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Braintree (MA) Police chief retires amid evidence room scandal
Boston Glob ^ | 9/22/16 | Allen

Posted on 09/22/2016 8:51:24 AM PDT by pabianice

Braintree Police Chief Russell Jenkins will retire Oct. 7 as head of the troubled department, which has been rocked by revelations that guns, drugs, and cash vanished from the evidence room, according to an announcement from the town.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as Chief of the Braintree Police Department these last four years,” said Jenkins, in a letter to the mayor.

The department has come under fire after an audit revealed that more than $400,000 in cash, between 60 and 70 guns, and thousands of drug samples, had gone missing from the evidence room.

After the auditor spoke to the evidence room officer for the first time in May, the officer killed herself. The audit was released publicly last week. The department has recovered most of the guns and about $140,000 of the cash.

(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: braintree; braintreepolice; donutwatch; massachusetts; police
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1 posted on 09/22/2016 8:51:24 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: pabianice

Well, one less crooked cop to worry about. (The ‘officer’ that offed herself when caught.)


2 posted on 09/22/2016 8:56:28 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set!)
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To: pabianice

The dishonest bum was allowed to retire? Now, a criminal is on the take from the taxpayer for the rest of his criminal life.


3 posted on 09/22/2016 8:57:59 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?.)
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To: hal ogen

I see nothing in the article to say the Chief was involved other than not the implied lack of managerial oversight. Did the thefts pre-date his command? Do you have additional info to share that shows him to be anything more than a bad manager?


4 posted on 09/22/2016 9:05:41 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (#DeplorableMe #BitterClinger)
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To: pabianice

“Braintree”

Well, there’s a mental picture that’s going to disturb me all day!


5 posted on 09/22/2016 9:09:41 AM PDT by MeganC (JE SUIS CHARLES MARTEL!!!)
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To: NonValueAdded

http://patch.com/massachusetts/braintree/missing-braintree-police-evidence-found-officers-home-police

Two guns missing from the Braintree Police Department’s evidence room were in the home of the person in charge of the room, a new report said.

WCVB reports that of the eight firearms unaccounted for, two of them were located at the home of Officer Susan Zopatti, who was in charge of the room until her death in May. One of the guns belongs to Michael Flemmi, a former Boston police officer who served time in prison for hiding guns for his brother, mobster Stephen Flemmi, and mob boss Whitey Bulger.

Heat-sealed evidence bags were broken into, some narcotics evidence was replaced with other drugs. and rape kits were being stored in an outside trailer, according to the news station.

In August, it was reported that an outside investigator was being brought in to audit the police department’s evidence room. The audit is focused on cases from the past three years and has reportedly found that in addition to the weapons, over $70,000 in cash and 1,000 pieces of drug evidence are missing.

The police officer in charge of the evidence room committed suicide during the audit back in May.


6 posted on 09/22/2016 9:25:06 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: NonValueAdded

Did the thefts pre-date his command?
answer:
The officer in charge of the evidence room was placed in that position by the Chief Russell.
Do you have additional info to share that shows him to be anything more than a bad manager?

answer:
Not at this time. The officer in charge of the evidence room since 2013 was never audited until May of 2016.


7 posted on 09/22/2016 9:32:41 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: outpostinmass2
One of the guns belongs to Michael Flemmi, a former Boston police officer who served time in prison for hiding guns for his brother, mobster Stephen Flemmi, and mob boss Whitey Bulger.

All in the Family

8 posted on 09/22/2016 9:34:52 AM PDT by Flick Lives (TRIGGER WARNING - Posts may require application of sarcasm filter)
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To: NonValueAdded

Your spot on. He is a good guy who made a mistake in not supervising the officer in charge of the evidence room. There is more to the story regarding the officer that killed herself but not sure it will ever see the light of day.


9 posted on 09/22/2016 9:36:04 AM PDT by lonerepubinma
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To: Flick Lives

Braintree was a well known residence for a few of Whitey’s minions for years.


10 posted on 09/22/2016 9:36:44 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: outpostinmass2

Braintree Police Chief Russell W. Jenkins hired former State Police major Bruce Gordon, to perform an audit of the department.

Gordon subsequently visited with Zopatti on May 13, and within a week of the meeting she committed suicide.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/investigation_into_braintree_p.html


Suicide. Convenient.

One might wonder why Gordon would visit Zopatti.


11 posted on 09/22/2016 9:39:49 AM PDT by Flick Lives (TRIGGER WARNING - Posts may require application of sarcasm filter)
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To: lonerepubinma

Chief Russell put her in charge of the evidence room knowing she had issues. He couldn’t fire her since she was the wife of the deputy fire chief. He allowed this mess to fester for 3 years. The Mayor will be the next one on the chopping block.


12 posted on 09/22/2016 9:41:00 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: Flick Lives

Earlier this year, Braintree Police Chief Russell Jenkins ordered an audit of the department’s evidence room. A hunch that there was trouble in the room proved to be true when the audit revealed a huge amount of evidence had gone missing.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/09/22/braintree-police-chief/


13 posted on 09/22/2016 9:42:49 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: MeganC

Does anybody ever pick any fruit off that tree? It would seem not.


14 posted on 09/22/2016 9:45:25 AM PDT by beelzepug (For English press #1; for Spanish, learn English and press #1)
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To: pabianice
Susan M. Zopatti Obituary
15 posted on 09/22/2016 10:04:24 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: pabianice

I lived in Braintree, next to a drug dealer who was busted red-handed in March for selling PCP out of the house, and ended up causing half the street to be evacuated. My kids were terrified. This police chief came to my house, talked to my kids, then had his cruisers light up the street in flashing blues as a show of his “authority.” It was one of the stupidest things I ever saw. It just infuriated the people in that house, and the situation became untenable. I had words with this dealer constantly after that. We ended up renting to twenty-somethings and moving to a better town. Jenkin’s BPD would not deal with the escalating behavior of this dealer. I told them their lack of action was going to lead to a bad situation sooner or later, and it would be on them. One month after we moved, the dealer walked into a store, picked up a kid in front of his parents, threw him over his shoulder and tried to walk out. It made national news. There’s video of the incident. The BPD will probably still screw it up. Goodbye, Chief Jenkins. You don’t deserve to go out on our dime.


16 posted on 09/22/2016 10:14:51 AM PDT by rpoulin70
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To: MeganC

Braintree is the birthplace of John Adams, John Quincy Adams and John Hancock and Sylvanus Thayer “ father of West Point”


17 posted on 09/22/2016 10:19:00 AM PDT by lonerepubinma
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To: rpoulin70

http://www.wickedlocal.com/news/20160914/drug-charges-dropped-against-quincy-man-kidnapping-charge-remains

This guy?


18 posted on 09/22/2016 10:23:47 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: lonerepubinma

I’m sure it has a lot of history but it’s still a weird name.


19 posted on 09/22/2016 10:35:25 AM PDT by MeganC (JE SUIS CHARLES MARTEL!!!)
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To: hal ogen

The Well Fargo exec in charge of the division rife with criminal fraud retired with a $125 million golden parachute. It’s just who we are.


20 posted on 09/22/2016 10:43:57 AM PDT by Wolfie
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