Mass law enforcement misconduct news, Aug. 24-30

First up, check out this policy story from Boston 25 News:

The Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission is looking at closing a loophole that has allowed some departments to delay discipline for years after investigations finish.

While state law requires law enforcement agencies to complete internal affairs cases within 90 days, there is no required timeframe for punishing officers found to have engaged in misconduct. …

The POST proposal would require state and local law enforcement agencies to impose discipline “as soon as practicable” and no later than 60 days after an investigation ends.

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

State and local

• I missed this one earlier this month: “A [New Bedford] police officer [Jenna Touchette] was suspended for three days without pay in May after investigators found she failed to render medical aid to a woman who ultimately died after being struck by a car this winter.” (New Bedford Light)
• “Massachusetts police oversight authorities voted [in August] to strip five former police officers of their licenses to work in law enforcement, adding them to a growing list of officers deemed unfit to carry a badge and gun in the state. … In one case, the board decertified an officer who exhibited a range of unprofessional on-the-job behavior, including using a stun gun on a civilian who interrupted a traffic stop and threatening to punch an older, intoxicated man in the face who had reached toward the officer’s duty belt.” (MassLive)
• “Lindsay Clancy’s defense lawyer moved for a mistrial [on August 24] after [Plymouth County] prosecutors elicited testimony from an expert witness about suicide being a ‘mortal sin’ — the second time the phrase has been invoked during the trial. … Judge William F. Sullivan ultimately denied the motion, but issued a stern warning to prosecutors, telling them they must not allow [the witness] to discuss Clancy’s faith or Catholic teachings in general during his testimony.” (MassLive)
• “The State Police has suspended a trooper, without pay, after allegations that he made ‘serious’ violations in how he treated a female motorist he pulled over. Trooper Stephen P. Smith was first placed on restricted duty in May, the State Police said, and was subsequently suspended without pay on July 7.” (Boston Herald)
• “A Stow police officer [Jason Rogers] accused of misusing law enforcement databases [including data from Flock cameras] to track a woman he was in a relationship with has resigned from the department ahead of a scheduled termination hearing.” (Boston 25 News)
• “A state police sergeant [Joel P. Daoust] charged with assaulting a woman at a traffic stop is no longer facing charges. But that could change after prosecutors filed a formal appeal. … Late [in July], Springfield District Court Judge Michael E. Mulcahy decided to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it can be brought again, because the court’s clerk-magistrate did not review the body camera footage of the incident and relied on an officer’s summary of it.” (Republican)
• “A Massachusetts State Trooper has been cited in connection with a crash in early August that injured him and two others, state police confirmed. Trooper Robert Ladue was cited for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and speeding.” (Boston 25 News)
• “Hudson Police had demoted Michael Vroom, a member of the department since 2000, from lieutenant to patrol officer after he was caught sleeping on duty in his office in 2025, according to the detailed suspension order by the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission.” (MetroWest Daily News)
• “Indictments that the Essex County District Attorney’s Office obtained late [in 2025] without sharing with a grand jury information about a Gloucester police sergeant’s troubling disciplinary history should be dismissed, lawyers for the defendants told Superior Court Judge John C. Fraser at an Aug. 11 hearing. Moreover, because the DA’s Office had initially misrepresented that there was ‘nothing exculpatory’ in the material it had related to Sgt. Sean Conners, the defendants should be allowed to withdraw their assent to protective and non-dissemination orders related to that information, they have argued in a subsequent motion.” (Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly) 28
• “A Boston police officer who’s been charged in the deadly shooting of a carjacking suspect in Roxbury has asked a judge to dismiss the case or appoint a special prosecutor. Officer Nicholas O’Malley’s lawyer, Karen Read attorney David Yannetti, said that District Attorney Kevin Hayden had prevented the officer from getting a fair trial by holding a press conference after O’Malley’s initial arraignment in the killing Stephenson King Jr.” (NBC10 Boston) 28
• Sheriff’s federal extortion trial is ongoing: “A cannabis entrepreneur told prosecutors [on August 28] that he tried to rebuff efforts by Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins to buy into the marijuana dispensary company he co-founded before it went public.” (WBUR) 28

Federal

• “Boston federal judges [on August 25] ordered the immediate release of two immigrants[.] … ICE confirmed it had release[d] Cesar Asencio, 41, after a judge concluded he should never have been grabbed last October, let alone be stuffed in a cell in the Plymouth County jail, because he has a pending application for a special visa for crime victims who cooperate with police.” (Universal Hub)

Yet another example of a person being illegally detained in the Plymouth County jail on behalf of ICE. Here’s your periodic reminder that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey previously dismissed the Plymouth County sheriff’s collaboration with ICE to unlawfully imprison people as a “county issue” she has no intention of doing anything about.

Maura Healey on ICE: “I support them”

Massachusetts governor declines to end state’s partnership with ICE

The Mass DumpAndrew Quemere

Other news

More local police departments are ditching Flock license-plate readers

Flock automated license-plate readers have been generating a ton of controversy lately, with multiple cases of police officers allegedly misusing them. There’s the aforementioned Stow police officer who resigned after he allegedly used Flock cameras to track a woman he had previously dated. Then there’s a New Bedford officer who also allegedly used Flock to track her ex’s vehicle. And there are two officers whom the Lynn Police Department put on leave amid an investigation into what it called a “concerning pattern in some searches.”

As I noted in last week’s newsletter, several local police departments said they were ending their use of Flock cameras. That pattern continued last week.

The Douglas Police Department “will discontinue its use of surveillance cameras from the controversial company Flock Safety,” according to the Telegram & Gazette. Notably, the police chief made the decision “after three of the town’s seven cameras were vandalized. A license plate reader in Douglas was knocked from its pole and run over Aug 15. The department believes the vandalism was a ‘malicious’ attempt to destroy the camera.” That makes Douglas one of at least two Massachusetts police departments to end its use of Flock cameras after vandalism, with Grafton being the other.

The Bellingham Police Department said it will not renew its contract with Flock, citing concerns with “pricing and transparency,” according to MassLive. The police chief said that the Flock system includes an AI-search function that the company had not “clearly explained or identified” to the department.

The Auburn Police Department said it ended its relationship with Flock due to a “contractual defect,” according to Boston.com. 

And the chief of the Easton Police Department said it will end its use of Flock cameras after he “closely monitored public sentiment and listened to the concerns and opinions of residents,” according to MassLive. 

The New Bedford Light also has some new reporting about what’s going on with Flock in that city:

The City Council unanimously passed four motions regarding Flock, one of which asks the mayor and Police Department to physically remove or cover all 20 license-plate-reading cameras during the department’s suspension of the program amid its ongoing audit. 

That motion will be sent to Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office, while the other three motions will go to subcommittee … for further discussion and votes. There, councilors may invite city officials, including the police chief, to answer their questions about Flock and allegations of misuse by city officers.

Worcester police say officer’s spouse killed him in “murder-suicide”

According to Boston.com:

Karen Solomon, a Worcester mental health advocate who had been sought as a suspect in the death of her husband, a Worcester police officer [named Kurt Solomon], has been found dead, police said [on August 24]. …

[Worcester Police Chief Paul B.] Saucier said investigators are now treating the case as a “murder-suicide.” 

Kurt Solomon’s cause of death was determined to be a homicide, according to a death certificate reviewed by MassLive.

In an article pointing out unanswered questions about the case, MassLive notes that police “have offered no details about events leading to the incident. Saucier said the couple had no known history of domestic abuse, and there are no public records indicating either Kurt or Karen Solomon had initiated a restraining order or divorce proceedings.”

ICE to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamics robot dogs (ABC News)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to spend up to $2 million on robot dogs, according to a federal procurement notice.

The Boston Dynamic SPOT Robots will help “support public safety and law enforcement operations by providing a remotely operated robotic capability for inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment in environments that may pose risks to personnel,” according to the notice.

AI company’s employees make big contributions to state politicians (Boston Globe; paywalled)

Between Aug. 7 and [26], Anthropic employees collectively poured almost $123,000 into the campaign coffers of sitting Massachusetts politicians, the state Senate Democratic leaders’ political action committee, and the state Democratic Party, which pulled in $25,000 alone, data show. …

The biggest recipients have those with the most power to influence [proposed] legislation [that would regulate AI companies]. Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ron Mariano and state Senator Barry Finegold each took in almost $10,000 from Anthropic staff since Aug. 7. House budget chief Aaron Michlewitz received almost $9,000, followed by [state Senator Mike] Rush, state Senator William Brownsberger, and state Representative Mark Cusack, who took in just under $7,000 apiece.

“Some defense attorneys will often ask judges to set a bail for clients if they know ICE is in the courthouse, the lawyer added, when in the past they would have asked for release on personal recognizance. That’s because the lawyers believe being in state custody is often safer than ICE custody.”

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) August 30, 2026 at 3:30 PM

FBI Reportedly Loosens Hiring Rules So ‘Prostitution and Bestiality’ Are No Longer ‘Automatic Disqualifiers’

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— Mediaite (@mediaite.com) August 28, 2026 at 7:06 PM

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