For State Police troopers, the bad headlines keep coming despite promises of reform

On May 4, Massachusetts REALTORS® unite as one powerful voice at the annual Margaret C. Carlson REALTOR® Day on Beacon Hill. This year, REALTORS® are fighting to increase housing access by advancing zoning reform, housing production, fair housing education, funding for crumbling concrete foundations, and pre-service board & commission training—and opposing real estate transfer taxes and rent control.

Many Massachusetts residents have been asking “where is the audit?” as Beacon Hill leaders tangle with Auditor Diana DiZoglio, mostly through legal briefs and the media.

Some residents may also be asking, “What the heck is still going on with the State Police?”

It’s a question on people’s minds going back nearly a decade. The scandals are striking not just in the sheer number, but also in their variety. If the long-awaited turnaround is underway behind the scenes, as state officials say it is, it's having a tough time competing with the public spectacle of alleged crimes and grime found on trooper after trooper.

The latest involves a State Police detective, Scott Quigley, assigned to Middlesex DA Marian Ryan’s office. Her office told reporters Wednesday that they had to notify defendants in 142 cases that the detective worked on about him being charged with a felony motor vehicle homicide, stemming from a 2023 crash in Woburn.

But the problems for the public safety agency, where annual earnings can clear $400,000, date back to at least 2017. Two troopers said they felt pressured by top officials to remove embarrassing details from the arrest report of a judge’s daughter. The State Police’s colonel quickly retired, and Kevin Burke, former Gov. Deval Patrick’s public safety chief, authored a report saying, "The culture of the Massachusetts State Police must be transformed starting with management.”

Maura Healey, who was the attorney general at the time, declined to bring criminal charges, instead pointing to possible ethics violations. But the State Ethics Commission dismissed the case, saying in 2022 it could not prove the colonel and others violated conflict-of-interest law.

For a time, it was up to the feds to step in, with U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling charging troopers with overtime fraud, as well as the former State Police union’s president with racketeering and tax crimes. 

The agency has seen reforms since 2018, including body cameras and payroll audits. And it has a new leader picked by Gov. Healey: Col. Geoffrey Noble, an outsider who was appointed just after the death of a recruit, Enrique Delgado-Garcia.

Now 18 months into the job, Noble said in a statement Thursday that the agency is a “complex and evolving organization” that has seen measurable improvement. He appointed new command staff, established an Office of Community Affairs, developed a statewide recruitment campaign, instituted a series of training reforms and commissioned an outside assessment, and created an Office of Organizational Excellence to intervene before problem behavior draws a lawsuit or requires formal discipline.

“I recognize that public trust has been tested in this moment,” he said. “I remain resolute in my confidence in the women and men of this Department, and in our shared obligation to earn and uphold that trust each and every day.”

Boston Herald columnist Wendy Murphy went further in defending law enforcement, complaining about a “media obsession with bad cops” in an April 13 opinion piece. Perhaps fittingly, her column on the Herald’s website was slotted below a news story, headlined, “Two State Police officers in court this week for high profile criminal cases.”

There are so many State Police scandals that it’s hard to keep track. Do you believe a turnaround is underway, despite the headlines? Drop me a line: [email protected]

Senators Michael J. Rodrigues, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, and Paul R. Feeney, Assistant Vice Chair and Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, join REALTORS® from across Massachusetts at the annual Margaret C. Carlson REALTOR® Day on Beacon Hill to advocate for policies that increase access to homeownership and protect private property rights.

8:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz are expected to speak at Roca's fundraiser breakfast. Roca works with high-risk young people aged 16-24 involved in gangs and street violence. This year's breakfast puts a focus on a "growing dimension of that violence: human trafficking." | Intercontinental Hotel, 510 Atlantic Ave., Boston

10:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a ceremony for the swearing-in of Rodney Marshall as the next commissioner of the Boston Fire Department. | Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury

1:30 | Gov. Maura Healey holds a press conference to announce the winners of the administration’s ADU Design Challenge. Healey last year invited designers, architects and design professionals to submit "replicable, high-quality ADU prototypes that can be adapted by homeowners and local builders for free." | Great Hall, State House, Boston

2:30 | Immigrants and allies are expected to gather for a strike and rally calling for stronger protections of immigrant communities. Organizers say they are seeking an end to ICE activity in Massachusetts and for the Legislature to pass the "Protect Act" (H 5293 / S 3072) that aims to boost immigrant protections. | State House, Boston

4:30 | American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts leaders and other labor advocates hold a "May Day" rally including live music and guest speakers. The rally is meant to celebrate the effects of labor organizing and celebrate workers' contributions. | Boston Common's Parkman Bandstand at 139 Tremont St., Boston

5:30 | UMass Lowell holds an event "celebrating the philanthropy and impact” of UMass President Marty Meehan. UMass Lowell will rename its student center in honor of Meehan this weekend, in recognition of a new $1.5 million commitment his charitable foundation made to the campus to support student internships. The City of Lowell also plans to rename the street in front of the student center as Meehan Way. Program and reception with CNN anchor and correspondent John Berman as well as Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will follow. | University Crossing, 220 Pawtucket Street, Lowell

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has appointed Marcela Dwork as her next press secretary. Dwork recently worked as an account director at Boston-based public relations firm Denterlein, and previously held jobs with Middlesex DA Marian Ryan, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and Univision Boston. “Her career has been marked by a commitment to community and passion for sharing the stories that drive our city,” Wu said in a statement. “I look forward to her leadership of our Press Office and its critical role in ensuring information about City services and initiatives is easily accessible to all members of our community.” Dwork is a Colombian native who immigrated to the U.S. at age 22. She starts in her new role on May 4 and replaces Emma Pettit, who left in March.

Union leaders continue to ramp up their offensive against backers of the ballot question that would reduce the state income tax by a percentage point to 4%. Under the banner of the Protect Massachusetts Future ballot committee, SEIU 1199, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and others released a 30-second ad titled “Backroom Deal,” featuring the floating faces of Jay Ash, the head of the CEO-backed Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, and Mass. High Tech Council’s Chris Anderson. The ad reiterates the unions’ opposition to any deal to keep the income tax question off the November 2026 ballot, after House Speaker Ron Mariano has expressed some interest in sitting down with proponents. “Our proposal is the ballot question and if there are alternatives we have said all along we are willing to hear what other people’s alternatives are,” said Chris Keohan, spokesman for the income tax cut ballot committee, Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts.

Salem-area elected officials are hosting a fundraiser in the city for Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s reelection campaign next week. The host committee includes Mayor Dominick Pangallo, Sen. Joan Lovely, Rep. Manny Cruz, DA Paul Tucker and Register of Deeds Eileen Duff. Campbell is facing a GOP challenger, Lynnfield attorney Michael Walsh. At the end of March, Campbell had nearly $821,000 in cash on hand at the end of March, while Walsh had $3,427, according to publicly available reports.

Local urban design firm Speck Dempsey is expanding into the Midwest. The company, run by city planner Jeff Speck and former Mass. transportation official Chris Dempsey, hired Wisconsin native Mark Bennett, who lives in Chicago with his wife Maddie Kilgannon, a Dorchester Reporter alum, and their family. Bennett is a transportation planner and urban designer who previously worked at engineering firm Sam Schwartz.

Mass General Brigham’s commitment to improving community health beyond hospital walls continues as we address food insecurity. Through our partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank, we’re expanding access to nutritious food across the communities we serve.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: One year into a new unemployment benefits system, some are still facing delays in processing their applications, and the rate of delivery of benefits has fallen to worst-in-the-nation status. – CommonWealth Beacon 

CALL FOR AID: New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell took aim at Beacon Hill for not providing more local aid as House lawmakers wrapped up budget deliberations this week. “Ast year, we received the same amount of funding as we did in 2008,” he said in a radio interview. – Boston Herald

VOTING RIGHTS ACT: The Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act will “make it harder to defend minority communities,” state elections chief Bill Galvin said. He added he doesn’t anticipate challenges this year, but lawsuits could come before the 2028 election cycle. – Boston Globe

MOULTON SEAT: Lynnfield businessman John Beccia, one of the Democrats running for Seth Moulton’s congressional seat, is the co-founder and chairman of FS Vector, a firm that has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying and consulting for a porn industry trade association. – Eagle-Tribune

BOSTON FIRE: The incoming Boston fire commissioner, Rodney Marshall, has been claiming his home in Canton as a primary residence, but plans to comply with Boston’s residency mandate. – Boston Globe

T ON TRACK: The MBTA’s subway system had 92 million people stepping through its stations in 2025, the best year since the end of the pandemic, but still below the 145 million pre-pandemic benchmark. – Boston Business Journal

RED-LIGHT RUNNERS: Some Boston residents are expressing frustration with city traffic enforcement amid mopeds and drivers who run red lights. Mayor Michelle Wu fielded a call from one resident about the issue on the radio earlier this week. – MassLive

WORLD CUP T RIDE: MBTA chief Phil Eng defended the $80 commuter rail ticket for World Cup matches in Massachusetts, calling it a “fair” price and saying the agency isn’t recouping the costs of the special service. – WBUR

ICE KEEPS SLIPPING: A Boston federal judge ruled that ICE must free a Jamaican national because the federal immigration agency was unable to provide evidence it’s following its own regulations or say why they must deport him now. – Universal Hub

KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller's guest is Dr. Michael Rich of Boston Children’s Hospital, a pioneering scholar of the impact of media on child health and author of “The Mediatrician’s Guide: A Joyful Approach to Raising Healthy, Smart, Kind Kids in a Screen-Saturated World.” He discusses the flurry of recent bills on Beacon Hill regulating cellphone and social-media use.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Michael Rodrigues, the Senate’s Ways and Means chairman.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Mike Minogue, one of the two GOP candidates for governor.

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New study: State-funded pre-K is falling behind the rest of the country

Same judge to oversee both Karen Read court cases

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