To the Hopkinton Select Board:
I am submitting this letter in full support of reinstatement of Sgt. Timothy Brennan to the Hopkinton Police Department. There are several issues I hope the Select Board will take into consideration as they weigh what has become a controversial issue that has divided this town.
My concerns surround these key areas:
- The lasting negative impact of the difficult personal and professional decision Sgt. Brennan had to make to not report the alleged crime through the usual chain of command, given the close relationship between the former Deputy Chief and the current Chief of Police.
- The double standard that is being applied to Sgt. Brennan when the current Chief of Police, the former town manager, and the Select Board itself ALL failed to notify a neighboring high school district where the former deputy chief was employed as a girls soccer coach that he was suspended while under investigation for allegedly sexual abuse of a minor – thus leaving the former deputy police chief in a position of authority over female minors while he was being investigated.
- The proportionality of any additional punishment – including termination – being considered for Sgt. Brennan as compared to the seriousness of the alleged criminal event that precipitated his involvement in this sad affair and ultimate suspension.
- The chilling effect this investigation continues to have on the ability of the Town of Hopkinton to recruit and retain qualified law enforcement personnel, and to restore trust that the Police Department and indeed the entire Town Government is being managed and led in a professional manner that best serves and protects the residents of this Town.
- Last but not least, Sgt. Brennan’s sincere apology for not following Hopkinton Police Department policy.
As has been reported in the local media, Sgt. Brennan was informed by the woman that she had been sexually assaulted by the former deputy police chief when he was serving as the school resource officer at Hopkinton High School. Sgt. Brennan tried to convince the woman to file a complaint, which the woman was initially hesitant to do.
At that time, as a mandatory reporter, Sgt. Brennan should have reported the woman’s accusation to the Hopkinton Chief of Police. However, since the Chief of Police had a close relationship with the former Deputy Police Chief, having recommended him to be promoted to that position, Sgt. Brennan did not feel comfortable informing the Chief without the victim’s permission.
Meanwhile, to his credit and while at the same time putting his own professional career at considerable risk, Sgt. Brennan continued to encourage the woman to file a complaint with the state’s attorney’s office. When the woman ultimately did file a complaint, Sgt. Brennan was called to testify and did so truthfully, under oath, to the grand jury as to what information the woman had shared with him.
In this era of #MeToo, the fact that Sgt. Brennan decided that his first priority should be to protect the confidence the alleged victim placed in him was truly an honorable thing to do. Yes, there is a mandatory reporter policy in place; but as a military veteran, I know that if you have concerns with the chain of command, you should be able to go to another position of authority to bring forward your concerns.
Sgt. Brennan ultimately helped the alleged victim to feel safe in doing so by continuing to encourage her to file the complaint with the state’s attorney. And when she did, he then testified truthfully under oath in front of the grand jury about what she shared with him, and when.
Of course, this chain of events cast the Hopkinton Police Department and the Town of Hopkinton in a bad light. But subsequent actions by the Police Chief, Town Manager and Select Board also made it much worse.
The former deputy police chief, even though he was suspended by the Town of Hopkinton, continued to serve in the role of girls’ soccer coach at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School for almost eight months, meaning the students on those teams were interacting on a regular basis with someone who had been accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
In fact, the morning that the indictment of the former Deputy Police Chief was made public, the superintendent of the school district told the media that the first he had heard of this was that morning – from the media, not from any representatives of the Town of Hopkinton.
The sheer scale of the dereliction of duty by those in leadership positions in the Town of Hopkinton – from the Police Chief, to the former Town Manager, to the Select Board and even Town legal counsel who were all aware of the accusation, given that the former Deputy Police Chief was suspended for eight months pending the results of the investigation – makes Sgt. Brennan’s “policy violation” pale in comparison to their failure to protect young girls in a neighboring town.
ONLY when the former Deputy Police Chief was informed that he was facing an indictment did he then resign as the girls’ soccer coach at Blackstone Valley Regional Valley Technical High School. And only then did the superintendent of that school find out his students were at risk – again, and I can not emphasize this enough, not from Town officials in Hopkinton, but from the media!
So the questions then become, if you fire Sgt. Brennan, and given the abject systemic failure of just about everyone up the chain of command within town government in this tragic affair, don’t you then have to fire the Police Chief? Don’t the members of the Select Board who are still serving then need to do the honorable thing and resign? Doesn’t the town then need to seek new legal counsel that can provide better legal guidance about protecting minors at risk in such situations? Given the amount of financial resources that were expended to investigate Sgt. Brennan, doesn’t the Town then have to expend just as much money – if not more – to investigate the systemic issues that made a senior law enforcement officer feel he couldn’t trust the leader of his department to do the right thing?
If all those questions aren’t answered in the affirmative, then you are holding Sgt. Brennan to a much higher standard – pretty much an impossible standard – than you are holding yourselves to. And that’s just wrong. It also goes a long way to explaining why Sgt. Brennan did not feel comfortable reporting the accusation through a chain of command within the Police Department and even Town government officials that since this affair came to light has only sought to punish him for doing the honorable thing.
Indeed, it makes me wonder if this is nothing more than victim-shaming by proxy – through the punishment of Sgt. Brennan – to somehow try to cast doubt on the accusations being made by the alleged victim as the case heads to trial this year. Given that the former Deputy Police Chief was mentored by longtime leaders of the Hopkinton Police Department – both current and retired, as mentioned in media stories and photos when the Deputy Chief was promoted – there is a deep concern by many in town that this is just a CYA effort by those officials to not have their own careers maligned by this sad turn of events.
Finally, the Town would be well advised to thoroughly analyze this affair and the culture within the Police Department that has resulted in so many departures over the past few years of quality law enforcement officers. This is something deeply troubling about the culture of the Hopkinton Police Department, as this entire affair has shown. Word gets around and it’s going to make recruiting the best law enforcement officers to this town very challenging. This dysfunctional culture calls into serious question the current leadership of the Hopkinton Police Department.
Sgt. Brennan’s name and reputation have been dragged through the mud by the old guard in this town – all because Hopkinton is no longer seen as the Mayberry of Middlesex County. It’s sad that it took such significant courage on his part to try to help a victim who claims she was sexually assaulted by a former Deputy Police Chief to find a safe space to be heard. It is sad that he has felt obliged to apologize, even though he tried to do right by the victim. It is sad that the character assassination of a fine law enforcement office continues by those who are only vested in maintaining the status quo and sticking their heads in the sand regarding the rot within the leadership of the Hopkinton Police Department.
Don’t give the Town another black eye by punishing Sgt. Brennan any more than you already have. Do the right thing. Give him his damn job back. Now.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Boivin, 41 Pinecrest Village, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Well said!
“Indeed, it makes me wonder if this is nothing more than victim-shaming by proxy – through the punishment of Sgt. Brennan – to somehow try to cast doubt on the accusations being made by the alleged victim as the case heads to trial this year.”
Absolutely. Thank you for pointing this out. The Chief/Town/Counsel have every interest in shielding themselves from liability by weakening those who might strengthen the victim’s case. They surely see acquittal of Porter as mitigation of any future liability on their parts. That’s why you always see civil attorneys for victims wait patiently for the criminal case to end, before they finally file their civil suits against the perpetrators. A “guilty” in the criminal court all but guarantees a “responsible” in the civil court. Talk about motive to lie, fabricate, and distort!
This is ridiculous. Everyone knows the police are above the law. Just because he was a mandated reporter doesn’t mean he was mandated to report. 🙄
It is unclear to me whether Officer Brennan was required, as a mandatory reporter, to report the past abuse of a minor since the alleged victim was an adult when she told him about it and told him not to report it. I believe that mandatory reporters have to report suspected abuse of minors that they believe is happening at that time, to protect the victim from further abuse.
“As a mandated reporter, what are my responsibilities?
Massachusetts law requires mandated reporters to immediately make an oral report to DCF when, in their professional capacity, they have reasonable cause to believe that a child under the age of 18 years IS suffering from abuse and/or neglect. A written report is to be submitted within 48 hours.”
https://www.mass.gov/doc/a-mandated-reporters-guide-to-child-abuse-and-neglect-reporting/download
I think clarification is needed regarding whether Officer Brennan was legally required to report the past abuse of the alleged victim, who was now an adult and who didn’t want it reported/said she’d deny it.
By writing on my brother Tim’s behalf, I am joining countless others who are seeking his return to active duty asap. He is in allegedly in violation of policy and not charged with a crime; he has ‘served his time’ over the past 7 or so months by being on administrative leave and having his name associated with the horrible crimes committed by Porter, as well as the public embarrassment he and his family have had to endure.
Tim has been a loyal public servant and has a 24 year unblemished record to back him up. He has been very clear that his intention or priority has been to protect the victim, which we would expect of a police officer. How could he report the alleged incidences to his direct superior who is the perpetrator? It is completely understandable why he went directly to the DA, he knew that the victim feared for her safety. It’s shameful that she was fearful of a public servant whose job it was to protect a vulnerable, young woman who was no more than a young girl at the time of the first incident of sexually assault. Many others have written on Tim’s behalf, identifying the many positive qualities he possesses and which he has shared in countless roles within the town. I believe he has proven himself to be a trustworthy, loyal public servant whose job it is to protect other, which he obviously takes very seriously. He has made it clear that he wishes to return to his job and continue protecting his community. It is time to end this attempt to make him the scapegoat for the actions of his superior(s) and others in authority and town govt. Sgt. Brennan has been railroaded and had his good name slandered and dragged through the mud, without regard to his service to the town. Terminating him would be a shameful, egregious act to cover up layers of corruption, and will in no way be the end to this witch hunt.