On August 15, former Hopkinton and now Milford police officer Tim Brennan received a letter from the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission notifying him that his conditional certification had been suspended following an investigation by the commission. Per Massachusetts General Laws, Brennan was ordered to surrender his department issued firearm and badge.
The letter reads in part:
“The Commission received evidence supporting the conclusion that the Respondent had knowledge, in 2017, of a school resource officer allegedly having committed an indecent assault and battery against a student in 2004, when she was 14 years old. Also, the Respondent became aware in August 2022 that the same school resource officer had allegedly raped the same student, also when she was 14. The Respondent did not report the alleged indecent assault and battery or the alleged rape until after the District Attorney’s office initiated an investigation later in August 2022. After a disciplinary hearing held by the Town of Hopkinton, the Respondent was terminated from service with the Hopkinton Police Department. Following his termination, he was hired in July 2024 by the Milford Police Department, which is his current place of employment. The Commission finds by a preponderance of the evidence that suspension of the Respondent’s certification is warranted and is in the best interest of the safety and welfare of the public.”
POST was signed into law on December 31, 2020 at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The law aims to enhance accountability, transparency, and professionalism within law enforcement in response to widespread concerns about police misconduct and systemic racism.
All Massachusetts law enforcement officers are required to be certified by POST every three years, a process that requires written and practical examinations, a psychological evaluation and in-service training on topics like use of force, legal updates, and other relevant areas.
Brennan’s POST certification initially lapsed in December 2023. He was unable to re-certify because he’d been placed on administrative leave by Chief of Police Joseph Bennett pending the outcome of an internal investigation into Brennan’s knowledge of the alleged rape of a child by Brennan’s commanding officer, John “Jay” Porter. Porter was indicted on May 1, 2023 and pleaded not guilty to three felony rape charges. His trial is scheduled to begin December 9.
>> RELATED TIMELINE: Porter, Brennan, Bennett, and the Victim
>> RELATED: Complete coverage of the Tim Brennan matter
Following a shambolic Loudermill hearing on January 20, 2024, Brennan was terminated by the Select Board on February 8 in a 4-1 vote, with then Chair Muriel Kramer the lone dissenting vote. This decision came in spite of several residents and experts warning the Select Board that the town would face grievous consequences should they terminate the officer.
On May 8, on the second night of Annual Town Meeting, Hopkinton voters overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution ordering the Select Board to reinstate Brennan to his position as Sergeant. Thus far the Select Board has taken no action on the matter.
Unable to work for several months, on July 22 of this year, Brennan was hired by the City of Milford, having received a conditional 90-day certification from POST.
Yesterday, Milford Police Chief Robert Tusino expressed outrage at POST’s sudden reversal, telling the Hopkinton Independent that “This whole thing stinks from top to bottom”.
“What I can’t wrap my head around regarding what happened in Hopkinton is that he got fired for doing exactly what the victim wanted him to do,” Tusino told the Independent. “He also would have had to report the victim’s information to Porter under their policy. That makes no sense.”
Through his attorney, Brennan immediately filed an appeal and received a hearing date of August 30. Reportedly Chief Tusino intends be at his side during the hearing.
I’ll state what I’ve stated multiple times.
Brennan did not follow proper procedures when you have another office committing civil rights violations. Even if the victim does not want to inform, as a police officer, you are required to inform on civil rights violations.
Tim Brennan did the morally right action by respecting the victims request, but failed as an ethical police officer. He violated ethical standards and put the community at risk by ignoring and tacitly condoning Porters actions.
Brennan should no longer be allowed to be a police officer based on this dangerous ethical lapse.
Clearly it would be wrong to have someone with a strong moral compass serving as a police officer . . .
It’s almost like being an ethical police officer is different than a moral human.
The law is a code of ethics – it doesn’t allow for the grey area. If you are to enforce the law, you don’t get to pick and choose what to follow.
I applaud Brennan for being a moral person. However, Brennan violated the ethical standards of a police officer and should not be employed as one as well.
So given this rationale, why does Chief Bennett still have his job after directing that the Kroll Report that included the survivor’s personal identifying information be released to the public, in direct violation of Massachusetts General Law? And why is Amy Ritterbusch still on the Select Board, given that she shared the HPD’s post with literally thousands of her followers. If you’re going to apply such strict ethical standards, apply it to all.
Timothy Boivin:
I’ve discussed the programs with Bennett previously and have made very public comments about my thoughts on his status as police chief.
The Attorney General of Massachusetts has stated that there are no charges to be brought against individuals for the release. I believe that there might be a civil matter, but there were no laws broken with this release. The systemic failure of Kroll, Hopkinton Town Counsel, Hopkinton Select Board, Chief Bennett, and every individual who has access to the report and DID NOT act all bear the responsibility of not informing and stopping the distribution.
Ethically, they all failed to ensure the safety. However, most do not have an established code of ethics which was flaunted. None of these individuals are having their ethical lapse celebrated.
Tim Brennan failed the community as an ethical police officer. Tim Brennan did not uphold the standards that the presiding certification body has put in place.
Tim Brennan should never be allowed to be a law enforcement officer after a major ethical lapse which has damaged the community in such a violent fashion.
I agree with the Milford chief. This was a difficult situation. Officer Brennan respected the rights and wishes of the victim, an approach that other survivor-advocates say was appropriate. In so doing, he did not follow police department procedure, which would have had him reporting to the alleged perpetrator or a reported friend of this person. I feel we all would be better served by the POST Commission focusing on developing alternative reporting options that might respect the victim’s rights and wishes but at the same time allow anonymous reporting.
A police officer is an arm of the government. You have no right to privacy or confidentiality if you speak with one.
A police officer needs to report if another officer is violating civil liberties. It doesn’t matter if the survivor doesn’t want to report. If they didn’t want to report, you don’t speak to a cop.
LEOs aren’t your friend. They aren’t a therapist, priest, teacher, or someone who would every give you a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Don’t talk to one about criminal matters if you don’t want it to be reported.
You want to change it? Reallocate the resources. THEN Tim Brennan might be a better fit.
Pls let him get on with his life & make a living with what he is proficient in, and been good at his entire professional life.
We didn’t treat him the best in our town; but whatever, rules are rules I get that. Now he’s got a job in the town next door. Pls step back & see the bigger picture. Maybe 1 or 2 sessions of retraining on the nuances of this, and let a good guy work & live
Lord knows we need good people on the force
To A.S. Do you think a 14 year-old would and should understand this? We are taught a police officer is our friend. The victim didn’t commit the crime. She probably wasn’t aware a crime had been committed. Rape is not a violation of civil liberty. PS What is a LEO?
MM –
Yes – law enforcement officers (LEOs) are never your friend. This was taught to me at a young age and I have discussed this with my child. If you actually believe that the police has your safety in mind, you are living in a fantasy. The current law enforcement system is based on property safety from the pre-Civil War era where their primary goal was enforcing runaway slave statues. The system is used to enforce the existing power structures.
I can provide additional resources if you are interested.
A law enforcement officer forcing themselves on an individual is a violation of the individuals civil liberties. If the individual did not think that the school resource officer raping them was not a crime, why would they be concerned about Tim Brennan saying something?
The current system is oppressive and structured to support those with power. Police are not equipped to support individuals. They are not mental health workers. They are not trained to deal with the current needs of our society. They are a force to settle unrest and enforce the power disparity.
If we want to actually support individuals, we need to reallocate resources from the militarized ‘warrior cops’ and put those responses into trained mental health professionals and social services.
A.S. That’s the Democrat progressive left wing Kool-Aid you’ve been drinking. Wacky Watermelon flavor? For a person who has never been involved in enforcing the law, your opinion that it’s black and white is dead wrong. Your drivel about police being slave catchers is right out of the BLM/progressive left wing play book. I don’t need additional resources. The first Police Department in the country was the Boston Police Dept. They were not slave catchers. I was a LEO for 32 years, most all situations involve gray areas, police have a great deal of discretion in many decisions they make. Almost every cop I know has an overwhelming desire to help citizens.
Your use of black and white by the book quotes and comments to bolster your argument are only being used because you don’t like the police, and you enjoy when a cop gets in trouble for something. I guarantee Brennan will win this battle. The Town of Hopkinton will make Brennan a wealthy man. You can’t fire a police officer with no prior disciplinary record, for violations of rules and regulations. I GUARANTEE He will win in the end.
*citations needed*
If you are a law enforcement officer who is willing to defend the actions of Tim Brennan AND make the statements that the POST commission made a erroneous decision, please make this a public statement from fellow union member.
A.S. It’s unfortunate that you’ve been brainwashed by the left wing radicals. LAGNAF is totally correct, you need to stop drinking the Kool-aid. Like LAGNAF, I’ve been a police officer for over 3 decades. I’ve bought food and clothing for people in street that had no money. I’ve filled the gas tanks of people that have been forced to live in their car so they could stay warm at night. I’ve bought Christmas presents and Easter Baskets for families that had no money. That’s what most of us do on the job, but you refuse to see that side of policing. Open your eyes and stop spreading lies.
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