The latest alleged law enforcement misconduct in Mass, July 27-Aug. 9

I’ll have a new story up later this week, but for now here are the media reports of alleged law enforcement misconduct I’ve tracked during the last two weeks.

• I missed this story during my last post: “A federal appeals court ruled [July 25] that two people repeatedly raped as children by now imprisoned Boston cop - and former police-union president - Patrick Rose, should get a chance to make their case that Boston Police and the state Department of Children and Families effectively helped Rose to keep raping them by sweeping allegations against him under a rug, even after he was criminally charged and BPD’s own internal-affairs department recommended his firing.” (Universal Hub)
• “An attorney representing Joshua Heal — an ex-cop accused of having a sexual encounter with Sandra Birchmore when he was the animal control officer in Stoughton and lying about it — said at a Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission hearing [on July 23] that his client has no interest in working again as a police officer.” (Enterprise)
• “A [former New Bedford] police officer who pleaded guilty to charges connected to a series of domestic assaults has been decertified by the Massachusetts law enforcement watchdog, a move that carries a lifetime ban from police work in the commonwealth. … The Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission … revoked [Nivaldo] Mendes’ policing certification during a closed-door vote on July 17, according to a filing posted on its website.” (MassLive)
• “The Boston Police officer [Triston Champagnie] who reportedly violated department rules in a high-speed chase that killed three teenagers driving a suspected stolen car has resigned [on July 28], raising ‘serious questions about transparency and favoritism inside BPD,’ an attorney says.” (Boston Herald)
• “A former Massachusetts State trooper [Gregory Raftery] who ripped off taxpayers in the Troop E overtime scandal lost his bid before the state’s highest court to regain his pension [on August 6].” (Boston Herald)
• “A former Massachusetts State Police trooper has become the first person sentenced to prison for his role in a bribery scheme that allowed unqualified applicants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). … On [August 7], 64-year-old Perry Mendes of Wareham was sentenced to one month in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, with the first two months on home confinement for his involvement.” (WPRI)
• “Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins was arrested in Florida after a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of extorting $50,000 from a cannabis company seeking to open in Massachusetts. He was taken into custody [August 8] and was released following an initial court appearance in Florida, according to the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.” (GBH)
• New reporting reveals Patrick Noonan is the North Andover police officer who shot his colleague, Kelsey Fitzsimmons, while serving her a restraining order at her home in June. Fitzsimmons has denied allegations that she pointed a gun at Noonan, saying she only pointed it at herself because she was suicidal. (MassLive)
• “A Norfolk Superior Court judge ordered former Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor in June to preserve all the data on his personal cellphone and promptly turn it over to prosecutors. But Proctor, through his lawyer, said he changed phones in 2024 and no longer had access to those communications. On top of that, Proctor claimed his phone automatically deleted data after 30 days.” (MassLive)

As always, if you’d like to keep The Mass Dump running, please consider offering your financial support, either by signing up for a paid subscription to this newsletter below, becoming a Patreon supporter, or sending a tip via PayPal or Venmo. Your support pays for this aggregation project and original investigative reporting. A monthly subscription is just $5.

Even if you can’t afford a paid sub, please sign up for a free one to get news about wrongful convictions, police misconduct, public records, and stuff like that—and please share this article on social media.

You can follow me on Bluesky and Mastodon. You can email me at aquemere0@gmail.com.

Anyway, that’s all for now.