		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="109460728"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><header class="article-header">
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Fall out of the overtime scandal and other problems at the Massachusetts State Police, </strong></span><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>dept accused of trying to destroy payroll records during fraud investigations</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Mass State Police is under widespread scrutiny amid the several scandals</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Federal and state prosecutors have charged eight current and former troopers in the ongoing overtime fraud scandal, using dept records</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>State Police got many warnings on payroll abuse. And they did nothing</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Records show leaders were repeatedly confronted not only with remarkable amounts of OT, but also suspicious sick time claims and sloppy record-keeping</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>The Democratic gubernatorial nomine Jay Gonzalez calls for firing heads of State Police, public safety office</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Gonzalez is claiming Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin and Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett have failed to do enough to reform State Police</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Mass State Police to hire Ernst &; Young to audit pay practices after overtime fraud scandal</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Federal grand jury targeted wide spread State Police overtime abuse</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="article-header__headline"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Over 20 state troopers are accused of falsifying overtime records &#8211; Collecting pay for overtime hours they did not wor</strong></span>k</h6>
</header>
<div class="article-body">
<div class="article-content article-content--hidden">
<h6><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-300443" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/State-Police-headquarters-in-Framingham-1.jpg" alt="State Police headquarters in Framingham 1.JPG" width="955" height="638" />Under fire: State Police headquarters in Framingham., Mass</strong></h6>
<p>Amid numerous ongoing investigations into overtime and payroll fraud, the Massachusetts State Police Department has tried several times in recent months to destroy more than a hundred boxes of payroll, attendance, and personnel documents that span decades, records show.<br />
The current probe kicked off in March when state police commander, Col. Kerry Gilpin announced that more than 20 State Troopers, including one who is retired, were being investigated for allegedly receiving payment for shifts they may not have worked, which could criminal charges if warranted.<br />
That announcement came in the wake of a Boston Globe review of payroll data showing that 245 Massachusetts state troopers made more than $200,000 in 2017.<br />
Many of them supplemented their regular salary by taking on long overtime shifts or taking on multiple details directing traffic or providing security at special events, which is not uncommon in many police departments.<br />
According to the Globe <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/12/state-police-troopers-earned-more-than-last-year/1LM2sE7Z5OJLujXQv9ZXyK/story.html?utm_campaign=2018-3-13+Stateline+Daily&;utm_medium=email&;utm_source=Pew" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">report</a>, four troopers collected more than $300,000, including three who took buyouts when they retired amid controversy.<br />
The median pay for a state trooper was $145,413.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-300455" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Massachusetts-State-police-cruiser-2.jpg" alt="Massachusetts State police cruiser 2.jpg" width="700" height="525" /></p>
<p>In the course of the investigations, the department asked a state document retention board three times this year for its approval to destroy the files, including once in March, just days after it was revealed that payroll records for an entire 140-trooper unit had been kept hidden for years.<br />
in a strange twist the Records Conservation Board tabled each State Police request, citing the records’ potential involvement in ongoing investigations, according to documents provided by the board. Each State Police request sought the destruction of the only existing copies of the records in question.<br />
Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement Wednesday that “none of the records in question have been destroyed.”<br />
“The recent requests made to the board are in compliance with the [Secretary of State’s] retention schedule and the records, due to their age, are not currently the subject of any outside investigation or audit,” Procopio added.</p>
<aside class="related-box">
<div class="related-box__image-container">
<div class="related-box__button bg-button bg-button--article-tool"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-300444" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Boston-PD-cruiser-1.jpg" alt="Boston PD cruiser 1.JPG" width="747" height="476" /><strong>Mass State Police is under widespread scrutiny amid the several scandals. Federal and state prosecutors have charged eight current and former troopers in the ongoing overtime fraud scandal, using department records.</strong></div>
</div>
<p class="related-box__description">
</aside>
<p>According to Procopio, payroll records will be retained “until further notice.”<br />
The request to destroy the records was first reported by CommonWealth Magazine on Tuesday.<br />
<b class="b"></b>The department is under widespread scrutiny amid the several scandals. Federal and state prosecutors have charged eight current and former troopers in the ongoing overtime fraud scandal, using department records.<br />
Governor Charlie Baker has <a class="a" href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/29/state-police-conspiracy-could-back-years-baker-says/fTMu4vlBJpxmuDgqKIWQqL/story.html" shape="rect">described</a> the overtime fraud scandal as a “conspiracy” that “goes back a long time”.<br />
In the midst of department’s own review into 2016 and 2015 payroll records, gov Baker promised “if we find some of the violations there, we’ll look back into 2014&#8230;. We’re going to continue to go back into previous years and review those records.”<br />
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<h5 class="article-header__headline"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-300458" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Charlie-Baker-1.jpg" alt="Charlie Baker 1.jpg" width="952" height="631" /><strong>“if we find some of the violations there, we’ll look back into 2014&#8230;. We’re going to continue to go back into previous years and review those records.” -Mass governor Charlie Baker</strong></h5>
<p>State agencies are forbidden to destroy records without the approval of the six-member Records Conservation Board. State law requires agencies to keep records for a certain amount of time, which varies depending on the type of record. After the required retention period has passed, agencies can seek permission from the board.<br />
The three forms submitted by State Police were signed by department officials — including its directors of finance and human resources — and each attested that the records in question were not subject to any “pending or actual audit or investigation.”<br />
In denying the State Police three requests, the six-member Records Conversation Board cited pending investigations as the basis for keeping the files, documents show.<br />
The timing of the State Police requests raises questions.<br />
In March, Colonel Kerry Gilpin held a press conference accusing 20 troopers of fraudulently collecting overtime pay.<br />
Days later, a Globe <a class="a" href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/25/state-police-pay-higher-than-reported-data-hidden-for-years/pl9kAs38FTIy4pOydr08bJ/story.html" shape="rect">report</a> revealed payroll records for an entire 140-trooper State Police division, including some of the department’s top earners — had been hidden for years, prompting sharp criticism and a vow from the notoriously secretive law enforcement agency to be more transparent.<br />
Two days after the Globe report, the agency quietly filed the first of its requests to destroy documents.<br />
The request sought permission to dispose of 115 banker boxes of time and attendance records covering 2010 and 2011, along with “bank and cash” and “billings and collections” records from 2009 through 2013, plus “routine accounting” records for 2001 through 2013.</p>
<h6><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-300456" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Maura-Healey-1.jpg" alt="Maura Healey 1.jpg" width="983" height="800" />Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey. Her office has filed charges against three troopers, and has said to expect more, in the overtime fraud case.</strong></h6>
<p>In April, State Police filed a separate request to destroy 40 more banker boxes of records, a varied mix of personnel, payroll, and retiree records spanning numerous years, including time and attendance calendars from July 1994 through 2014.<br />
The department’s ongoing internal audit into overtime fraud began with a review of payroll records from 2016. It finished that portion of its review over the summer and had moved on to reviewing 2015 records.<br />
The third and most recent request to destroy 12 more boxes of records was filed last month. Those boxes contained payroll records from 2009 through 2012, including detail and roster assignments, for Troop F.<br />
Troop F, which is funded by the Massachusetts Port Authority to patrol its properties including Logan International Airport in Boston and the city’s Seaport, came under fire in late March for hiding trooper pay records for years.<br />
In 2017, State Police sought to destroy records just once. The board approved that request to dispose of state crime lab documents, but noted it did not involve any records tied to the lab’s scandals in recent years.<br />
The Records Conservation Board is chaired by a designee of Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, which has filed charges against three troopers, and has said to expect more, in the overtime fraud case.</p>
<p> ;</p>
</div>
</div>

Massachusetts State Police accused of ‘trying to destroy payroll records during fraud investigations’ – reports
