The POST Commission was established by the legislature in 2020, with a stated mission to “improve policing and enhance public confidence in law enforcement by implementing a fair process for mandatory certification, discipline, and training for all peace officers in the Commonwealth.”
Earlier in 2023, the commission released a report on the certification status of Massachusetts police officers, identifying whether they meet the criteria to serve in the commonwealth — including whether they are currently suspended.
The disciplinary records database is by no means a complete representation of police misconduct, as it relies on self-reporting by individual departments and is subject to redaction. Some Berkshire communities – including Great Barrington, Dalton, and others – did not contribute a single misconduct report to the database.
The Pittsfield Police Department, the largest department in Berkshire County, has 17 officers in the database, including one of its most visible representatives, Officer Darren Derby. Derby regularly posts updates about his community outreach work in the city to his Facebook page and its 175,000 followers. The POST Commission database shows that he was disciplined for “Improper Seizure of Cell Phone, Improper Dissemination of Official Information, Improper Search of Cell Phone, [and] Illegal Seizure of Person and Cell Phone” stemming from a January 19th, 2022 incident. Derby received just a written reprimand for what the report categorizes as multiple acts of misconduct and outright criminal conduct.
“Yes, we have some police officers who have had to be disciplined. And I think that you can see that the department has taken that seriously over the years that are included in this report. So, again, I feel that our department is in good standing, and that we take seriously misconduct, that misconduct is investigated, and discipline is administered depending upon the outcome of that investigation," Mayor Linda Tyer told WAMC. “Discipline is progressive. And so, for example, you might see a disciplinary determination that includes a written reprimand. It may be that it is the first time that this police officer has been involved in some form of misconduct. And then as you can see, the discipline progresses over time with each incident. And in some cases, misconduct has resulted in termination.”
Only one of the 17 PPD officers in the database came close to facing termination for misconduct. Robert Horne, found to have lied to investigators, gambled, associated with known criminals, and visited “prohibited establishments,” faced “termination or similar” discipline in 2012. Despite this, Horne remains on the force to this day according to a PPD personnel report from this February.
The most recent serious disciplinary action taken beyond written reprimands or retaining concerns Officer Steven Haecker. The database categorizes his misconduct as “Criminal Conduct ‐ Other criminal conduct, Truthfulness or Professional Integrity ‐ Other form of untruthfulness, Other Misconduct ‐ Other / conduct unbecoming, Other Misconduct ‐ Improper firearm usage or storage.” The details are redacted, but it notes that he was charged with a misdemeanor. Haecker received a suspension of over 30 days for the incident, and is on active duty on the force today.
When reached by WAMC, Pittsfield Police said Interim Chief Thomas Dawley was unavailable for comment on the department’s showing in the records.
Only one officer from North Adams – the Berkshires’ second-largest community – is included in the database. Officer Erik Thomas received 1-5-day suspensions in 2021 and 2022 for first neglect of duty and then excessive use of force.
Perhaps the most remarkable Berkshire entry is that of Sheffield Police Officer Matthew O’Sullivan, who has racked up eight separate misconduct incidents in the database since 2017. Despite receiving “Termination or similar” discipline for his first infraction – in which he apparently admitted to violating use of force standards over the course of duty – he has since gone on to receive various retrainings, suspensions, and written warnings for a battery of offenses. Those include excessive unwarranted pat frisks, questionable motor vehicle stops, use of the N-word, lies to investigators and superiors in reports, and unlawful detention. A December 2022 investigative report by independent journalist Andrew Quemere details the 11 internal probes, lawsuits, and criminal investigations O’Sullivan has been the subject of over his career. In 2021, then-District Attorney Andrea Harrington included him on a list of police officers whose credibility is too questionable to rely on in court. In 2020, O’Sullivan was found by Harrington to have filed a false police report while working for Egremont in an incident where a woman was knocked unconscious while in police custody. Despite the officer blaming the woman for her injury, video shows her hitting her head while being forced into a cruiser by police. Before his prolific Berkshire County career, O’Sullivan resigned from the Shirley Police Department for kicking a man in the groin while he was in police custody.
When reached by WAMC, the Sheffield PD said it was unavailable to comment until Chief Eric Munson returned from vacation next week.
