How Payroll Scandal Could Impact Medford Officers' Trust In Court

MEDFORD, MA — The city recently released the findings of an independent review conducted by former U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz into the potential impact of police officers' placement on the Middlesex District Attorney's Brady List.

Twenty-seven officers – about a quarter of the Medford Police Department – were placed on the list in January after being disciplined for abusing the department's overtime pay system. The list consists of officers with credibility issues whose testimony could be considered unreliable in court.

Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, who took office after the investigation into payroll abuses was completed and punishment was handed down, commissioned an independent analysis into the scandal's impact on the Medford Police Department.

The analysis found that a number of officers involved could have been more seriously disciplined or fired, and those who committed numerous violations run a greater risk of facing scrutiny in court. Officers involved who serve as a witness in federal court are "far more likely" to be confronted with cross-examination about misconduct than if they are a witness in state court, according to Ortiz. The potential impact of the scandal, however, is likely to decrease with time.

"While numerous violations may not make it substantially more likely that the officer's prior discipline will be admitted in a criminal trial, prosecutors may nonetheless be less willing to bring a case that relies heavily on testimony from an officer with an extensive disciplinary history due to the concerns described above relating to the officer's reputation for integrity," Ortiz wrote.

The review also found that the number of offenses, severity of the conduct, level of understanding and contrition and an officer's actions since the scandal should be taken into account when determining future assignments. Lungo-Koehn said that moving forward, she will personally interview and assess every promotion and sensitive assignment for the police department.

"It is critical that we restore the public trust in the Medford Police Department and ensure public safety," she wrote.

Over the summer, the police department implemented several new practices regarding how police details are administered. This included creating new detail slips that accurately record the actual starting and end times of details, requiring officers to sign their names signifying that all information is accurate. All details being conducted by Medford police officers will be recorded daily in the Computer Aided Dispatch system for accurate record-keeping and can be used as a tool to reconcile detail billing slips.

Details are now recorded daily in the Digital Headquarters, a software program the
Medford Police Department uses to increase communications and directives among its employees, officers and staff. These changes are intended to allow for supervisory oversight and review of the detail process.

"There is a lot of amazing work being done within the MPD, and with the community at large, and while we have more work to do to restore the public’s trust, we remain committed to that goal, and we will work together to move forward," Lungo-Koehn wrote.

Read the full independent review here.