(To Whom It May Concern, Reprinted from June 20, 2020)

There is a lot of concern about how the Springfield Police Department treats minorities in the community and rightfully so. Has anyone taken the time to think about how the minority police officers are treated within the Springfield Police Department? Probably not, but we are hurting just as bad as the community is hurting. There is systemic racism within the Springfield Police Department.
A couple of weeks ago minority Officers and Supervisors were summoned to meet with the Police Commissioner about what improvements can be made for police officers to better relate with the community and improve community relations. We were discouraged and disgusted as we sat there. The Police Commissioner has been working for the department for over 40 years and knows the discrimination, very well, of both the community and against minority police officers within the department. How can she be the one that leads us to a new era with her history being tied to the past the way it is? If she continues to pretend that there is no problem or can’t see that we have a problem, how can she fix the problem? Did she honestly think that we were stupid enough to really tell her the truth? We know how this system works and speaking the truth about race inside the Springfield Police Department is not healthy for our careers. This is a truth that is clearly known within the department. An email was sent out for us to meet at the Riverfront Park for a group photograph to show that we are united. This is a terrible attempt to pretend things aren’t as they are. We took this photograph under duress. It was made well known that those who did not attend a mental note would be made of your absence.
Covid-19 is still prevalent and the Police Commissioner thought it would be a great idea to group hundreds of officers together shoulder to shoulder without masks or social distancing per CDC recommendations as well as Governor Baker. We are still under an order by the Governor to limit group gatherings. This was very irresponsible of her, all for a photo shoot. She not only put our health at risk increasing our chances of getting and spreading Covid-19 to others but she also put the Community at risk of having to be without law enforcement officers as this could result in increased cases of Covid-19 within the Springfield Police Department leaving the community without Law Enforcement Officers to patrol our streets. Is taking a photograph more important than our health and the safety of our Community?
If we have systemic racism throughout our Country, as well as the state and city, how can we be so naive to think it’s not within the Springfield Police Department? We have a Police Commissioner who can’t even testify in court because of lies she told in the past while under oath. We still have several other Caucasian officers currently working who also can’t testify in court due to, also, lying under oath but yet they are still members of the Springfield Police Department collecting checks and overtime from the City of Springfield. There are also many others that have been caught lying in reports to Internal Affairs and shouldn’t be testifying in court either without Brady/Giglio obligations. Retired …………….. wanted to correct this issue but was ordered not to by the past Police Commissioner. This is a disgrace and embarrassing to the Department.
We have ………………., Caucasian man, who pulled a gun in the parking lot of Walmart on Boston Road pointing it recklessly all over the parking lot at adults and children. ………………. also lied on his report about this incident. ……………….’s written account of this incident that night did not match up with the video surveillance of the crime. There were no consequences for his actions. This same ………………. was photographed sleeping on duty several times. A very intense investigation was conducted, not into why he was sleeping on duty (which he has done his whole career and this is a well known fact by everyone) but instead into who took the photograph. This investigation seemed to zero in on minority supervisors for some strange reason. ………………. was moved to the day shift as a reward for his actions. He still sleeps on duty in front of a staff of about 20 people often snoring very loudly. You’ll see a pattern throughout our letter.
Retired ………………., an African American, was run out of the police department based on lies. He was treated unfairly in the manner of which no other member of this department has ever been treated. If you look at the statements contained within this investigation, you will clearly see what we are talking about. This systemic attack was led by then Deputy Chief Clapprood. ………………. directed a white Sergeant to take a call, which he did not want to take. We implore you to contact ………………. and have a conversation with him about how he was treated by the Springfield Police Department. Compare this to retired, white, ………………. who sexually assaulted a female employee in the office in front of witnesses, who basically got a slap on the hand and was told not to do it again. In comparison, it is clear that there is favoritism based upon race.
We implore you to also contact ………………., African American, who is also being driven out of the department with similar tactics that were used to force ………………. out of the department. She was a victim of sexual harassment, filed a complaint, and unfortunately she was forced to attend weekly staff meetings with her harasser sitting directly across from her glaring at her every week.
Two minority police officers were involved in an off duty car accident and were suspended for their actions. An off duty, Caucasian police officer during his probationary period was involved in a similar car accident, however, he was actually driving under the influence of alcohol. He identified himself as a police officer and then left the scene before police cruisers arrived to take a report. This Caucasian officer was not suspended or disciplined. He was taken care of by the good ole boy network. We could go on for days with stories such as these where minority officers are discriminated against within the Springfield Police Department on a daily basis solely based on our race.
Following is a rough breakdown of the number of minority Supervisors in the Springfield Police Department:

1. 42 Sergeants and only 9 are minority
2. 19 Lieutenants and only 8 are minority
3. 10 Captains and only 1 is minority
4. 3 Deputies and only 1 is minority

Out of approximately 74 supervisors, 19 are minorities. Where is the diversity in these numbers we ask? The low number of minority supervisors is, in part, due to the fact that positions are held for officers who meet the good ole boy network criteria based on the color of their skin. Hence, when ………………. was first awaiting his promotion to Captain, he wasn’t promoted. The day after the promotional list that he was number one on expired, the Commissioner decided now was a good time to promote a Captain from the list, which of course was a Caucasian officer. ……………….’s resume, life experience, and community dedication speaks for itself. The only reason he wasn’t promoted was based on the color of his skin.
As you can see, racial injustices are not only a concern within the community but it is also very prevalent within the Springfield Police Department. This injustice needs to stop both within our department as well as the community. We love this city. We love this police department but if we don’t take this opportunity to make a meaningful change, we stand to have the next George Floyd happen here in the City of Homes. We wrote this letter anonymously due to the fact that we are fearful for our safety and retaliation. We are hopeful that you will look further into these examples listed above as well as the inequalities within the Springfield Police Department. If no real actions are taken, it is possible for us to write more letters with worst details of treatments that have occurred within the Springfield Police Department.

Thank You,
Some of the Minority Officers of the Springfield
Police Department

cc: Honorable Mayor Domenic Sarno
cc: MassLive
cc: Af-Am Point Of View
Jay (6/19/2020)