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| Mass. commissioner fires 1 corrections officer, demotes 5 |
| By Boston Globe |
| Published: 04/19/2004 |
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Massachusetts Correction Commissioner Kathleen M. Dennehy fired one correction officer and demoted five others and asked the district attorney's office about possible prosecution after determining the officers lied about an incident in which an inmate claimed to have been beaten, correction officials said last week. The firing and demotions came less than a month after Dennehy took over as commissioner, under a mandate from Governor Mitt Romney to overhaul the state prison system. Steve Kenneway, president of the 4,000-member officers union, said that as a result of the action, the union had "lost faith" in Dennehy for "believing the word of one inmate over six correction officers," and said the union was considering a strike vote, even though the current contract contains a no-strike provision. "The inappropriate and potentially criminal behaviors exhibited by these officers is absolutely unacceptable and the discipline meted out reinforces that this type of behavior will not be tolerated by employees of the department," Dennehy said in a statement. Justin Latini, a correction department spokesman, said an internal investigation into "allegations of excessive force" by officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley resulted in "one supervisor being terminated for using excessive force, lying in his report of the incident, and lying during the subsequent investigation and making inappropriate comments about an inmate's crime." In addition, he said, "five others were demoted and transferred to other" prisons for "filing false reports and, as ranking officers, failing to exercise good judgment." Kenneway said he was notified by letter yesterday of the firing of William Power, a veteran officer who was a sergeant. Kenneway said he also was informed that two lieutenants and three sergeants were demoted by Dennehy to officer rank. Kenneway identified the demoted officers as Lieutenant Michael Moran, Lieutenant Leo Coutu, Sergeant Lance Budka, Sergeant James Daigle, and Sergeant Charles Latulippe. Kenneway said the incident occurred Jan. 28 when a prisoner kicked Power in the groin. He said the other officers responded to the kicking by pinning the prisoner. The inmate suffered a black eye, including lacerations above and below the eyes during the incident, but he was not beaten, said Kenneway. |
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