Published: 10/02/2007
Outside probe of police goes nowhere
By Cate Lecuyer
Staff writer
BEVERLY - City councilors voted 8-1 last night to place an order for an outside, independent investigation of the Police Department on file, essentially killing the measure.
Ward 3 Councilor John Burke, who filed the measure, was the only member to support it. Last night's decision mirrored last Monday's 2-0 vote by the council's Finance and Property Committee.
"I think I've done everything I can do," Burke said after the meeting. "I think I've done a lot. I think the vote speaks for itself."
Councilors said the investigation was unnecessary, and that new police Chief Mark Ray should be given a chance to follow through on promises of increased openness in the department.
"I don't believe there's any corruption in this department," said Ward 1 Councilor Maureen Troubetaris. "I do think there has been some poor judgment. We need to move forward in a positive way."
Ward 6 Councilor Patricia Grimes suggested that, instead of an investigation, the Police Department should work toward accreditation, which would put many policies and procedures in writing, and hold the department to higher standards.
Troubetaris also mentioned an independent study conducted in 2004 by the Matrix Consulting Group, a California consulting firm.
"We had a study three years ago, to the tune of $50,000," she said. The 172-page report included the results of an eight-page questionnaire that the department sent to city residents, which recommended more community outreach and a new police station. Other suggestions focused on internal policies and procedures, such as setting clear goals, hiring more women and minorities, and following up on crimes.
Grimes said about half of the recommendations have been adopted; Burke pressed the council to have Ray give an update of the department's progress on the Matrix Study when he comes in for his 90-day review in November.
The Matrix study was prompted by a murder-suicide in 2003 and highlighted criticisms that police were lax in following department procedures and quick to cover up incidents involving their own family members. Centerville resident Lori Corbett, 26, was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, Jason Beals. Beals' father, police officer Raymond Beals, had responded to a 911 call involving Corbett and his son three days earlier and failed to include the call in the police log as required.
Today, 10 of the department's officers have received special training in handling domestic violence, and the department works with advocates from Salem-based Help for Abused Women and their Children, an agency that helps battered women find shelter and navigate the legal system.
Burke's request for an outside investigation of the Police Department followed an anonymous letter he wrote to the City Council this summer accusing the department of failing to arrest politically connected people in two alleged drunken-driving incidents and another incident involving drug possession.
Burke was revealed as the letter writer when it was found on a computer flash drive that he mistakenly left behind at City Hall. His colleagues, outraged at the deception, unanimously voted to censure him, strip him of his committee assignments and call for his resignation. Burke refused to resign and easily won in the preliminary election in his bid for re-election in Ward 3. He'll face Steven Crowley in the Nov. 6 final election.
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