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Police union pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to woman who pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer
By adamg on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 8:16am
With the help of Clean Up BPPA, Chris Faraone does some digging into the finances of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association newsletter, which paid $1 million over three years to a fundraiser whose husband has had some issues with the law - and whose fees represent the bulk of the money the union says it was raising through the newsletter for scholarshipsw
UPDATE: The Phoenix reports the fundraiser herself pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer.
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Comments
Why isn't the DA investigating?
So the advertisers who were told their donations would be going to a scholarship fund were deceived.
The money therefore must be returned. With interest.
And the people running the BPPA scholarship program and newsletter should be investigated for fraud.
Wow
This is beyond ridiculous.
Would it have been ok if it
Would it have been ok if it were going to an actual officer's wife? Because I'm guessing that's relatively common, but this one got caught because of the other fraud.
Are you surprised to hear that the "gifts" that every taxi driver, restauranteer, scalper and liquor store gives to police organizations to get a little sticker on their car or piece of paper on their counter are going into officers' pockets?
But they're not...
But they're not going into officers' pockets -- they're going into the pockets of someone whose husband IMPERSONATES an officer!
Above the law
Beneath contempt.
Protecting and Serving Themselves
So I wonder how much of that $1 million found it's way back to the people running BPPA? This has fraud written all over it, especially since the "fundraisers" are already known fraudsters. Get your popcorn, this is going to be good.
smells like low tide
I agree. Why would a cop organization knowingly hire these jokers unless it was a kickback scheme? The police union officers, of all people, can't claim they did not know the history behind this couple. Does Carnell feel like he couldn't get by on $50,000/year in sick pay?
Most of my experiences with Boston cops have been positive or neutral (most...). If I were a cop being represented by the sexist, idiotic, bigoted, quite possibly corrupt heads of the BPPA, I'd want to get my friends together and form a new union. Hope they do.
Investigate! Screw DA Conley. He's a coward. Get AG Coakley
Swift punishment
Don't worry. Those responsible will be dealt harshly with - one week suspension with pay.
notorious for hitting up old ladies on the phone for $
The patrolman's association is NOTORIOUS for scamming especially elderly people over the phone for $. They target demographic areas of Boston with high elderly populations like West Roxbury, Hyde Park, etc. Did it to my mom, but she just played along with them. and told us and laughed about it afterwards. When the dude discovered she was Irish [she has an accent] he really played her.It is beneath contempt. Police in 2012 Boston are WELL PAID and get EXCELLENT BENEFITS, they don't need to be scamming old ladies for $, which they do God knows what with.
What does a society do when the people given the responsibility of policing it and the judiciary [D.A. office] responsible for prosecuting crime are themselves highly corrupt?
We create a Dramatic series
We create a Dramatic series for CBS about it
Most patrolmen's associations
Most patrolmen's associations have little to do with the actual officers. It's a known scam.
Call the Feds? Ha, I know...
Call the Feds?
Ha, I know... I'll see myself out.
Occupy Boston versus the Police Union
Having failed in their noble quest to bring down the ruling elite, they have set their sites much, much lower: first, at the "Level 3's" who lived next to them in Dewey Square for a time, and now at Menino's loyal henchmen who dutifully evicted them when they were ordered to. Most of that "offensive" shit in the newsletter was actually negative commentary about Occupy Boston, angry words about "liberals", and some right-wing pap tamer than what you can hear any given day on Limbaugh, Savage, or Michael Graham. I didn't really see anything homophobic, or racist, really, except that disgusting joke about Egyptians and maybe one or two other things. Even that could be viewed as an indictment of some Muslim extremists' treatment of women, though that's probably giving the "joker" more credit than he deserves.
I liked Occupy much better when they were actually Occupying- some of their battles since then have been less-than-inspirational. How does this war with a union (or a union newsletter) further the cause of economic justice? Of course, if there is fraud or malfeasance, misappropriation of funds, or what have you,I hope there are prosecutions. Just not sure this is the most productive usage of Faraone's talents, or the talents and energy of the Occupy movement.
You didn't look then
If this is all a vendetta by those nasty little hippies you so disdain, then why are the minority officers pointing to this and saying "THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT ALL ALONG!".
Spare us all your "poor little officers" bullcrap - these are people who are paid an awful lot of money - our money - and they can't seem to grow up past the kind of jock-bully crap you can't even get away with in junior high anymore? Now we find out that the "scholarship money" isn't even being used for what it was supposed to, and you are making excuses or whining about Occupy?
Maybe you need to grow up too.
lol
telling someone to grow up while using the word jock to describe someone. never got over high school i guess.
*whoosh*
*whoosh*
I admired Occupy, and agree wholeheartedly with their indictment
of Global capitalism and the inequities it has wrought. I still admire them, and have never come anywhere close to impugning their hygiene or anything like that. If I didn't have kids I would have been right out there with them.
My only points here are that a) the police union is not the 1% and b) there was far less actually racist, sexist, or homophobic stuff on the "Clean up BPAA" site than political speech about Deval Patrick, Elizabeth Warren, and Occupy Boston. I'm a pretty big fan of free speech, and it disturbs me a little when people start talking about legal sanctions, or even workplace discipline, intended to punish political speech or objectionable things people say while off the job.
Probably my perspective is messed up, as a white male. But it often seems that people care more about cops being politically incorrect than they care about them leading other police on high-speed chases or accidentally shooting grandfathers.
What does this have to do with Occupy?
An investigative reporter found evidence of a scam. That (alleged) scam happened regardless of whether BPPA pissed off someone or not. Nobody is being oppressed for their speech. They attracted attention to themselves, and it turned out they had something to hide.
If they didn't want to get in trouble, maybe they shouldn't have (allegedly) scammed people?
Unless you're suggesting that Occupy has a time machine and went back in time to plant evidence against BPPA. In which case, why didn't they kill Hitler first?!!?
Faraone describes "Clean the BPPA" as an offshoot
of Occupy, and I thought their site was Faraone's source. I may have misunderstood who did the original digging.
But you are correct that in neither case is it anyone's fault other than the BPPA and the charity and fundraisers, if there was criminal wrongdoing. Certainly they're fair game- but are cops to be the number one adversary of Occupy from now on? Because this seems like a dynamic that will play into the hands of the 1% come election time. Or maybe not.
But I agree that it is always useful to have somebody "watching the watchmen", and there are no shortage of police abuses, so kudos to them for uncovering this.
Can't they do both?
Faraone covers both.
This BPPA thing made be criminal. If it is you should thank the people who did the research, and the reporter who wrote it up instead on complaining that they're spending their time one things you prefer less than other things they do. Since when should they give a shit if you prefer they spend their time doing this or that?
Newsrooms have bee shuttered. Investigative journalism is one of the the things we've lost. Here we have a bunch of people digging. Good for them. Maybe it'll make Boston on abetter place. I love this city. Let's make it a better place.
I have to ask...
what's being a white male have to do with it?
Not all that sensitive to racism and sexism
Never really been a victim of either, and thus less likely to call for punitive measures against so-called "offensive" speech.
Of course, could be that I'm just Wrong here. It's been known to happen.
Not just Occupiers who are mad...
As a non-Occupying resident of Boston I found this newsletter disturbing. At best, it shows a poor lack of judgement on some officers' parts and at worst it calls their credibility as police officers into question. Not to mention that if this is the kind of banter going on among officers, the city could be facing lawsuits from upset employees.
Further down you mention freedom of speech and I just want to point out that freedom of speech does not free you from the consequences of your actions. The BPD code of ethics has provisions against making derogatory statements and, more generally, about conduct that reflects poorly on the department.
Just ask that Leominster police officer
Who didn't seem to think much of Carl Crawford.
Leominster police officer has been severely punished.
A week off with pay.
That'll teach the barstard!
I'm sorry, do you live in
I'm sorry, do you live in Boston? Because I do, and I had to read a bunch of those assrag newsletters that Carnell approved because my union membership is disgusted with this and wants to take action-- remember, this isn't just a bad reflection on police but on unions as well. I counted eight different qualities about myself denigrated in the Pax Centurion that, apparently, make me a less worthy human being and citizen than the glorious editorial board of the PC and leadership of the BPPA. So while I pay these shitbags salaries, I have to worry about whether or not they can be bothered to do there job properly if I, god forbid, need them because... what? They don't like my neighborhood? They don't like women working? They don't approve of my union? They don't like non-Christians? That I vote for Democrats? They HATE my relationships? That I went to college? That I worked my way through college (that is only acceptable if male or a cop, it seems)? I don't have the stomach to read them again, so if you can't remember what's sexist and racist and homophobic etc etc, here's the link to the mirrored archives so you can refresh your memory. Goes back to 2006 I think, but I gave up after about a dozen read cover-to-cover.
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/141002-archives-...
Sorry, Dan F, I got a little
Sorry, Dan F, I got a little heated. That's the unfortunate side effect of reading a dozen Pax Centurions. My apologies.
Also, I typed "there" instead of "their." would like to blame my grammar errors on PC but I'll own this one.
You and your union can thank the BPPA
for bringing me, and a lot of people like me, to the perspective that maybe Scott Walker is right.
And I'm a lifelong New-Deal type Democrat, and both my grandfathers were union railway men. Eventually the stench becomes too much to take.
They aren't really paying them anything.
Except on paper for tax purposes maybe. I beleive the union hires this company to sell advertising/raise money and the two sides argree on what percentage the union gets to keep. So if the company raises 400K and gives 100K to the union, the union isn't really paying that money in theory.
Pete, that's really lame spin
If I am asked for a donation to the BPPA scholarship fund, and I write a check for $100 to "BPPA Scholarship Fund, and I get a receipt for a $100 donation to the BPPA Scholarship Fund, then I have given $100 to the BPPA scholarship fund, in any reasonable interpretation of reality.
If the BPPA scholarship fund ends up with $24 and Ms. Hutchinson's company ends up with $76, then the BPPA Scholarship Fund has paid Ms. Hutchinson's company, under any reasonable interpretation of reality.
It really doesn't matter if the $100 physically goes into the hands of the BPPA, who then hands $76 of it to Hutchinson, or if the $100 goes into the hands of Hutchinson, who then hands $24 of it to the BPPA, or if the $100 goes into the hands of Hutchinson, who then hands all of it to the BPPA, who then hands $76 of it back to Hutchinson. That's just mechanics and is of no consequence, really.
Oh I agree, I wasn't trying to put a spin on it.
But I don't think the Union was getting any sort of illegal kickback on that money. I think the scam was in the actual tax return.
dissembling
I feel the scam is more the use of the Union's name and the idea of a scholarship fund to get people to give you money. The people at BPPA knowingly went along with that. It's done all the time with professional tele-mendicants who either use a union or charitable group's name with their blessing (after paying them) or (in a more scam-like fashion) reference something that sounds like a known union or charitable group to get money that they mostly pocket. In either instance I hang up and tell them I don't give over the phone or through mail.
In this case the shiny happy people at BPPA contracted a couple of known scam artists with a seedy track record to bring in money using the Union's name. The tax aspects of this is an additional bit of rigamarole to sift through, but the most damaging thing is the hit to the reputation of both the BPPA and the BPD (I think most folks probably just merge the 2 in their heads) by this. If I was a member of the BPPA I would be calling for these assholes' heads.
Phoenix updates story
Turns out the woman in question pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer in the same fundraising scam that her husband was involved in.