A Boston Police Officer has
been suspended without pay for four months after following a woman in his
cruiser out of his jurisdiction and for no legal reason. Sgt. Joel McCarthy received the four month
suspension, after which he will remain on probation.
The Blackstonian would like to
draw a parallel between this case and the many cases of officer misconduct,
police brutality and the killing of civilians. In these cases officers are
rarely if ever suspended. In this case
which has been labeled “Stalking” the female victim was never touched or
physically harmed. In the cases of police brutality and death of civilians,
injuries range from bruises and black eyes, to internal organ damage and the
most severe result, death. Both
instances are abuses of power but how do we define the terms to effect a fair
scale for punishment?
There have been quick and swift
results, including suspension and termination for what I would consider
“lesser” offenses. A racially offensive email calling Black people “banana
eating jungle monkeys” is certainly less harmful than being shot in the back of
the head at point blank range. Being followed by an officer to your home is
“creepy” to say the least, but somehow it seems that an officer rupturing your
orbital socket with a flashlight or damaging your kidney with repeated blows is
far more severe.
As the City of Boston goes
through this stage of growing pains, for both the COB Administration and BPD
new brass, the most important work will be dealing with the past injustices and
breaking through the disparities in order to balance the scales and reset to
zero.
Details of an internal
investigation by the department were released on Wednesday. They found Sgt.
Joel McCarthy left his patrol district back in February to follow the victim
for miles after pulling her over. Investigators also found McCarthy looked up
her address and went to her home.
McCarthy was found to be in
violation for conduct unbecoming, traffic enforcement, and neglect of duty.