Way To Go Delta !!!!!!!!!!!! QPD Related Posts

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men, at there end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lighting they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Dylan Thomas

Delta, any time one finds a just cause, It's worth the fight.

Quincy’s former police chief alleges officer tailed him

Union head disputes claim; officer cleared by internal affairs


By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Jan 17, 2009 @ 01:30 AM

QUINCY —

He wrote up officers caught taking naps, extended lunches or too much sick leave. If you got into trouble, you would hear about it.
Former Police Chief Robert Crowley, who retired in June, always kept a watchful eye on his officers – even when they were off the job.
Now, in a role reversal, Crowley alleges his former officers are keeping an eye on him.
Crowley last month filed a complaint with the Quincy Police Department, saying a patrol officer followed him one night as he left a Quincy Center restaurant. And, he says, this is just the latest incident, going back as far as his last couple years as chief, in which officers he once disciplined have harassed him in his private life.
Officer Bruce Trieu, the 14-year veteran of the department accused of following Crowley, has been cleared by internal affairs. And Officer Bruce Tait, the union president who engaged in a public squabble with Crowley, discounted the reports of harassment.
Crowley, however, says the patrol officers union, in past years, has gone as far as hiring a private investigator to track his moves – a charge the union flatly denies, and an odd echo of when officers cried out against Crowley’s hiring of a private investigator to catch officers abusing injury leave.
“I just want to be left alone. I’m a private citizen now,” Crowley said, when called by The Patriot Ledger about the complaint. “For 36 years I served this city. There were some officers who didn’t like the way that I ran this police department, but the majority of them did an excellent job for me.”
The allegations signal that the longstanding feud between Crowley and the Quincy Police Patrol Officers Association hasn’t died with Crowley’s retirement.
Asked whether some officers might be needling Crowley, as was alleged, Tait responded, “I can’t speak with absolute certainty for every member of the union, but not that I know of.”
While Tait was often the ringleader in actions against Crowley while he was chief – having bumper stickers made celebrating Crowley’s mandatory retirement date, and lambasting the chief with blog posts and cable TV appearances – the union president said he and others have moved on.
He said there have “positively not” been any directives from him or other union officers to keep an eye on Crowley, who they had once voraciously criticized for heavy-handed discipline they said bordered on the absurd.
“The exact opposite,” Tait said. “I’ve told the guys we got rid of him, let’s just be happy with it. The last thing we want to do is interact with him ... if you call it an official position, it is treat him like anybody else.”
According to the internal affairs report, Trieu parked his personal vehicle in a city lot across from the vehicle of Crowley, who was dining in a nearby restaurant. Crowley claims that as he got in his own car and left the lot, Trieu followed Crowley after he left a restaurant, turned on his lights, pursuing him as he proceeded down Hancock Street.
At one point, Trieu passed Crowley and moved ahead, putting Crowley in the pursuit position. Then Trieu made a U-turn and doubled back before leaving.
“They were basically playing tag in traffic,” said Police Chief Paul Keenan. “It was almost like a cat-and-mouse game.”
Keenan said internal affairs concluded there was no indication of anything improper.
“It seems like a misunderstanding – that he was not following the former chief – so the investigation was closed,” he said.
Crowley said the day he filed the citizen’s complaint, he met with Mayor Thomas Koch and city solicitor James Timmins to report what happened. He said Koch vowed “if this was happening, it would not continue.” He said Keenan has also been responsive to his concerns.
Crowley said he believed Trieu’s actions were retaliation for when he chastised the officer for spending hours at a time in a restaurant while on duty, not long before Crowley retired.
“If I wasn’t convinced, I wouldn’t have made the complaint,” Crowley said.
Tait said he has talked with Trieu, who “was flabbergasted” by the complaint, and who explained he was only doing a “victory lap” which is common at the end of a patrol shift, to ensure the all-clear. The union head said he didn’t know if Trieu had ever been disciplined.
Crowley also alleges that since he has retired, an officer who is supposed to cover the Wollaston beat has circled by his Squantum home. Prior to retirement, he added, officers followed him from an event at North Quincy High, and also from a dinner with a deputy chief from another department.
Crowley said his friends have told him of other instances. He said he heard about the private investigator second-hand from two people who know the person who was allegedly hired.
“I’ve even been told by other police officers, ‘Chief, it might be better if you move out of the city,’” Crowley said.
“Absolutely not,” responded Tait, regarding all the charges. “If you’re gonna hang out (in Quincy Center), you’re going to see the guy walking the beat. That means he’s doing his job.” He added the way patrol patterns work, it would not be unusual to see someone on the Wollaston beat also making runs through Squantum.

http://www.patriotledger.com/homepa...ormer-police-chief-alleges-officer-tailed-him

Quincy former police chief may run for office

Crowley says he’s ‘seriously considering’ a bid for public post


By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Jan 17, 2009 @ 01:00 AM
QUINCY —
Seven months after Robert Crowley left his job as police chief, he’s saying he is considering a return to the public spotlight – by running for office.
Crowley, who lives in Squantum, revealed he was contemplating the move when questioned about a citizen’s complaint he filed against a Quincy police officer. The complaint was an internal affairs matter, but Chief Paul Keenan released details about it when asked by a reporter. Someone familiar with police department matters had tipped off the newspaper.
“I don’t need this type of publicity. I don’t need it in the paper,” Crowley said. “I’m seriously considering a run for office. Now if I do run, people won’t concentrate on the issues. They’ll concentrate on me being chief and what a handful of officers are doing.”
The former police chief has been seen frequently around the city, attending everything from city council to conservation commission meetings. If Crowley decides to run, there’s a chance that the ongoing feud he has with the patrol officers’ union will once again erupt.
Crowley downplayed the role that past might have in an election. He said most citizens respect how he ran the police department. But if he runs, “It’s not about me being the chief, it’s about the city.”
Crowley has not revealed which position he might seek.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1162817692/Quincy-former-police-chief-may-run-for-office

I think the story is very good because it shows the few people who vote with common sense that he is a paranoid jack @$$

That's some funny stuff, Crowley sounds lonely. 3 of our former top brass were just seen together 1/4 mile from our inland HQ on Wed.??????? They live N shore, Cape and Springfield. People like this just can't let it go.

So why bring it up now? Why wouldn't you deal with it while you're still the Chief, one who obvious wasn't adverse to frivilous battles? Absolute horse manure.

Those who have nothing to hide--or have a clear conscience--have nothing to fear. If he's paranoid, it seems it's all his own doing. If you don't treat your men like crap, you'd never have to worry.

The way the Ledger wrote the story, it'd seem as if they think he's a bit out there, too.

Followed by Private Invesigators? The Men and Women of Q.P.D. seem to be happy he is now just a sad footnote in there history and would not spend dime one for gas to follow him themselves, let alone hire anyone to do it. Mr Crowely, it must be the ghosts of you're history those "Second Parties" told you are following you.

Koch asking for wage freeze on Quincy employees

Says savings would help city weather crisis


By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Jan 23, 2009 @ 11:18 AM

QUINCY —

Mayor Thomas Koch says he will ask city employees to consider a wage freeze as a way to cope with the city’s worsening financial situation.
The mayor is aiming to get the unions to agree to some sort of freeze by the spring so the savings on wages and salaries could be part of the city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Employees would normally get 2 percent to 3 percent increases on July 1, depending on their union contracts.
Losing that increase would essentially negate a one-time $300 salary increase city workers are to get in July in return for joining the money-saving state-run health insurance plan – a deal Koch signed with the unions four months ago.
Because not all the union contracts end at the same time, the city still has to work out how it would negotiate a wage freeze – whether new contracts would be deferred, or whether current contracts would be reopened.
Either way, Koch said, “essentially we’d be at the table negotiating in good faith to come up with some way to soften the blows come July 1.”
Koch said because it is the subject of contract negotiations, he cannot go into more detail about the extent of the wage freeze he is contemplating.
The mayor met with union leaders this week to discuss the possibility. Over the next few weeks, Koch said, he plans to meet with them more formally.
Bruce Tait, head of the Quincy Police Patrol Officers Association, said he won’t speak for his members until there is a formal proposal.
“I want to work with the mayor,” Tait said. “These are tough times and I think everybody needs to work together to get through this crisis.”
The largest chunk of savings for the city would come from teachers, who represent nearly 40 percent of the city’s work force. The school committee this week voted 6-2 to give the mayor the authority to negotiate with the teachers.
School committee member Elaine Dwyer said the wage freeze is a good idea.
Without it, the school department would need to cut $570,000 from its budget. Dwyer voted no, however, on giving the mayor authority to renegotiate with the union.
“This is so unethical it’s not even funny,” she said. “We only have two roles as a school committee: budget and contract negotiations.”
Dwyer was one of several school committee members who questioned the legality of the $300 increase teachers and other city workers are due for agreeing to the health plan. The school committee contended it was offered as an incentive and was signed without the school committee’s OK – even though it affects contracts.
Koch, as chairman of the school committee, and three other members voted against having an outside legal opinion on the matter. The mayor said there is no way he would consider pulling the $300.
“If we didn’t do the $300 side agreement the reality is we wouldn’t have GIC,” he said. “Where would my credibility be if we pulled the $300 from them after we negotiated in good faith?” he said.

http://www.patriotledger.com/homepage/x1489465561/Koch-asking-for-wage-freeze-on-Quincy-employees

Good Luck Delta!

Your headache has just begun

O'ASSHOLE's CARTOON:

Tuesday's cartoon on Quincy police who made more than $100,000 in 2008

O'Mahoney
This is the editorial cartoon for Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009, from the mind and pen of Patriot Ledger cartoonist O'Asshole.

119 members now

I'm wondering how well Mr. Imagination did during a recession! And I'm wondering if he works more than 20 hours a week!

I find that paying someone 100 grand a yr to arrest bad guys alot less of a fatcat than paying some DOUCHBAG the same to draw cartoons.

BINGO and NAIL ON THE HEAD 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quincy patrolman gets back 5 days lost pay

Arbitrator clears officer in local dog saga


By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Mar 07, 2009 @ 02:35 AM

QUINCY —

The police officer, whose Post Island Road neighbors called Robocop because of his ticketing crusades through their seaside neighborhood, shouldn’t have been punished by his chief, an arbitrator has ruled.
Quincy Police Patrolman Joseph McGunigle, a 13-year veteran of the department, said he was only doing his duty in 2007: enforcing the city’s leash laws and rules that dog owners clean up after their pet defecates on other people’s lawns and public property.
A group of neighbors – including some dog owners ticketed by McGunigle – saw it otherwise, deriding as heavy-handed the officer’s tactics, which included videotaping them to catch the dogs in the act.
McGunigle was suspended for five days after he ignored an order by former Police Chief Robert Crowley to back off, violating the chain of command.
In a decision this week, an independent arbitrator ruled the city did not have just cause to discipline McGunigle because he was following his oath as a police officer, which calls for enforcing local and state law.
“My ruling should not be interpreted to mean that police officers may arbitrarily refuse to abide by their superiors’ orders,” wrote attorney Richard G. Boulanger, the arbitrator in the case. “However, per police department rules, the orders must be lawful.”
McGunigle will get five days pay he lost because of the suspension, according to the ruling. He will also get paid for any overtime and detail opportunities he missed out on during that time. The officer estimates it will amount to between $1,400 and $1,500 in back pay.
“Obviously, it meant a lot to me,” McGunigle said of the recent ruling. “I believe what I did was right from the beginning ... trying to keep the area beautiful and clean, and people look at you like you’re crazy.”
The drama on Post Island Road, the Houghs Neck street where McGunigle still lives, went beyond the canine controversy and involved multiple households. One neighbor alleged McGunigle gave him trouble over a fence he put up, and that he tried to keep people who weren’t in the neighborhood association off the beach.
A year earlier, the officer’s wife, Diane McGunigle, appeared on the syndicated courtroom television series “The People’s Court.” She was fighting for damages after alleging she and her Rottweiler, Boris, were attacked by a neighbor’s 1-year-old yellow Labrador.
The Patriot Ledger called many neighbors involved in the earlier disputes, but they either couldn’t be reached or declined comment for this article, mentioning how divisive things have become in the neighborhood.
McGunigle said he took many steps – including passing out fliers and verbally warning neighbors of local laws – before issuing more than 11 tickets to neighbors over a span of four months.
“I tried every avenue possible before I went to the last resort,” he said, claiming the majority of neighbors have since come to support him.
In his ruling, Boulanger said Crowley erred procedurally on many fronts, including not getting written complaints from neighbors prior to ordering McGunigle to cease ticketing and by not having a union representative at that meeting. Further, he wrote, Crowley never provided full documentation supporting his grounds for discipline.
Crowley, who retired last June, could not be reached for comment.
Bruce Tait, president of the Quincy Police Patrol Officers Association, said the ruling vindicates McGunigle and helps all officers breathe easier. “When we enforce the law, it’s a good feeling to know the law is behind us,” he said.

http://www.patriotledger.com/homepage/x978987847/Quincy-patrolman-gets-back-5-days-lost-pay

Great job posting the neighborhood where the officer lives, douchebag reporters.