Michael Holtzman
SOMERSET — Patrolman Brian
Dempsey, who had been the school resource officer at Somerset Berkley Regional
High School, has been suspended for five days and removed from that position
for misconduct and disobeying an order in that role, police Chief Joseph
Ferreira said Tuesday.
That general order,
Ferreira said in a phone interview, is “don’t get involved in personal
relationships at the high school when you’re the resource officer.”
The chief divulged little
information other than the fact the incident involved a female student who
graduated in June from Somerset Berkley Regional High School.
He said Dempsey, who lives
in Somerset and is a 2000 graduate of Somerset High School, will return to work
Monday and will be reassigned to the patrol division on the midnight to 8 a.m.
shift.
As chief, Ferreira said he
can issue suspensions for up to five days without the matter going before the
town administrator and Board of Selectmen.
He said there could be
other internal disciplinary measures that he was not at liberty to give because
of personnel confidentiality requirements.
Ferreira said he’d post the
full-time school resource officer job, and expected to assign a new officer
within two weeks.
Dempsey held the role for
about 1½ years. He’s been on the force about five years and worked for several
years before that as a police officer in Florida, Ferreira said. Dempsey holds
a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Massachusetts
Lowell. His annual patrolman’s salary is approximately $50,000, Ferreira said.
The Somerset Berkley
District pays 75 percent of that salary under an agreement with the school for
a resource officer, he said.
Ferreira did indicate what
was not involved with the allegations: “No photos were involved. No physical
interaction was involved. No underage drinking. Nothing of that sort,” he said.
Sources told The Herald
News on Monday that the incident involved sexting between the officer and the
former high school student.
Ferreira said in an
interview that day “there’s nothing criminal here.”
Regional district Interim
Superintendent Thomas Lynch said Ferreira told him the same information based
upon the police internal investigation.
“At least it didn’t go to
the next level,” Lynch said while speaking openly about the alleged violations.
Asked about the
circumstances, he said, “I have no idea how long it went on for. I’m thankful
that the person (the former student) did step forward because we certainly
don’t want a predator working in the school.”
She issued the complaint on
Feb. 10 to high school administrators. Somerset Berkley Regional High School
Principal Jahmal Mosley interviewed her with a female administrator, Lynch
said.
“She came forward because
she probably realized as she matured that she did not want it to happen to
anybody else,” Lynch said based upon information administrators gave to him. He
did not speak with the former student, who is reportedly attending college.
Asked about the
explicitness of the sexting messages, Lynch said, “It was highly and extremely
inappropriate for a person put in a position of trust to be doing to a student.
It’s just unacceptable,” Lynch said.
He said what was most
important to him was that Ferreria told him Dempsey will be replaced.
“I am pleased that he will
not be working in school any longer. As superintendent, that has to be my No. 1
priority,” Lynch said in a phone interview after returning from an out-of-state
educational conference Tuesday afternoon.
He and regional school
board Vice Chairwoman Elizabeth White both said they felt it was important to
retain a resource officer at the high school. The officer is tasked with
diffusing difficult situations and works as a liaison between the school
administration, staff and students, as well as the police department, Ferreira
said.
Ferreira said Dempsey was
suspended after a one-week investigation headed by Capt. Glenn Neto, assisted
by Detective Jason Matos, during which time the officer was placed on paid
administrative leave. The one-week suspension without pay was meted out early
Tuesday, Ferreira said.
He also spoke about what
factored into his decision, and cited “punitive action disciplines” listed
within the department’s certification by the Massachusetts Accreditation
Commission.
Those disciplinary criteria
that Ferreira provided include: seriousness of the incident, the circumstances,
employee’s disciplinary record, longeveity and overall work performance, impact
upon the department the incident causes, probability of future similar problems
and involvement of other department employees.
“It was an isolated
allegation by one person,” Ferreira said. He said two officers spoke with the
young woman and to “probably 10 people overall that heard about it.”
Speaking generally about
Dempsey, Ferreira said, “He’s got an excellent record of work. He’s always been
a very good police officer. He has no discipline in his file that I can
recall.”
In a general comment,
Ferreira said, “It’s extremely unfortunate that this occurred. We did our usual
procedures of a thorough investigation, and took fair and reasonable and
appropriate action.”
Among other disciplines
Ferreira said he could take include limiting work venues, such as not working
details, and working extra days without pay for the department. Ferreira said
under the state statute governing police personnel he was unable to state any
such disciplinary actions he took. Lynch notified school officials about
Dempsey’s reassignment, including Somerset Superintendent Richard Medeiros, who
was informed that Dempsey would not be serving as Drug Abuse Resistance
Education officer at Somerset Middle School. He worked with sixth-graders one
day a week teaching the DARE program.
White said she was satisfied
with how the incident was handled by school and town officials.
“It’s just unfortunate for
things like this to happen. I’m pleased the superintendent and high school
principal handled it so quickly and I appreciate the quick action of the police
department.
“It’s unfortunate because
you want kids to be able to trust people in authority like that,” said White,
who works as an educator.
She was handling the press
inquiry because regional school board Chairman Richard Peirce said he knew
Dempsey and his family personally and did not want to be involved with the
situation.
Lynch cited the police
department as being cooperative and said he had trust in how Ferreira handled
the situation and communicated what was done. He was not made privy to any
aspects of the investigation, he said.
“It was dealt with swiftly,
and the officer will not be working with children any longer,” Lynch said after
being apprised by Ferreira of the disciplinary action and changes Tuesday
afternoon.
