The training academy for the Massachusetts State Police is located in New Braintree, which is in the District Attorney's jurisdiction. Why is he not prosecuting those responsible for criminal assaults and behavior among the very people who should know better? Abuse begets abuse. As concerned citizens we hope that these abused cadets do not later begin abusing people they have under investigation.

The behavior of other Massachusetts State Troopers have come into question as of late. None more potent than the recent FBI arrest of Sgt. Brian O'Hare on child sexual inducements charges.

Previous public displays including the sudden resignation in 2004 of Massachusetts State Police Commander Col. Thomas J. Foley, and many of his staff. Still remaining unclear are questions as to 'controlled" internal affairs complaints related to Col Foleys tenure.

2007 Massachusetts State Police Lab debacle has been exposed with numerous questions related to the accuracy of DNA testing.  Issues surrounding the timing of the release of evidence is also in question.

New 2007 complete date sheet of 2600 accidents released by WBZ I -Team who exposed the that Massachusetts State Troopers who were involved in numerous driving accidents but are investigated in some cases by the same trooper who was involved in the accident. Accidents When State Police Are At Fault

October 12, 2006

State Trooper Hurt In Mass Pike Crash

(CBS4) BOSTON

A Massachusetts state trooper was injured early Thursday morning when his cruiser crashed on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston.

State police say the unidentified trooper was driving westbound on the Pike around 5 a.m. when he lost control of his car and crashed just outside the Prudential Center tunnel.

It's not clear if the wet weather was a factor in the crash.

The trooper was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.

All but one lane of the Pike westbound was closed in the area for 40 minutes after the crash.

September 12, 2006 

Trooper, girlfriend arrested Sunday

WESTMINSTER -- Police arrested a state trooper and his girlfriend Sunday night after an argument spilled outside and they allegedly assaulted each other, according to police and court records.  

Police arrested Trooper Stephen Bigusiak and his girlfriend, Dawn Marinelli, after investigating the incident at their Westminster home.  

Bigusiak allegedly pushed Marinelli and threatened to shoot her, while Marinelli allegedly tore a necklace off Bigusiak and punched him in the face, according to police reports filed in Gardner District Court.  

Marinelli repeatedly told police she doubted they would arrest her boyfriend, the reports show.  

"You guys won't do anything to him, he's a trooper," Marinelli told an officer, according to the reports. "He said you guys can't touch him."

September 9, 2006

Security breach at Logan — ‘It’s Keystone Kops’

By O’Ryan Johnson, Boston Herald

Veteran aviation security specialists called the loss of a powerful Semtex plastic explosive device at Logan International Airport this week the result of “sloppy police work” by state troopers who should never have taken their eyes off the volatile material.  

“It’s Keystone Kops,” said Bruce Schneier, an airport security and technology expert from California and the author of “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World.”  

“I mean, c’mon, people. If you’re going to run a security drill like this you can’t lose the explosive.”  

The troopers say they did not notice when a Massport worker drove away in an agency truck to which 8 ounces of Semtex had been affixed as part of an effort to train bomb-sniffing K-9 dogs.  

 The lost explosive was thought to be somewhere along Harborside Drive, which is surrounded by a security fence and juts into an airfield near Runway 4L. But airplane traffic and airport operations were unhindered by the Semtex snafu, and safety expert Douglas Laird called that a good response.  

Laird, former security director for Northwest Airlines, said Semtex is safe and most people would not know what it was if they found it. “It’s sloppy police work,” Laird said. “But it sounds like they handled it appropriately.”  

“It’s extremely stable,” he said. “You could shoot it and it wouldn’t go off. You could burn it. To detonate it you need a blasting cap.” Laird said cases of lost explosives are more common as law enforcement works harder to train officers to handle the threat.  

During Wednesday’s drill, a K-9 trooper put the Semtex on the rear bumper of a pickup truck parked in a Massport pool lot. Troopers have so far disassembled a street sweeper in the hope of finding it sucked into the device. Last night it remained as lost as luggage.

August 30, 2006

State police confirm call box mishap night of fatal accident

By Zach Church, Eagle-Tribune 

ANDOVER - A state trooper failed to inform patrol officers that an emergency call box on Interstate 93 north in Tewksbury rang the night of June 30, just an hour before a Methuen man was killed in a roadside accident, state police confirmed yesterday.

The call box alert came into the Andover barracks at 8:43 p.m. from Elena Raucci, of Methuen. She hoped a trooper would come to assist her husband, Anthony Raucci, who was having trouble changing a flat tire. Her husband was killed just before 9:45 p.m., when an Audi driven by Ki Yong O of Andover crashed into him in the breakdown lane.

Raucci tried the call box a second time at 9:12 p.m., with her 7-year-old son David at her side. But police never received that call because the desk officer failed to cancel the 8:43 p.m. call, blocking the second call from sounding, state police said in a statement released yesterday.

State police last night would not identify the trooper, but the statement said "appropriate corrective action" would be taken. Trooper Thomas Ryan, a spokesman, would not specify if that included disciplinary action.

The Rauccis were on the highway that night driving home from dinner in North Reading. Anthony and David were riding in a Geo when one of the right tires on the car blew out. Elena, driving a Saturn, also stopped. Anthony Raucci began to change the tire in the breakdown lane, while Elena sent the first call box alarm. The couple did not call 911.

Elena Raucci said last night she was waiting for official word from the state police about the call box investigation before commenting.

"I figured (police) were already coming," Elena Raucci said several days after the accident. "It wasn't an emergency, just a flat tire."

O, 35, an attorney, was driving north from Boston. The Andover man had tested the prescription sleep medication Ambien, concerned that he may have been given a "knockoff" version at a pharmacy, according to documents filed in Lowell District Court.

After the crash, police recovered 261/2 Ambien pills in a bottle on the passenger's seat of O's station wagon. The instructions say to take one pill at bedtime, according to police.

State Trooper Kevin Baker, who interviewed O after the crash, described him as confused, unsteady and slow to answer questions. O told Baker it was raining outside while he was driving on the highway, when it had actually never rained that night, according to a prosecutor's report.

O has been charged with vehicular homicide. He was arraigned on the charge last week and faces a mandatory minimum year in jail if convicted. He is currently free on $25,000 cash bail.

August 30, 2006

Police: Errors Made In Responding To Emergency Call

Man Killed While Changing Tire Along I-93 

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts State Police admitted that errors were made when a call from an emergency call box went unanswered long enough for a man to be hit and killed by a car.  

Team 5's Sean Kelly reported Wednesday that a Methuen woman picked up one along Interstate-93 in Tewksbury on June 30. The call was not immediately answered, and her husband was killed in front of his son.  

A dispatcher at state police barracks in Andover heard the alarm for service. Alaina Raucci used the call box to get help changing a flat tire. Her first call reached police at 8:33 p.m., but no one responded for 30 minutes. She called back at 9:12 p.m., but there was still no response from state police.  

One hour after the first call for help, Anthony Raucci, changed the tire himself. Police said 35-year-old Ki Yong O had taken sleeping pills. He swerved toward the shoulder, hit and killed Anthony Raucci. His wife and son were watching.  

State police took about two months to investigate why none of their patrol officers responded to the call box alarm.  

"The desk officer failed to notify the appropriate sector patrol of the request for assistance," police said in a statement. "In this particular case, we did not provide the quality of police service the public should expect from the department. We will take every measure to make sure this will never happen again."  

The conclusion of the investigation does not shift criminal blame.

Only one person has been charged with vehicular homicide. He has pleaded not guilty.

State Police are still evaluating the conclusion of their investigation, meaning there has still been no disciplinary action.

July 31, 2006

Police veteran dies in apparent suicide

State trooper’s body found in Canton

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

CANTON— State police are investigating the apparent suicide of a 24-year state police veteran at a construction site yesterday.

The death was reported by a worker at a Massachusetts Highway Department construction site who called 911 after finding “a possibly injured male officer lying on the ground,” state police said in a press release issued last night.

The site is at Route 128 in Canton.

Troopers, along with Canton police and rescue personnel, went to the area and found the man dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

They believe the apparent suicide took place at about 7:25 p.m. Friday. The trooper was on a scheduled day off, and was driving an unmarked cruiser, the press release said. The trooper was in uniform.

He was pronounced dead at 11:42 a.m. yesterday, the release said.

State police spokeswoman Kara England said last night that the officer’s name would not be released until all of his family members had been notified.

She declined to say whether the trooper held any rank with the state police or where he was stationed. His age was also not available.

The investigation into the death is being headed by police and the Norfolk County district attorney’s office.

June 28, 2006

State, city police probe scuffle between 2 officers

By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff   

State and Boston police are investigating an alleged fistfight between a state trooper and Boston officer working a detail outside TD Banknorth Garden Monday night.

A Boston police official with direct knowledge of the incident said State Trooper Robert Grover and Boston Police Officer Edward MacPherson began scuffling after Grover criticized the officer for not keeping traffic moving during a Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert.

The trooper was perturbed that limousines were blocking access to a State Police barracks around the corner from the Garden on Beverly Street, the official said.

After angry words were exchanged, a fight broke out, the official said. MacPherson called for back up and injured his shoulder when Grover drove off with the officer's arm still in his cruiser, the official said. Grover has alleged MacPherson hit him in the eye, the official said.

July 12, 2006 

Former state trooper convicted of drug charges 

DEDHAM, Mass. --A suspended state police sergeant was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday after being convicted of stealing about 13 kilograms of cocaine and other drugs from a department evidence room.

Timothy White was convicted of cocaine trafficking and larceny by a Norfolk Superior Court jury after a 12-day trial and a day and a half of deliberations. He was acquitted of marijuana distribution and conspiracy charges. He was also sentenced to 10 years of probation.

White, 42, was retried after a jury hung on the drug charges last year but found him guilty of assaulting his wife. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years on the assault charge but was credited for time served and did not spend any time behind bars.

White, a 16-year veteran, was assigned to the Narcotics Inspection Unit at the department's Framingham headquarters. State police and the state attorney general's office started investigating allegations of drug thefts and domestic violence against White in February 2003.

White's attorney argued that the unit's shoddy record-keeping made it impossible to prove White's guilt.

White has been suspended without pay. The process to fire him will be set in motion on Thursday, state police Lt. Sharon Costine said.

Prosecutors said White, who at one time served as a department spokesman, teamed up with another man to sell the cocaine.

Investigators recovered about one kilogram of cocaine during a search of White's Stoughton home and a storage unit. Some was destroyed by White's coconspirator, Robert Crisafulli, and some was sold by the two men, authorities said. Crisafulli has pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking.

All the drugs stolen by White were designated for destruction and no investigations were compromised, Costine said. The department has since toughened the rules concerning access to the drug unit and improved inventory control, she said.

July 12, 2006 

Former state trooper convicted of drug charges 

Associated Press
DEDHAM, Mass. A suspended state police sergeant has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of stealing drugs from a department evidence room.

Timothy White was convicted of cocaine trafficking and larceny by a Norfolk Superior Court jury.

He was acquitted of marijuana distribution and conspiracy charges. He was also sentenced to 10 years of probation.

White was retried after a jury deadlocked on the drug charges in May but found him guilty of assaulting his wife.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on the assault charge but was credited for time served.

State Police commander Colonel Mark Delaney says White violated the trust placed in him as a member of the department and as a member of the law enforcement community.

July 7, 2006

Team 5 Investigates

BOSTON -- Last weekend, an accident along Interstate 93 in Tewksbury claimed the life of a Methuen man. Now, it's discovered that a phone call made by the victim's wife to alert state police that their car had broken down went unanswered.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported Friday that Team 5 obtained an internal memo from the Massachusetts Highway Department that indicates the call box worked. It worked both times when the victim used it, but no trooper ever arrived to help.

The family of Anthony Raucci, the 43-year-old husband and dad killed, used a call box to call for service twice during a 30-minute period. Raucci needed help changing a tire on his wife's car.

According to the timeline, Raucci waited an hour without anyone showing up to help. The memo shows he called at 8:43 p.m. and again at 9:12 p.m.

Both calls made it through the system without failure. The signals were received by the Andover State Police barracks. But at 9:45, p.m., more than an hour after Raucci's first call for service, a man accused of driving while using drugs struck and killed Raucci. He was about to change the tire on his own when he was run down.

Troopers finally made it to the scene, but not for service -- for a fatal emergency.

"The Department is investigating the issue of the call box activation and, as this is an ongoing investigation, we can not comment any further at this time," the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

Based on the memo, the delay and failure to respond in a timely manner appear to have come from the police barracks. That's the part that's still under investigation. NewsCenter 5 asked state police to respond with greater detail.

June 8, 2006

Off-duty state trooper is stabbed during fight

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

An off-duty Massachusetts state trooper was stabbed four times yesterday after an argument with a man standing on a Chinatown street corner escalated into a fight, authorities said.

The trooper was identified by the office of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley as Joseph A. Gray, 28. State Police yesterday did not immediately disclose how long Gray has been a trooper or what his current assignment was.

The most serious wound Gray suffered was one to his left side, said Ian Polumbaum, assistant Suffolk district attorney. Gray underwent surgery at Boston Medical Center, and doctors upgraded his condition after determining that his wounds were not life-threatening , Polumbaum said.

Gray was riding in a vehicle near the intersection of Tremont and Oak Street West around 2:45 a.m. when words were exchanged between people in the car and a man identified by authorities as Robert P. Bland, 24, of Dorchester, Polumbaum said.

Passing Emergency Medical Services personnel spotted two men, identified in a police report as Gray and Bland, fighting at the intersection, according to court records and Polumbaum.

Authorities broke up the fight, and EMS personnel began treating Gray for his stab wounds. EMS personnel detained Bland until Boston police arrived. Bland admitted he had a knife and directed police to the spot where he had tossed it, Polumbaum said.

But Bland's court-appointed defense lawyer, Thomas Giblin III, said in court that it was a ``fabrication" by police. He said Bland did not have a knife and never told police he did.

He said Bland was standing on the corner when he was attacked by two men who had jumped out of a vehicle and knocked Bland to the ground and kicked and punched him, leaving him with bruises, abrasions, and scratch marks on his face and body.

Giblin said Bland did not know he was fighting with a law enforcement officer.

Bland was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Judge Michael F. Flaherty set bail at $100,000 cash, but ordered Bland held without bail for allegedly violating his probation, which stemmed from a conviction in Suffolk Superior Court for a shooting , according to records.

John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.  

June 21, 2006

Taxpayers face leap in governor's travel costs

By Frank Phillips and Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff  

The taxpayer cost of providing State Police security for Governor Mitt Romney's out-of-state trips increased by more than 60 percent in the last year, as he tested the waters for a run for president, according to records released to the Globe.

Travel, lodging, and meals for state troopers accompanying Romney cost $103,365 for the last 11 months, up from $63,874 that the security details cost during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005, according to the records.

In fiscal 2005, which ended June 30, 2005, Romney took 61 out-of-state trips that entailed security expenses. In the first 11 months of fiscal 2006, which ends June 30, Romney took 56 out-of-state trips with security. The security costs for the trips range from $400 to as much $6,826.

The State Police released the costs under a public records request by the Globe, but refused to provide details of the out-of-state travel, including destinations, the purposes of the trips, or the number of troopers on the trips, saying that making that information public would compromise security. The troopers are not paid overtime during the trips .

Romney's office defended the use of taxpayers' money for the governor's out-of-state security, saying yesterday that the longstanding policy of having troopers accompany a governor is similar to that used in other states and by the president and some federal officeholders. But his chief spokesman also said that Romney's staff would reevaluate whether the governor should use campaign funds to pay for the State Police security on political trips.

``It is our understanding that all of the states and the federal government treat security expenses for elected officials in the same way: Neither political nor personal travel expenses are reimbursed. We will verify this to consider whether the Massachusetts policy should be reevaluated," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said.

He pointed out that Romney, who does not accept a salary as governor, pays

for his personal and political travel. The state pays for travel costs on government-related trips.

There is no state law mandating security for the governor. Yesterday, Colonel Mark Delaney, the superintendent of the State Police, said the State Police ``believe it is necessary to provide security for the governor, and this policy has been in effect for many years."

``I want to make it crystal clear that at no time has the governor requested security for himself," Delaney said in a statement. ``All 50 states plus American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico provide a protective detail for their governor. . . . The governor's security detail accompanies him whether he is at the State House signing bills, on vacation with his family, or traveling out of state on political business."

A summary of his out-of-state travel schedule released by Romney's office showed that the governor has logged at least 45 visits to 20 states in 2006, including a three-state swing last weekend.

In 2006, Romney has visited 11 of those states more than once, including five visits each to New York, Utah, Michigan, and New Hampshire and four to Iowa, according to the summary, which was released in response to a request by the Globe. In addition, Ro

mney has made seven trips to Washington, D.C., on official or political business, and has traveled to four countries in an official or ceremonial capacity.

This year, Romney has traveled nearly every week, often for days at a time.

Except for several official business trips, Romney's trips are designed to raise money for his political action committee and to support Republican candidates. He also makes appearances as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a position that he has used to raise his profile and influence in GOP circles.

Just last weekend, Romney was in Iowa and Idaho, a featured speaker at Republican political conventions. He gave a talk Friday on healthcare to a policy forum in Colorado. He is due in South Carolina tomorrow and Friday to help raise funds for local Republican candidates.

Romney's political trips have stirred criticism in Massachusetts from Democrats who complain he has been absent.

Michael S. Dukakis, the last Massachusetts governor who ran for president, criticized the use of taxpayers' money to provide security details for Romney's trips. He said such a cost should be borne by a candidate's political committee. ``I never traveled with a trooper," insisted Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee who spen

t much of 1987 and well into 1988 campaigning across America before he was given Secret Service protection. ``It always seemed to me that the troopers should be out catching criminals, not holding my coat."

A spokeswoman for Common Cause, the national public interest group that monitors government and political ethics, said the criterion for deciding who pays for the out-of-state trips should be whether Romney is working for the public interest or seeking to promote his political future.

``The people of Massachusetts are essentially funding his presidential campaign, whether they like it or not," said Mary Boyle, Common Cause's press secretary in its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

A Globe analysis of Romney's schedule shows that, since Jan. 1, the governor has spent 33 full weekdays on the road, parts of 18 other weekdays traveling or out of state, and 29 weekend days or holidays outside Massachusetts.

Romney has vacation homes in Utah and New Hampshire, and a total of three of his 10 visits to those states were purely personal in nature, according to his office.

Utah has emerged as the leading source of funds for his Commonwealth Political Action Committee, and New Hampshire is the site of the first primary in the presidential nominating contest. Iowa is the home of the first caucuses in the nominating process, and Michigan, where Romney grew up, is both a major source of Commonwealth PAC funds and a potentially crucial state if Romney enters the GOP presidential race.

June 16, 2006 

AFTER A NIGHT SHIFT, TROOPER DIES IN CRASH

State Trooper Paul F. Barry worked night details so he could be home for breakfast with his seven children all under 11 years old, including triplets and a set of twins or tend to his youngest, Elizabeth, who is approaching her first birthday, neighbors said yesterday.

Yesterday morning around 4:45 a.m., the 39-year-old, six-year veteran was headed home to do just that after working an all-night traffic detail on the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. 

Anderson said the truck was not seen on the side of the road earlier in the evening, based on reports from passing state troopers.

May 19, 2006

State police major gets top job

New agency chief probed crime lab, Geoghan prison death

By Glen Johnson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON— State police Maj. Mark F. Delaney, who oversaw a badly needed upgrade of the department’s crime laboratory, as well as an investigation into the prison death of pedophile priest John G. Geoghan, was appointed as head of the law enforcement agency yesterday.

“He’s a law enforcement officer with 32 years of experience, and he knows the force inside and out,” Gov. Mitt Romney said in announcing the appointment.

Delaney succeeds Col. Thomas G. Robbins, who announced last month he was retiring from the state’s largest law enforcement agency to become police chief at Boston University, effective June 12.

Delaney was appointed head of the state police forensics lab in 2002 and presided over a revamping in the wake of delays in processing DNA evidence.

A major impetus of the revamp was the high-profile case involving Cape Cod writer Christa Worthington. A 46-year-old single mother and fashion writer, she was found stabbed to death in her Truro cottage in January 2002.

Prosecutors followed initial leads and then took the controversial step of seeking random DNA samples from Truro men for comparison with semen found at the crime scene. In March 2004, they also took a swab from the cheek of Christopher M. McCowen, who had been Worthington’s garbage man.

It took several months before that sample reached the crime lab, and then an additional nine months for analysts to examine it. Last April, more than a year after his sample was taken, McCowen was arrested and charged with Worthington’s murder. He is awaiting trial.

Under Delaney’s leadership, the state police plans to consolidate its lab functions in a 100,000-square-foot facility later this year, before building a 230,000-square-foot lab by 2012.

The goal is to have a staff of 80 DNA analysts, eliminating the current 1,000-case backlog along the way and guaranteeing a maximum turnaround of one month for future cases. Already, processing time has been cut.

In 2003, Delaney also headed a three-person panel that investigated the death of Geoghan, who was killed while incarcerated at the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. The panel made a series of recommendations for improving the handling of high-profile prisoners, classifying them for incarceration and for handling problematic prisoners.

During yesterday’s announcement at the Statehouse, Delaney said his focus would be counterterrorism operations, reducing highway fatalities and continuing the improvements at the crime lab.

He also sought to bolster the force, saying, “There is no greater honor, to my way of thinking, than to serve your fellow man and protect your fellow citizens. I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and together, with the men and women of the department, we will face them all head-on.”

April 24, 2006

State trooper to use mental health defense in criminal case

LEOMINSTER -- A state trooper from Holden plans to use a mental-health defense in her own criminal case, which stems from an alleged domestic disturbance at her home, according to court documents.

Local police in Holden charged Elizabeth McClure, 45, with four counts of assault and battery, assault and battery on a child with injury and disorderly conduct on Sept. 15, according to court documents.

April 12, 2006

State police official retires to job at BU
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON— Col. Thomas Robbins, the head of the Massachusetts State Police, has decided to retire and will become police chief at Boston University, the school announced yesterday.

Robbins will oversee a department of 42 officers at the fourth-largest private university in the country. He will also follow a string of top state police officials who have migrated to high-paying jobs in local higher education, including former Col. John DiFava, now police chief at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The police departments at Harvard, Boston College, Holy Cross and Curry College are also headed by former top-ranking officials at the state police.

March 31, 2006

’05 police shooting report impounded

FITCHBURG— A judge who presided over an inquest into the shooting death of Preston D. Johnson has filed a report on the hearing with Worcester Superior Court, but the materials have been impounded, according to Stephen B. Hrones, a lawyer representing Mr. Johnson’s family.

“The report was filed in Superior Court March 27 and they impounded it so we can’t get access to it,” Mr. Hrones said.  

“We want to go to court to get it as soon as possible,” he said 

Mr. Hrones said that if District Attorney John J. Conte does not recommend criminal prosecution, the report should be released immediately.