No criminal charges for officers investigated in Medford police detail scandal

MEDFORD, Mass. — The Medford Mayor and Police Chief spoke Thursday afternoon after Boston 25 News first broke news that over two dozen Medford Police officers have been disciplined for an alleged detail scandal.

Medford Police Chief Jack Buckley said that officers made a huge mistake and are being disciplined, but right now they will keep their jobs.

Buckley hired a retired state trooper to investigate the issue right after they got wind of it in June. He says some of the officers were getting paid for an overnight police detail, but not working all of the hours.

"There was no outright thought of theft or stealing. This wasn't some concerted effort to work. It was just a clash of different policies," he said.

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Forty-five officers were investigated, which is about a quarter of the staff. Seven ended up getting written reprimands, 20 were suspended without pay anywhere from two days to 30 days. Eighteen were either cleared or not disciplined.

Buckley said the police detail was supposed to be two officers working a six-hour overnight construction detail and then two more working the remaining six hours. The chief said the utility company paying for the police details shelled out about $17,000 for details that were not staffed.  The officers who falsified their hours have to pay the money back.

At least one officer collected about $2,000 of unworked hours.

"These are good men and women. They are. They have served this community well. They are contrite. There is zero question about that. They are going forward and they are going to serve this community again with honor and dignity," said Buckley.

The District Attorney's Office has been contacted but there are no criminal charges right now, according to Buckley, but he says that is still a possibility after they look into how it happened.

Cox Media Group