Mass law enforcement misconduct news, Sept. 28-Oct. 4
Two more cops decertified, Methuen city officials call for feds to reopen police corruption investigation, and more
Sorry for getting this one out late, but here are the media reports of alleged law enforcement misconduct in Massachusetts that I’ve tracked during the last week.
State and local
- “Ruben Perry Collins, formerly of the Newbury Police and Rowley Police departments, and Brian Norton, formerly of the Weymouth Police, join nearly 100 police officers whom state officials have deemed unfit to hold police certification in Massachusetts. Both officers faced criminal charges in unrelated cases, according to court records.” (MassLive)
- “A former Springfield police detective [Steven Vigneault] with a controversial history was arrested [September 29] and charged with criminal harassment of a woman, as well as taking sexually explicit photos of her without her consent.” (Republican)
- “Two members of the Worcester Police Department [officer Dante Simone and Sergeant Michael Cappabianca Jr.] were found to have violated internal policies following a crash involving a high-ranking officer in the UMass Chan Medical School campus police.” (Telegram & Gazette; paywalled)
- “Methuen city officials are calling for a federal investigation into current and former police department leaders to be reopened following former Police Chief Joseph Solomon’s conviction in a corruption case earlier this month. In a letter shared publicly on [September 30], Mayor D.J. Beauregard and City Councilor Mike Simard call on Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley to reopen the investigation, which they say was abruptly closed in September 2024.” (MassLive)
- “A judge has again denied a motion from Matthew Farwell’s defense team seeking to move the former Stoughton police detective’s high-profile murder trial out of state. In a ruling issued [October 1], Judge Denise Casper said the defense ‘has not met the high burden of demonstrating that pretrial publicity would prevent [Mr. Farwell] from receiving a fair trial in this District.’” (NBC10 Boston)
- “A defense lawyer for Matthew Farwell revealed [October 2] that a Massachusetts State Police trooper tasked with examining Sandra Birchmore’s laptop lost the device’s raw data in 2024, potentially destroying evidence that could have benefited Farwell’s defense. … Prosecutors are obligated to remind witnesses to disclose evidence that could be helpful to the defense, [defense attorney Joanne] Daley noted, but the server crash was only disclosed in recent weeks. ‘Trooper [Nicholas] Guarino has known for two years,’ she said.” (MassLive)
- “A judge who presided over an inquest into the fatal police shooting of an armed man in Cambridge has determined that the officers were justified in opening fire, court records show. A nine-page ruling on Sept. 16 from District Court Judge Holly V. Broadbent said two police officers, James Nestor and Donald Conrad, acted lawfully when they shot William Woodworth, 64, on the evening of Aug. 21 in Central Square.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
- “In a letter to staff [September 30], [Suffolk County Sheriff Steven] Tompkins’s office said Mark Lawhorne, whom Tompkins [in 2025] appointed as the ‘special sheriff’ to fill Tompkins’s seat while he stepped away amid his legal battle, is ‘no longer with the Department.’ … Two people familiar with the situation said Lawhorne, who previously served as chief of staff at the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, was fired [September 29].” (Boston Globe; paywalled)
Federal
- “The controversial third-country deportation policy from the Trump administration has impacted Massachusetts detainees, including several of the original plaintiffs in the federal case against it. Now, a Supreme Court decision is allowing it to move forward once again, even while justices consider whether the policy is legal. … Detainees in Massachusetts say they’ve often been compelled to sign paperwork related to third-country deportation against their will.” (GBH)
- “A Boston federal judge [on September 30] ordered the regime to restore a Maine resident’s work permit - and his right to stay here - several months after she had ordered him freed from illegal detention, and after ICE had refused to restore his right to work here legally.” (Universal Hub)
Every week, we hear stories about people being illegally jailed on behalf of ICE by the Plymouth County sheriff—even people from out of state, like in the above case—but last time we heard about this from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, she said it was just a “county issue” and she doesn’t support legislation to stop it. It’s a shame Massachusetts can’t do better than her.
Andrew Quemere
Other news
POST Commission launches new real-time dashboard with officer certification and disciplinary info (WCVB)
The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission has unveiled new dashboards … to provide the public with real-time updates on officer certifications and disciplinary actions, marking a significant step toward greater transparency. …
The “Agency Internal Investigations with Pending Discipline” dashboard highlights departments where discipline has not been decided more than 60 days after an investigation was completed.
Worcester police amend rule about muting body cameras (Telegram & Gazette; paywalled)
The [Worcester] Police Department amended its policy on muting body-worn cameras following a late-night crash involving Councilor-at-Large Kathleen M. Toomey.
The Worcester Police Department policy that was in place during the Sept. 2 crash said, “officers may utilize the camera’s ‘mute’ function instead of turning off the [body-worn camera] when sensitive conversations are taking place, but the incident is still ongoing.”
The Police Department subsequently amended the body-worn camera policy on Sept. 11 to add that an officer “whenever practicable” shall state on the record the reason for the mute. If they are unable to do so, they should note in an incident report or supplemental report “each mute of the officer’s [body-worn camera] and the reason.”
Mass high court to rule on what happens to criminal defendants who are moved out of state by ICE before they are prosecuted (Boston Globe; paywalled)
The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation push is supposed to focus on “the worst of the worst,” immigrants with serious criminal records. Yet for dozens of immigrants facing criminal charges in Massachusetts, their arrest by federal immigration officials has unleashed chaos and confusion, leaving judges and lawyers grappling with a tangled web of open warrants and unanswerable charges.
The thorny issues raised by such cases land before the state’s highest court [this] week, as justices consider whether state district court judges can order US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make detainees available for trial after they’ve been sent out of state, and what Massachusetts judges should do if ICE won’t let them show up. …
To be sure, ICE is not legally required to follow orders issued by state courts, as Massachusetts judges have no jurisdiction over the agency. But state actions in criminal cases can directly impact immigration proceedings; if charges go away, so can the federal government’s reason for holding someone without bond.
Republican Senate candidate tours ICE dungeon in Burlington, doesn’t bother to speak with any detainees (Lowell Sun)
After taking a tour of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Burlington, Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton defended the conditions inside and decried poor characterizations of the building by Democratic lawmakers who have taken tours of their own. …
Deaton said he did not speak with any of the detainees inside, but that he saw four or five women detained in one cell, with men detained in another.
Public defenders seek right to unionize via ballot question (MassLive)
Ballot Question 2 asks voters to allow [Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services] staff attorneys to begin forming a union. A yes vote doesn’t guarantee unionization; it only opens the door. A no vote would make no change to state law, effectively barring CPCS employees from unionizing.
“Yes on two is just about giving us these rights that most other public employees are already entitled to,” said Tanvi Verma, a CPCS staff attorney who is one of the leaders of the current unionization effort.
Massachusetts voters still overwhelmingly support state auditor’s bid to audit the legislature (CommonWealth Beacon)
A new CommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling Group survey (Toplines | Crosstabs) found that 72 percent of likely voters support explicitly allowing the state auditor to audit the Legislature — exactly the same share that voted in support of a 2024 ballot question writing that power into state law. Only 7 percent of respondents oppose the law, and 21 percent said they are unsure.
Informed that the support margin in the poll mirrored the 2024 vote, [Auditor Diana] DiZoglio’s first response was to chuckle.
“It’s certainly on theme,” she told CommonWealth Beacon. “We continue to push for the voter-mandated audit that 72 percent voted for, and as the poll demonstrates, that push is not waning. People are just as motivated as they were in 2024.
BREAKING: Renee Good’s family sues the U.S. government and immigration officials over her killing in Minneapolis.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) October 1, 2026 at 10:16 AM
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This New Mexico lawyer is representing a man who was found guilty of killing his wife earlier this year. Here he is being ripped apart by judges who found that he used ChatGPT to make up nonexistent witnesses and testimony. Read more: www.404media.co/chatgpt-fake...
— 404 Media (@404media.co) September 30, 2026 at 2:23 PM
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