d rather not be arrested, so he left the area, but he did upload his video to YouTube and later shared it on my Facebook wall.

After I saw the video, I brought it to the attention of Police Chief Randolph Brashears. Chief Brashears subsequently launched an investigation which resulted allegations of misconduct being sustained against Officer Melendez. As you may remember, I was able to get the University to agree to disclose their investigation report by making a public records request, however, the University told me I needed to pay a $235 fee to have a copy made. Luckily, some generous Cop Block readers donated the money.

After I sent in the money to the University, they engaged in a long and unlawful delay before sending the documents out to me. On January 6, about 3 weeks after the University received my payment, I still had not received the report, so I called to complain. I contacted Jack Giarusso, the head of Human Resources at UMass Lowell, and asked him why it was taking so long for the documents to be mailed to me. He told me that he was just about to send them out. I pointed out to him that he was violating the law because the Massachusetts Public Records Law requires that records custodians comply with requests within 10 days without any unreasonable delays and it had already been more than a month. Giarusso gave me an excuse about how he hadn’t been able to mail the records on time because he had to move to a different office, but I told him that the Public Records Law does not mention this as a legitimate reason for taking so long to comply with a request.

I finally received a copy of the investigation about a week later. Unfortunately, I’ve been having problems with my scanner, so I wasn’t able to scan the report until several days ago when I found time to go to the local public library. You can find a copy of the report at the bottom of this post.

I don’t want to discuss everything about the report in detail. After all, you can read the entire thing yourself. But there are a few aspects of the report that I wanted to draw some attention to.

One of the first sections of the report describes how Chief Brashears interviewed Officer Noberto Melendez, the police officer who threatened Brendan Brown. Chief Brashears describes how he called Officer Melendez to his office and advised him that he could have a union representative there to officer guidance. Melendez returned with an Officer Soucey. According to the report:

Officer Soucy asked if there were any criminal charges being considered against Officer Melendez and if so would “Garrity Rights” be used. I advised both of them that there criminal charges are not being considered in this incident but to ease their concern I advised that nothing said during this process could be used against Officer Melendez in any criminal proceedings.

So, we learn here that criminal charges were never considered against Officer Melendez. It didn’t matter that Officer Melendez threatened to physically assault Brendan Brown. It didn’t matter that he deprived Brown of his constitutional right to observe and record police activity. Criminal charges were just never even on the table. But what do you expect when cops are “investigated” by other cops?

Next, Chief Brashears informed Melendez that he watched Brown’s YouTube video and asked him to describe what happened that night from his own perspective. Officer Melendez told Brashears that he was responding to a call from other officers. When he arrived at the scene, he witnessed a large crowd.

Officer Melendez states that when he got out of his cruiser he immediately tried to move the crowds by giving commands to leave the area. Officer Melendez stated that he could hear the sirens of the Lowell police department’s cruisers that were responding to this incident.

Officer Melendez stated that it was at this point that “I became very frustrated” because of the lack of response from the crowd. I observed the subject videotaping the event; he was standing on the sidewalk. I went over to him and stated, “Turn that fucking thing off before I slap you”, he further states that “I never had any intention to strike the person but was only trying to get this persons attention; I then immediately went over to another crowd down the street to disperse them”.

The above quote is where Melendez offers a ridiculous explanation for his thuggish behavior. Melended was just trying to get Brown’s attention, so he threatened to assault him? Huh? Usually when I’m trying to get a stranger’s attention, I opt for an “excuse me, sir” or something along those lines. If the roles were reversed — if Brown had threatened to assault Melendez — would he buy the “I was just trying to get his attention” excuse?

And if Officer Melendez was trying to get Brown’s attention, why did he walk away “immediately” (his own word choice) after threatening him without saying anything else? What was he trying to get Brown’s attention for? Apparently nothing.

Let’s read on:

Officer Melendez stated that he regrets saying what he said to the student and knows that some type of discipline will result from this incident. He further said that this is not at all like him, that he always treats the students and public with respect. Officer Melendez further stated that he remembers the Chief either talking about this type of issue or remembers an email from the Chief. Officer Melendez realizes that the public has the right to videotape police activity and that he has no excuse for his behavior, but didn’t remember if this was covered in in-service training.

The above passage is worth taking notice of because it shows that Officer Melendez was already aware that people have the right to video-record the police. There was no confusion about the law on his part. He was not only acting unlawfully, he knew damn well that he was acting unlawfully.

And yet, even though Officer Melendez admitted to knowingly breaking the law, he expects us to believe “this is not at all like him, that he always treats the students and public with respect.” Officer Melendez will have have to forgive me for being skeptical.

At the end of the investigation, Deputy Police Chief Dickerson writes that he sustained all the allegations against Officer Melendez. This means Melendez was found to have used profane and abusive language, engaged in conduct unbecoming of an officer, and violated the civil rights of Brendan Brown.

Unfortunately, we still do not know what punishment Melendez has been subjected to for his behavior. As I explained in an earlier post, the University claims that information is confidential and has refused to disclose it to me. I have exchanged several emails with Deirdre Heatwole, the lawyer who represents the University of Massachusetts system, but I have been unable to convince her to release the information and do not think that I will ever be able to.

In any case, I want to again thank the donors who helped get this report released. I think it’s important that information like this is available to the public and I think it’s a crime that the government makes us jump through so many hoops to get it.

Documents (.pdf format)

• Cover letter
• Training document about “Unlawful Secret Recordings”
• Investigation Report

Here are the stories I tracked this past week:

• Carlos Nunez reports that Hector Nunez, the man from the Haverhill who uploaded the video that was recently featured on this site, received another visit from the police. You can see his video of this second visit here:

• The Cape Cod Times reports that Somerville police officer Ariel Colazzo and Cambridge police officer Christopher Borum are both facing assault and battery charges after allegedly beating a DJ at a convention for drug officers. The DJ alleges that he was beat by at least six police officers, but has had trouble identifying them.
• Boston.com reports that the Boston Police department has fired an officer for excessive force and lying during an investigation. Officer David C. Williams was fired for tackling and using a chokehold on a corrections officer who recorded him during a traffic stop. Williams had been fired in 1998 for beating an undercover police officer, but was reinstated in 2005 after successfully appealing his firing. He plans to try to get his job back for a second time using an arbitration process.
• The Connecticut Post and Associated Press report that Dr. Frank Evangelista, Connecticut’s associate state medical examiner, is on trial for perjury in Massachusetts. Evangelista is accused of presenting conflicting testimony in two related murder trials while he was a medical examiner in Massachusetts. Evangelista was indicted in Plymouth County but will be prosecuted by the Bristol County DA’s office to avoid a conflict of interest.
• NECN report that a Weymouth police dispatcher is on trial for pulling a gun on two teenagers and threatening in a parking lot outside her apartment while off-duty. The dispatcher, Kristen Hart, claims she believed the two teens were burglarizing cars. In fact, one of the teens lived in the apartment building and the second was visiting.
• The Republican reports that a male pedestrian was hit by a Holyoke police cruiser. Police have yet to identify the officer who hit the pedestrian, but say they are investigating the incident.
• The Daily Items reports that a state police officer who was arrested in Saugus last year was found guilty of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, but avoided a OUI conviction. The Clerk Magistrate said that there wasn’t enough evidence for the OUI charge partly because the arresting officer didn’t perform a sobriety test at the time of arrest. You can read an old post I wrote about this case I here.
• Boston.com reports that the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld million dollar judgments in favor of families of victims of gangster “Whitey” Bulger. The Court found the federal government liable for the deaths due to the FBI’s corrupt relationship with Bulger.

Here are the stories I tracked this past week:

• Ars Technica reports that the Boston Police Department has finally admitted that the police officers who arrested Simon Glik in 2007 were wrong to do so. Glik was arrested and charged with “wiretapping” and several other charges after he recorded police officers making an arrest on the Boston Common. He is currently suing the city for violating his civil rights. The police officers who arrested Glik may now face discipline ranging from an oral reprimand to a suspension. They should, of course, be fired.
• Carlos Miller, who writes the Photography is Not a Crime blog, has some more information about the Haverhill video I posted last week. You can read his article here.
• The MetroWest Daily News reports that Val Krishtal, the Framingham police officer who arrested Onyango Obama, Barack Obama’s Kenyan uncle, earlier this for an alleged DUI has been involved in 16 on-duty car accidents. He was at fault for at least 9 of the accidents. I find it pretty outrageous that this man is still employed as a police officer. Imagine how much money his laundry list of accidents have cost taxpayers. Furthermore, how can someone with a driving record like that be permitted to stop others for alleged driving offenses?
• The Republican reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Hampden District Attorney’s Office are investigating West Springfield police captain Daniel O’Brien for alleged civil rights violations and brutality.
• Wired reports that a TSA Air Marshall was arrested by the Boston Police after stealing an Occupy Boston protester’s phone and assaulting her, presumably because he was angry that she was recording him with the phone. The arrest took place shortly before police shut down an Occupy Boston encampment.

Also, I want to wish everyone a happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Make sure you check out this post I wrote for Cop Block for last year’s MLK Day.

As I said toward the end of last year, I will now be posting weekly news roundups. Instead of trying to write detailed articles about every police misconduct and police accountability-related story I come across, I will post links on the Massachusetts Cop Block Facebook and Twitter pages and make a weekly post that includes brief summaries of all the stories I found during the past week. Currently, I plan to post a news roundup every Monday.

First, here are a few stories from late last year:

• The Lowell Sun reports that Vesna Nuon, who was just elected to the Lowell City Council, accepted a $50,000 settlement from the city. Nuon was suing the city over a 2008 incident in which Lowell Police Officer Brian Kinney allegedly arrested him on a bogus “disorderly conduct” charge after he threatened to call Kinney’s supervisor and complain about his unprofessional behavior. As part of the settlement, Kinney must also apologize to Nuon.
• WGGB-TV reports that Spingfield Police Officer Rafael Nazario has been charged with rape and indecent assault and battery after allegedly raping an 18-year-old woman.
• The Sun Chronicle reports that cocaine and other drugs have gone missing from the Attleboro Police Department’s evidence room. Police Chief Kyle Heagney said he suspects that a cop is responsible and has launched an investigation. The Boston Herald reports that Heagney wishes he could drug test the officers in his department, but their union contract bars him from doing so.

And here the the first Massachusetts police misconduct and police accountability-related stories of the new year:

• The Boston Herald reports that state trooper John Bergeron shot a woman while hunting. The state police have described the incident as an accident, but Environmental Police are still investigating.
• WBZ-TV reports that Charlton police terrified a 5-year-old girl when they sent an officer to collect her overdue library books. Seems like a colossal overreaction, not to mention a waste of police resources. As one person who shared the story with me sarcastically commented, “All other crimes have been solved!”
• The Boston Herald reports that the FBI has arrested state police officer John M. Analetto on extortion charges. Analetto has been accused of lending an FBI informant money in exchange for a piece of his business and threatening to murder the informant multiple times.
• Boston.com reports that black box data disclosed by the state police shows Lt. Governor Tim Murray was driving 100 MPH and not wearing his seatbelt when he totaled his taxpayer-funded car during the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Both Murray and the state police previously said accident was caused by black ice, but the release of the black box data have forced them to revise their story. They both now claim that Murray probably fell asleep at the wheel. Previously, the state police refused to release the black box data to the public even though they are required to by the Massachusetts Public Records Law, however, they finally released the data when Murray asked them to. Murray will be issued a $555 traffic citation.
• The Cape Cod Times reports that a judge ruled that Sandwich police violated a teen football player’s rights when they interrogated him without offering to record the interrogation.
• The Enterprise reports that former Brockton police lieutenant Charles Lincoln has been jailed for failing to make alimony payments to his ex-wife. Lincoln, now retired, became infamous when he called out sick more than 100 times in three years so he could work a second job as the head of a county jail and amass a huge pension. Lincoln has collected his $140,000 a year pension at taxpayer expense since 2004.
• Lastly, a man uploaded a YouTube video a few days ago which apparently depicts Haverhill police searching his home. The man frantically tells the camera that the police have entered his home without cause and assaulted him. At the end of the video, the police notice they are on camera and threaten to arrest the man for recording him. While I can’t confirm the man’s version of events, I will say that police have no right to arrest people for openly recording them. This man may want to consult a lawyer.

Remember, if you have a story or question you’d like to share with Massachusetts Cop Block, drop us a line on Facebook, Twitter, or send us a message using our contact page.

Greetings, Massachusetts Cop Block readers.

Before the new year begins, I wanted to quickly announce some changes I’ll soon be making to the site. Since I started Massachusetts Cop Block several months ago, I’ve written a large number of articles about police misconduct incidents that were based on newspaper reports. Unfortunately, this has proved to be very time consuming. There are a large number of Massachusetts police misconduct stories, police accountability developments, and other relevant news that has taken place this year that I wasn’t able to report on because I couldn’t find enough time to write my own articles about them.

Because of this, I decided on a new plan that I believe will both allow me to discuss more police misconduct and police accountability-related news while cutting back on the time that I’ll need to dedicate to the site. Instead of writing my own articles for every story I come across, I plan to simply post links to articles on the Massachusetts Cop Block Facebook page and Twitter feed. Then every week I’ll post a “News Roundup” on the blog that will include short (probably 1-3 sentences or so) summaries of all the stories I shared that week with links to the source articles.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be any more original reporting on Massachusetts Cop Block. If I find stories that haven’t been covered by the mainstream media or other blogs or if I have information about these stories that hasn’t been covered by anyone else, I’ll definitely try to write my own articles about them. I just don’t want to spend as much effort duplicating information that’s already out there. So please keep sending me your personal stories, videos, advice, etc. via the contact page or drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter.

That’s all for now. I hope everyone has been having an enjoyable and safe holiday season up to this point. Since I probably won’t be posting any updates to the site for at least a few days, let me say that I hope everyone has a great New Year’s Eve.

Until next time, Cop Blockers.