Mass law enforcement misconduct news, Sept. 14-20

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

State and local

• “Disgraced former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor appeared in a Dedham courtroom [on September 14], where he indicated he would exercise his Fifth Amendment right if questioned about racist and misogynistic text messages found on his cell phone. Proctor was ordered to appear for a hearing in the high-profile murder trial of Myles King. King is accused in the July 2021 fatal shooting of Marquis Simmons in Milton, a case in which Proctor served as the lead homicide detective.” (Boston 25 News)

• “A Burlington Police lieutenant was charged with assault and battery on a family member and intimidation of a witness after he allegedly headbutted his wife during an argument [on September 13], court records show. Peter Abaskharoun, 46, of Burlington, pleaded not guilty to both counts during his arraignment at Woburn District Court [on September 14].” (Boston.com)
• “On Sept. 9, [former Cheshire Police Chief Michael] Alibozek pleaded guilty to sexual conduct for a fee and was sentenced to six months of probation.” (Western Mass News)
• “A now-former Braintree police officer is accused of using department technology to harass his ex-girlfriend. 25 Investigates obtained court records and police internal audits that show Mark Sherrick used the department’s Flock camera system to track her license plate more than 1,000 times.” (Boston 25 News)

Sherrick is at least the eighth police officer who has been accused of misusing Flock cameras in Massachusetts in recent months. In all the cases where details of the alleged misuse have been made public, the officers were accused of using the cameras to track current or former romantic partners, all of whom were women. It seems that one of the primary uses of this technology is stalking women.

• “A federal judge issued several decisions [on September 17] as the court prepares for the murder trial of Matthew Farwell, the former [Stoughton] police officer accused of killing a pregnant woman [Sandra Birchmore] with whom he allegedly had a sexual relationship dating back to when she was 15. … [Chief District Judge Denise] Casper decided to allow excerpts of Birchmore’s handwritten journals and electronic communications.” (WCVB)
• “The former police chief in Methuen, Massachusetts, was taken into custody [September 18] after pleading guilty to 17 criminal charges, bringing a yearslong case involving allegations of fraud, forgery and perjury within the city’s police department closer to an end. Retired Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon, 65, entered the guilty pleas during a hearing at Essex Superior Court in Salem. … Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s office said that under the plea agreement, Solomon was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in the House of Corrections, with 30 days to serve and the rest suspended for three years.” (NBC10 Boston)

• “A Plymouth couple accused of repeatedly raping the teenaged child in their care was indicted by a Plymouth County grand jury on [September 18] on multiple counts of aggravated rape and other charges. … Daniel Forand, 37, and his wife Samantha Pelrine, 31, a Plymouth police officer, first made headlines in March after the boy came forward to tell police he was assaulted by the couple for a period of 7 years beginning when he was 14.” (Plymouth Independent)
• “An Essex County Sheriff’s Department correctional officer was arrested [September 17] for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs and a cellphone to an inmate at the Middleton Jail and House of Correction. Christal Dunston, 33, of Lynn, Massachusetts, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate drug laws, two counts of delivering drugs/articles to a prisoner and one count of possessing drugs/articles with intent to deliver them to a prisoner.” (NBC10 Boston)
• “A civil suit brought by a resident accusing three Quincy police officers with using excessive force is set to go before a jury on Monday, Sept. 21, at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham. The suit seeks $500,000 in damages. Salim Balbaky, 54, claims that officers Paul Matthews, Michael Dougan and William Lanergan dislocated and fractured his left shoulder and injured his head while placing him under arrest in 2020.” (Patriot Ledger; paywalled)

Federal

• “A recent miscarriage had taken a toll on Iara do Carmo Santana. Distraught and suffering from an infection, she got into an argument with her fiancé at the start of Labor Day weekend, and he quickly concluded she was experiencing a mental health crisis. Worried for her safety, he called 911 for help. Instead, she was arrested and charged with domestic violence. More worrisome for the couple, she now faces the specter of deportation after spending roughly four days in an ICE field office in Burlington, often deprived of medicine for her infection, which grew worse. Do Carmo Santana was ordered released … by a federal judge, who admonished immigration authorities over the situation at the Burlington facility, which has long drawn criticism for its grim conditions and lack of medical care.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
• “A Boston federal judge [on September 14] ordered the regime to immediately release a Brazilian national who might have been released on bond as much as two weeks earlier and who went a week without medication for his high blood pressure while locked up.” (Universal Hub)

Other news

Holyoke police chief says he didn’t know department was sharing Flock data for immigration-related purposes (Republican)

As recently as August, police departments from around the country have tapped into [Holyoke’s] automatic license plate reader data, searching plates for immigration investigations. Sometimes, those searches include U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the stated justification. …

From January through August of this year, more than 1,500 searches of Holyoke’s data from outside police departments, ranging from Texas to Indiana, had justification that included the word “immigration,” and several hundred reasons also included ICE specifically. …

The widespread media attention led the Holyoke Police Department to look at its policy. Chief Brian Keenan, who has been at the helm of Holyoke’s Police Department for 18 months, said he wasn’t aware until recently that the nationwide sharing was enabled.

“I don’t think anyone was, to be honest with you. ... There were too many things going on. Once we became aware of it, we tightened it up,” the chief said.

This is some truly astounding incompetence. How could the police chief not be aware that his department was sharing this information? And how has he not already been fired for this?

Locations of some Flock cameras in Lowell revealed (Lowell Sun)

Cameras are at almost every intersection running in from the Lowell Connector to Merrimack Street by City Hall. There are two mounted camera units in front of the Cornelius F. Kiernan Judicial Center — one pointing at incoming and the other at outgoing traffic along Thorndike at Middlesex streets. At least a dozen more camera units were spotted concentrated in the Downtown Lowell approaches of Merrimack, Middlesex, Gorham and Central streets.

Outside the core business district, Flock cameras were spied in front of the former St. Jean Baptiste Church on Merrimack Street in the Acre neighborhood, Varnum Avenue in Pawtuckville, First and Christian streets in Centralville and Andover Street in Belvidere. The cameras are even located outside schools, such as the Stoklosa Middle School on Broadway Street.

Wilmington to terminate Flock contract (Lowell Sun)

Amid a wider trend of police departments canceling their contracts or at least pausing the use of Flock Safety’s license plate reading cameras, the Wilmington Police Department announced [September 14] that it will terminate its own relationship with the company.

The department said in a statement on social media that the decision was being made “in recognition of privacy concerns expressed in our community.”

While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Full investigation by @josephcox.bsky.social and @wired.com’s @dmehro.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/hackers-stol...

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— 404 Media (@404media.co) September 16, 2026 at 9:25 AM

Worcester city councilor temporarily steps down from Public Safety Committee after crash (MassLive)

Worcester City Councilor-at-Large Kathleen M. Toomey announced [September 15] that she will temporarily step down as chair of the Public Safety Committee following her involvement in a Sept. 2 crash.

Police body camera footage from the incident shows Toomey asking for Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier while being questioned by officers. At another point, Toomey states that she is “trying to get a hold of Anthony Petrone,” a Worcester police sergeant.

According to the Worcester Police Department, an internal investigation was started on the same date as the crash to “ensure that no preferential treatment was provided and that all departmental policies were followed.”

Stoughton police chief questions independence of investigator (Enterprise; paywalled)

The firm hired to independently investigate allegations involving Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara and Town Manager Thomas Calter is facing new scrutiny after McNamara's attorneys accused the town of retaining a company whose team includes a longtime professional associate of Calter, new court filings show.

At the center of the complaint is Calter’s professional association with Eileen Donoghue, one of the advisers working with the Edward Davis Company.

According to the Sept. 2 filing, Donoghue and Calter worked together for many years at the Massachusetts State House and served on multiple committees together.

Judge ends protocol allowing defendants without legal representation to be released from custody, saying attorney work stoppage has ended (MassLive)

A rare court protocol that reshaped Massachusetts’ criminal justice system during a yearlong work stoppage of defense attorneys has officially ended.

In an order issued [September 14], Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt lifted the Lavallee protocol, writing that there was no longer “an ongoing systemic violation” of constitutional rights. Wendlandt said “the work stoppage prompting the institution of the Lavallee protocol has ended” and that “the number of unrepresented indigent defendants has remained low for a consistent period of time.” …

The emergency measure was designed to protect defendants’ constitutional right to counsel. It allowed courts to release jailed defendants after seven days without an attorney and to dismiss cases after 45 days if no lawyer had been assigned.

Worcester County police departments getting “comfort dogs” for schools (WBUR)

Holden Police Officer Holly Doyle always wanted to have a canine partner. She envisioned the kind of “bite dog” used in criminal matters, maybe a German shepherd.

It took 20 years on the job before she managed to get a dog by her side. But Cruiser isn’t some snapping shepherd. He’s a cuddly Labrador retriever, a “comfort dog,” selected for calmness and trained for obedience. …

Cruiser and several other comfort dogs in Worcester County are about to get more company. District Attorney Joseph Early is using a $1.6 million federal grant to help local police acquire, equip and train more comfort dogs. 

I’m not knocking the idea of having comfort dogs in schools, but why are these programs being run by police instead of actual mental-health professionals? It seems like every idea for improving people’s mental health is turned into a scam to funnel money into police departments.

I also find the heartwarming little anecdote this story starts with—about how the police officer originally wanted an attack dog she could use to maim people—to be quite disturbing!

Lawyers accuse new immigration judge hearing cases in Chelmsford of bias, due-process violations (GBH)

One of the new immigration judges hearing cases in Chelmsford is a former Fraternal Order of Police lawyer who appears to be racist against Brazilians and either has no understanding of immigration law or is deliberately violating people’s due-process rights:

In a recent morning at Chelmsford Immigration Court, dozens of immigrants and attorneys crowded into a room, and more appeared by videoconference. Judge Christopher Cooper, was presiding from Detroit, one of the new temporary immigration judges for the court.

What happened over the next few hours — recounted by several immigration attorneys present — was not routine. Attorneys called Cooper’s conduct biased, and said he relied heavily on Department of Homeland Security attorneys to provide reasons to issue pretermissions, essentially ending an immigrants’ asylum case without a hearing where evidence is presented.

As a result, at least 20 immigrants — mostly asylum seekers from Brazil— were given deportation orders during scheduling hearings, before they had a chance to show evidence to back up their claims.

A New Hampshire man who posted an AI-generated video of a Laconia cop praising him and asking for his autograph as a joke was acquitted of two felony counts of fraudulent use of deepfakes after being prosecuted under a new state law.

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) September 15, 2026 at 6:05 PM

Look, generative AI sucks. But any time you create a broad, vague law like the one in the above story, it will primarily be used against people who hurt cops’ feelings.

“A police department in Texas that arrested a local resident for complaining on social media about their city’s contaminated water supply has been ordered closed after failing to prove it provided any benefit to the community.”

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) September 15, 2026 at 7:31 PM

“Two years after surviving Israel's detonation of booby-trapped pagers in Lebanon, 14-year-old Ali Abbas is determined to move forward despite severe physical scars.”

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) September 18, 2026 at 11:40 AM

"As former FTC Chair Lina Khan has indicated, companies are already liable for creating dangerous products. Any other company whose employees announce publicly that their products will destroy humanity would be shut down and its products discontinued." prospect.org/2026/09/15/a...

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— Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) September 15, 2026 at 7:29 AM

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Someone please adopt this beautiful baby.

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— Andrew Quemere (@andrewqmr.bsky.social) September 20, 2026 at 4:35 PM