Police Sign Report Portrays Unwitting Sergeant, Furious Mayor

MELROSE, MA — The police sergeant responsible for a controversial traffic sign on Main Street last month told the mayor it was on him to calm the uproar from people who found its "All Lives Matter" language hurtful, but insisted he never meant any offense and did not recognize it as a political statement, according to an external report commissioned by the city and a preliminary report by the police department.

The reports paint Mayor Paul Brodeur as apoplectic upon learning of the message and detail swift action and cooperation from all involved resulting in its removal. The reports also identify a longtime police sergeant as the person responsible for the message.

The external report, conducted by attorney Jay Sullivan of the Cambridge law firm Sullivan & Reed at a cost of $3,420, found the city and its officials — including the mayor and police chief — blameless in the drafting and posting of the message.

Sullivan's report consisted of interviews with Brodeur, police Chief Mike Lyle, Sgt. Jonathan Goc and Officer Joseph Donovan, a patrol officer who drove Goc to the sign to delete the message and back to the station.

Goc, a 24-year member of the police department who acts as its traffic supervisor and firearms officer, on July 8 programmed the message "25 MPH Thank You, The Safety Of All Lives Matter" split between alternating screens on an electronic traffic sign on Main Street. The message was put up around 9:45 a.m. and taken down less than three hours later, but not before sparking a raw conversation about race and policing in Melrose that was both an extension of a national conversation and a lightning rod in some conservative media circles.

Goc is shown in various parts of the report to not see a problem with the language in the sign, though it's not clear if it's because he was unaware of the subtext or because he disagreed that it was offensive. In two emails, he indicates he was unaware of the political nature of the phrase.

Still, the report's conclusion suggested a high unlikelihood Goc was oblivious to the message's ulterior meaning — or that he meant to cause such division.

"Sgt. Goc is plainly intelligent and thoughtful," Sullivan wrote. "I struggle to believe that he drafted the [message] without any inkling that some member of the community might discern in it some reference to political or social debate.

"Sgt. Goc also presents as genuine, honest, and proud of his long record of work with the community," Sullivan continued. "Thus, I also struggle to believe that he intended to offend any member of the community with the content of the [message,] abuse police resources, or create any serious controversy."

Sullivan did not make a recommendation on possible discipline for Goc, but Brodeur said Lyle "has taken action as a result of the findings contained in this report." The actions are not specified, with Brodeur citing state privacy laws.

The police roster online still identifies Goc as a sergeant in charge of the traffic division.

Goc was described in the report by Lyle as a "good officer" and "level-headed." The report details how events quickly unfolded on the afternoon of July 8.

Around 12:25 p.m., Brodeur interrupted a meeting at City Hall between Lyle and City Solicitor Robert Van Campen. Brodeur, in what was described as a strong and stern tone, said he wanted the sign down immediately.

After Brodeur showed Lyle a picture of the sign, Lyle got ahold of Goc, telling him to remove it. Goc asked why the mayor wanted the sign down, to which Lyle responded Brodeur had received a complaint. Donovan drove Goc, who disagreed with the mayor's assessment, to the sign.

Still upset about the message and wanting to make sure it came down, Brodeur got a ride to the sign, where he found Goc.

According to the summary of Brodeur's interview with Sullivan, the mayor told Goc, "I’m not happy about this." Goc said Brodeur didn't know what message had been displayed, insisting it was harmless. When Brodeur showed Goc a picture of the message, he said something akin to, "If you don’t understand why that was insensitive, then you’ve got a problem." Brodeur said Goc was not rude, but pushed against the mayor's view of the message.

According to the summary of Goc's interview with Sullivan, the mayor was "really upset" and accused Goc of purposefully trying to offend with the message, to which Goc replied it was innocuous.

In an email from Goc to Lyle describing the incident, Goc, while paraphrasing, said he told Brodeur if the message "was offensive to some people in the community then that is unfortunate and perhaps he should speak with them and solve that problem."

The mayor's email to Lyle corroborated that.

"We had a brief exchange wherein he expressed his opinion that there was nothing wrong with the message and that it was my problem to fix," Brodeur wrote. "I stated that if he did not understand the insensitivity of the message, we have a bigger problem. He again indicated this was my problem to fix as I returned to the car."

Nowhere in the reports or emails does Goc acknowledge the message could be construed as offensive.

He indicates in separate emails to Lyle he is unaware of the political nature of the phrase.

"It is unfortunate that anyone would interpret the message I wrote as anything but a traffic safety message as that is all it was," he wrote in a July 9 email.

In an email the next day, Goc says he did not understand Brodeur's accusation of writing "an offensive political statement, etc.

"I told him I did not know what he meant by that comment," Goc wrote.

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