HopNews
Tonight the town issued a press release through their public relations agency, JGPR. The announcement was titled Hopkinton Police Department Recalls Document from Misconduct Investigation, and stated that the town was “recalling the interview transcript between Timothy Brennan and Kroll after the Town of Hopkinton was informed that the version published on Friday evening was missing necessary redactions.“
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“On behalf of the Town of Hopkinton, I sincerely apologize for the publication of the transcript in that form,” said Town Manager Norman Khumalo. “In our effort to be prompt with open and transparent communication with the public about police matters, our efforts fell short of the paramount concern to protect private information in this sensitive matter. We are committed to take whatever further steps are necessary to correct this mistake.”
The third and final paragraph was dedicated to a clinical explanation of how the town’s attorneys would “carefully re-review and re-redact the transcript” before posting it again.
As if that’s the most important part of this situation.
There was no mention of the victim or the trauma she suffered – and continues to suffer – as a result of the town’s carelessness. There was no mention of Chief Joseph Bennett’s role in this matter, who was credited with the initial release of the documents.
Perhaps the Town could use a reminder that the original, unredacted document that identified the victim continues to exist in the wild, hosted by several media outlets, and by now indexed by Google and every other search engine on the planet.
What does the town expect will happen with this “recall”? That every organization they shared the documents with on Friday night will suddenly destroy their local copies and wait for the town to send them the “re-redacted” versions? Get serious. No one is going to do that, never mind trying to get all the search engines that have indexed the pages to forget them.
Unfortunately for the victim, this is a bell the town can’t unring.
Tonight’s announcement was yet another missed opportunity. Instead of focusing on the victim, the town again focused on itself, just as they did at Brennan’s Loudermill hearing, with the notable exception of Chair Muriel Kramer.
Because the town has shown yet another serious lack of leadership, empathy, and basic human decency in this matter, I feel compelled to write the press release they should have sent.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Town of Hopkinton Issues Formal Apology for Inadvertent Disclosure of Sensitive Information
Hopkinton, MA – The Town of Hopkinton deeply regrets and formally apologizes for the inadvertent disclosure of sensitive documents, which resulted in the unintended revelation of the identity of a survivor of an active sexual assault case. This incident occurred on Friday, January 19, and we acknowledge that it violated Massachusetts General Law.
We extend our most sincere apologies to the survivor of this incident, whose privacy and well-being have been compromised. The pain and suffering caused are inexcusable, and we are committed to taking swift and decisive action to rectify this situation.
Internal Investigation
We have initiated a comprehensive internal investigation to identify the exact causes of this oversight and the individuals responsible for the disclosure. We are fully cooperating with relevant authorities, as there may be legal implications associated with this incident.
Preventing Future Incidents
The Town of Hopkinton is fully committed to preventing any future incidents of this nature. We are undertaking a thorough review and enhancement of our sensitive document handling protocols. Additional measures will be implemented to safeguard sensitive information, and our staff will receive further training and education on data protection and survivor confidentiality.
Support for the Survivor
We extend our support and assistance to the survivor during this challenging time. We understand the severity of the situation and are prepared to offer any necessary support to address their needs.
Our Pledge
The Town of Hopkinton understands that mere words cannot undo the harm caused. However, we pledge to do everything within our power to prevent such occurrences in the future and to ensure that the rights and privacy of all individuals are protected.
The Town of Hopkinton is deeply sorry for the distress and anguish caused by this incident. We are dedicated to rectifying the situation and ensuring that the privacy and rights of every citizen are upheld.
By: The Select Board of Hopkinton and its Town Manager, Norman Khumalo
A copy of this article has been sent the Select Board with my suggested press release above. It is my sincere hope that they leverage all or part of it; the victim deserves better.
This should have never happened in the first place, it only highlights the continued failures by the Select Board, the Town Manager, and the Chief of Police. The town has been placed in a tight position because of their dereliction of duty. We can sure there will be lawsuits from multiple parties before the dust settles on this debacle.
To the New York Times:
Please return the Pentagon Papers. Do us a solid. We’ll edit them for you.
Sincerely,
The Secretary of Defense
The Town CANNOT put the genie back in the bottle on anything that has transpired in this sad, sordid affair.
As you correctly point out, even IF everyone who downloaded the documents returned them, in today’s digital world, anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Internet search tools, such as The Wayback Machine portal, can access these documents in the original form from now until forever.
The damage they have done to this courageous survivor is beyond the pale.
The release of the unredacted document provides a glimpse of what likely would have happened had Sergeant Brennan come forward with an unsubstantiated claim. It’s time for the SB to stop negotiations, resume the Loudermill hearing, admit the Town’s mistake in pursuing this termination, exonerate Sergeant Brennan, and work to heal the harm it has brought to the victim and to the town’s reputation.