9/28/2023 0 Comments Somerville police![]() The city didn't make the theft public either. The spokesperson said she didn't realize the trial had concluded. "If you're going to give people that kind of power, you really want to know that these are people you can trust through and through.” John Kleinig, police ethics expertĪ spokesperson for DA Marian Ryan said there was not a specific decision made to not publicize the theft, and that the trial ended as the office was closing down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s noteworthy, and it’s surprising, that it wouldn’t make news even in a big metropolitan area like the Greater Boston area.” “Eighty-thousand dollars is a considerable sum of money,” Adler said. Lee Adler, a law and labor professor at Cornell University who has defended people in embezzlement cases and represented union firefighters, said it’s unusual that a theft of that size, especially by a police officer, would have remained under the radar. ![]() Those cases were made very public - unlike Clark’s crimes. He was sentenced to three years probation, ordered not to work in law enforcement and paid $82,718 in restitution to the union and an insurance company.Īnd last year, the former president of the Massachusetts State Police union and the group’s former lobbyist were charged in federal court with fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in what prosecutors allege was a six-year kickback scheme. Just last month, Methuen police officer Mark Whittaker pleaded guilty to stealing from the patrolmen’s union, in which he served as treasurer. A database of publicly reported arrests of police officers shows at least 250 officers nationally were charged with embezzlement from 2005 to 2015. “And if you're going to give people that kind of power, you really want to know that these are people you can trust through and through.” They’re allowed to shoot people if necessary,” Kleinig said. Any crack in the armor, he says, is bad for all. ![]() Policing relies on public trust, said John Kleinig, a professor emeritus at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who focuses on police ethics. ![]() Neither of the allegations - or the officers' departures - were previously made public.Īs state lawmakers debate police reform legislation, and many Americans place greater scrutiny on officer misconduct, policing experts say thefts like Clark’s can affect a department’s reputation as much as an officer using excessive force or wrongfully arresting a person. The records make up the office’s “Brady list” and include more than 100 current and former law enforcement officers who prosecutors believe may be unreliable witnesses in court because of their past conduct, or due to allegations they face.Īlso tucked into the list were two disclosures about officers facing allegations of misconduct involving their respective police unions in Billerica and Burlington. The specifics of Clark’s crime came to light only recently when it was disclosed in records WBUR received from the Middlesex DA’s office. Clark's name was listed among the more than 100 grand jury indictments announced by the Middlesex district attorney’s office in May 2019, but the office’s release mentioned nothing about the scope of his theft or his position as a police officer. News of the theft made a local blog, which didn’t name a suspect. He remains a Somerville police officer - on unpaid leave - as the city moves toward firing him.Ĭlark’s theft and conviction remained fairly quiet outside the police department. He was the union's treasurer.īy a remote hearing a month later, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark, 42, was sentenced to two years probation. In early March, after a quick, two-witness trial, Somerville police officer Shaun Clark was convicted of stealing more than $83,000 from the police union.
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