Board halts destruction of statie records
The Massachusetts Records Conservation Board tabled a request from state police to destroy hundreds of records due to ongoing investigations and audits within the law enforcement agency.
On Tuesday, the Commonwealth Magazine reported that Massachusetts State Police officials were trying to destroy hundreds of payroll files and roster assignments from 2009 to 2012, but were denied by the board as a precaution.
The MSP said the files were being destroyed as a routine action and not an attempt to cover up any wrongdoings.
“The State Police follow the Secretary of State’s guidelines for retention of paper documents, including submitting requests to the Records Conservation Board for review,” said MSP spokesman David Procopio. “The recent requests made to the Board are in compliance with the Secretary’s retention schedule and the records, due to their age, are not currently the subject of any outside investigation or audit.”
In the spring, reports came out that two different troops in the MSP were under investigation for payroll fraud and embezzlement.
Troop F allegedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by working massive overtime shifts; the earnings were hidden from the public for years and not reported to the state comptroller’s office.
Additionally, Troop E, which patrols the Massachusetts Turnpike, came under investigation for embezzlement and fraud for collecting overtime for shifts they didn’t work or only partially worked. Six troopers were indicted and 40 more came under investigation as Gov. Charlie Baker and the head of the state police created a series of reforms that included disbanding the unit.
Baker’s campaign opponent, Jay Gonzalez, blames the governor for the incidents and suggests that the records destruction is part of a bigger scheme.
“Charlie Baker needs to take responsibility for the scandals at his Massachusetts State Police. Today’s revelations of an attempted cover-up leave many unanswered questions for the public,” stated Gonzalez. “Therefore, I’m calling on the Inspector General to investigate the extent of this attempted cover-up.”
While the records allegedly don’t deal with those ongoing investigations, the records board, along with Baker, agreed to wait to have the records destroyed until all of the issues within the MSP were resolved.
“What they did was completely consistent with standard operating procedure,” Baker said. “They shouldn’t be destroying payroll records. They should be operating under standard operating procedure at this point in time given everything else that’s going on with state police and payroll.”
“Well, it’s my understanding that based on all the existing protocols what the state police proposed to do fit within those protocols but the simple truth of the matter is they shouldn’t be destroying any payroll records, and they won’t be,” Baker said.