Mass law enforcement misconduct news, July 20-26

Police misconduct news

Here are the media reports of alleged law enforcement misconduct in Massachusetts that I’ve tracked during the last week.

State and local

• “A Boston police officer has been placed on restricted duty following recent charges stemming from an alleged attack on a family member. Mark J. Loewen, 50, of Roslindale, faces a felony vandalism charge along with two counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, court records show.” (Boston.com)
• “Massachusetts State Police are reviewing ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of cases ex-Trooper Michael Proctor investigated following the revelation of his bigoted, slur-filled messages, according to Col. Geoffrey Noble. … According to Noble, State Police are still working with local prosecutors to review all cases in which Proctor was involved and identify potential areas where the trooper’s offensive beliefs may have seeped through to the investigation.” (Boston.com)
• “Boston police officer Tyraun Barboza’s law enforcement certification has been suspended by the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST Commission). BPD a couple years ago sustained misconduct allegations against Barboza — including him viewing/sharing graphic adult websites and/or recordings of unsuspecting women.” (Boston Herald)
• “An attorney for Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins … told a federal judge he should bar federal prosecutors from raising his two state ethics violations when he goes on trial [in August] on charges he extorted money from a company seeking to open a [cannabis] dispensary on Friend Street.” (Universal Hub)
• “[The] in-custody death [of an incarcerated man named Shacoby Kenny] that followed a fight between [him] and staff at the South Bay House of Correction in Boston late [in 2025] was determined to be a homicide by the state office of the chief medical examiner, public safety authorities said [on July 21]. … The state attorney general’s office is investigating the matter, and that probe is ongoing. As of [July 21], no criminal charges had been filed against [Suffolk County] correction officers.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
• “The family of Alfredo ‘Freddy’ Alves told The Enterprise [on July 20] they are deeply disappointed that the Hanover police officer accused of striking and killing the 23-year-old father in a February hit-and-run crash was released after being indicted on a new felony drunk-driving homicide charge. Thomas Hayes, 36, of Hanover, was arraigned July 14 in connection with the hit-and-run death of Alves on charges of leaving the scene of personal injury and death, motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor or with a blood alcohol content of .08% or higher and operating recklessly and motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, court records show.” (Enterprise; paywalled)
• “The Mass State Police trooper seen allegedly pummeling a fellow statie at a local bar will have a public court hearing after the Herald requested it. Christopher Regan, whose identity was confirmed by a Quincy District Court official on [July 21], is accused of assaulting a fellow trooper at ReelHouse brewpub in Marina Bay [in June].” (Boston Herald)
• “A romantic fling between a Norfolk police sergeant and deputy chief sent department morale ‘to deeper shallows’ and prompted internal scrutiny after the deputy chief investigated a complaint lodged against her then-lover, according to a newly released probe. The ‘inappropriate’ personal relationship between former Deputy Chief Michelle Palladini and former Sgt. Samuel Webb created conflicts of interest, compromised the integrity of the internal affairs investigation against Webb, and ‘resulted in conduct inconsistent with the standards expected of Norfolk police officers,’ town officials said [on July 21].” (Boston.com)
• “A mother of two who said she was permanently disabled in a crash during a police pursuit is now suing Holyoke and West Springfield in federal court, arguing officers should have called off the chase. The lawsuit was filed by Yurany Loaiza Loaiza, her husband, and their two children, seeking more than $7 million in damages.” (Western Mass News)

• “A retired Granby police lieutenant [Gary Poehler] entered into an agreement with the state’s police oversight board on July 16 to never again work in law enforcement after he allegedly paid a subordinate officer and a dispatcher to complete his college coursework for him, made sexually explicit comments in front of subordinate officers and department employees, and used his truck to intimidate an officer who filed a complaint against him.” (Mass Dump/Shoestring)

Records allege Granby cop sexually harassed women, paid subordinates to do his schoolwork

Misconduct records for Gary Poehler, who has agreed to permanently leave law enforcement, also allege he used his truck to intimidate an officer who filed a complaint against him. The documents were among those the Northwestern DA recently released.

The Mass DumpAndrew Quemere

• “Boston police officer Nicholas O’Malley was back in Suffolk Superior Court [on July 23] for a pre-trial hearing in which the prosecution moved to have the body camera footage impounded. … Both parties agreed to the motion, with the judge providing further clarification as to why the footage will not be released publicly.” (Boston 25 News)

• “Charges have been dropped against a state trooper accused of assaulting a woman during a traffic stop in Springfield on January 3. Mass. State Police [Sergeant] Joel Daoust … used an arm-bar takedown, throwing the woman to the pavement. As other officers arrived, he pepper-sprayed her face while she was on the ground.” (Western Mass News)

I haven’t found any news reports about this story:

• The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission on July 23 suspended the law-enforcement certification of Massachusetts State Police trooper Joseph Franklin “in light of evidence that [he] engaged or may have engaged in criminal conduct,” according to the suspension order. The order does not specify the nature of the alleged criminal conduct.

Federal

• “A federal agent was arrested and charged … with assaulting a juvenile girl in an alleged domestic violence incident in Mattapan, court records show. Leonel Ledesma, 39, was arraigned [July 17] in Dorchester Municipal Court on one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a felony, and assault and battery, a misdemeanor, records show.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
• “A federal judge has ordered a woman released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody 10 days after she was detained, after traveling [from Miami] to [Boston] to volunteer as a color guard for the Tall Ships events in celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary and attend a Fenway Park Noah Kahan concert.” (MassLive)
• “A federal judge [on July 24] granted ICE a 30-day extension to cut a check for $3,830 to a Boston immigration lawyer for her work getting an immigrant out of the hole ICE stuck her in, after a judge ruled it should never have put her there to begin with.” (Universal Hub)
• “A Boston federal judge [on July 24] ordered ICE to not pull one of its favorite tricks and detain an Indian national at his [July 27] appointment to have his picture and fingerprints taken as part of his visa application.” (Universal Hub)

Other news

Two members of Worcester human rights commission resign after city manager rejects civil review board for police (MassLive)

A second member of the Worcester Human Rights Commission has quit — just one day after a member left the commission following the city manager’s recommendation not to create a civilian review board to review police conduct.

The commissioner, Drew Schnoebelen, announced his resignation in a post on BlueSky on [July 21].

His resignation comes one day after Commissioner Jacqueline Yang left the panel.

Stoughton police chief says she was removed after filing harassment complaint against town manager (Boston 25 News)

Just two days after Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara filed a formal harassment complaint against Town Manager Thomas Calter, town officials announced that an acting police chief will take over leadership of the department.

McNamara says she did not voluntarily step away from her position.

Body-camera video shows Lowell police officers forcibly removing 14-year-old from public forum about data centers (Lowell Sun)

In response to The Sun’s records request, the Lowell Police Department released body camera footage and the incident report from the June 29 data center forum during which a 14-year-old girl was forcibly removed from the public meeting.

Mass Senate plans to vote on public records bill (CommonWealth Beacon)

Top Senate Democrats signaled [on July 23] they will seek a vote [in the final week of July] on legislation that would, like a bill passed [in June] in the House, subject both the governor’s office and the Legislature to some kind of public records framework, taking aim at the same topic already targeted by a question on the November ballot.

What Senate leaders did not say is how their legislative action would affect the ballot campaign, whose backers did not play a part in drafting either chamber’s language and have not agreed to suspend their efforts if Beacon Hill embraces its own records reforms different from what is set to go before voters. …

“Sounds like they’re trying to pass a makeshift version of something quickly to pitch to voters to try and convince them not to vote for ballot Question 1,” [Diana] DiZoglio, the state auditor, said [on July 23]. “The voters are much too savvy for that, however.”

“The nightly news programs this past week completely ignored climate change’s role in recent catastrophic weather events, including tornadoes, deadly floods across the Carolinas, southeastern Virginia and the Tennessee Valley, and toxic smoke from wildfires that blanketed much of the upper [US].”

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) July 24, 2026 at 4:02 PM

Universal Hub continues to serve up that piping hot Shiva Ayyadurai content.

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) July 24, 2026 at 2:34 PM

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Someone please adopt this beautiful baby. #Massachusetts

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) July 26, 2026 at 10:36 PM