Two police unions in Holyoke, Mass., are calling for a city councilor to resign — citing the councilor’s drunk driving arrest in late-December.
At-Large City Councilor Israel Rivera has said he’s looking to rebuild trust following the incident. With body camera footage of his arrest surfacing, police union members are calling for Rivera's resignation and an ethics review.
Taking to Facebook hours after his Dec. 21st arrest, Israel Rivera asked the public for patience and understanding.
First elected in 2021, Rivera has long been an advocate for the formerly incarcerated while also calling for accountability in both city government and the police department. Almost immediately after his release last month, he also appeared to be the first to report his own OUI case, stating that he wished to be transparent with the public.
Weeks later, though, two local police unions have been calling for more than that, especially given statements Rivera made over the course of his arrest.
Footage of the councilor’s arrest and questioning began to surface over the past week – largely in the form of a 20-minute video provided to WAMC by Local 409.
The footage includes Rivera initially being approached by state police as his car sits on a sidewalk. According to court paperwork, Rivera initially explained that he was hoping to stop at a convenience store after leaving an event at a nearby country club.
“… you’re going to have your foot parallel to the ground - about six inches, okay?” a trooper is heard telling Rivera amid a sobriety test.
“Damn, that's crazy!” the councilor responded with laughter. “Even if I was sober, I wouldn't be able to do that!”
Following sobriety tests and some initial levity, the mood quickly darkened as Rivera was put into cuffs and then a police vehicle.
“I'm the one that makes your f@#$ing budget, n@#$%,” he says while in a state police cruiser. “You want to take it to the next level, man, that’s fine. When it comes to me voting on your s@#$ - I'm going to vote ‘no,’ bro.”
Throughout the video, Rivera is heard bringing up police funding and claims that he would “vote no” or reject funding for police in the future.
WAMC notes that while Rivera may have been referring to the Holyoke Police Department’s budget, it was Massachusetts State Police who observed him allegedly speeding downtown and running a red light before ending up parked on a sidewalk – leading to three citations – one for “Operating Under the Influence – Liquor,” another for failure to stop or yield and one for speeding.
It was also while he was in a state police barracks in Springfield that Rivera appeared to bring up his ties with Mayor Joshua Garcia.
“… you don’t understand, the mayor is, like, my best friend,” Rivera told a trooper at one point. “He just called me right now - he was like ‘what the f@#$, dude?’”
The footage itself was captured by a body camera worn by State Trooper Daniel Harpin Jr. – capturing everything from Rivera attempting a sobriety test to repeatedly admitting he had been drinking to asking for discretion from the officers.
“I'm a city councilor… I came from a whole event,” he said while cuffed outside of his vehicle. “Like, you can't really work with me, bro? Everybody else gets a pass, but I don’t get a pass?”
While Harpin’s bodycam appears to be the video’s source, the video obtained by WAMC is not continuous RAW footage. The 20-minute video is edited, splicing different parts of Rivera’s arrest out of order.
Timestamps on Harpin’s video suggest at least two hours passed between Rivera first being approached by troopers on Appleton Street and statements he made while at MSP’s B3 barracks. The video only covers 1/6 of the incident.
Superimposed text was also added, such as “Police Budget” or “UPSET,” marking different parts of the video and seemingly commentating on Rivera’s statements and actions.
WAMC previously requested the night’s body camera footage from state police, but on Wednesday, Jan. 21, that request was denied. MSP officials say because the footage is considered “investigatory material” in an active criminal prosecution, it’s exempt from public disclosure.
The statement read in-part:
“As these records contain statements of involved parties, impressions of the investigating Troopers and the booking process, the release of the above-referenced records is not in the public’s interest, as such release could potentially taint any potential jury pool. Therefore, the records you seek are not subject to release at this time pursuant to M.G.L. c. 4, §7, cl. 26 (f).”
In the meantime, both Local 388 and 409 are now calling for Rivera’s resignation.
Initially, in early January, the unions reached out to the city solicitor and other city leaders to ask that “written guidance” be drawn up, determining whether or not it would be a conflict of interest for Rivera to vote on police-related business or if he should recuse himself from voting.
After obtaining the arrest footage, however, the unions are now calling for Rivera to leave the council, adding that a “formal ethics complaint” had been filed.
As first reported by the Springfield Republican newspaper, the State Ethics Commission says municipal employees, including city councilors, are barred from attempting to use their “official position to secure an unwarranted privilege.”
Regarding Rivera, the ethics commission tells WAMC they are not able to confirm or deny that they have received an ethics-related complaint from Holyoke.
Because of ongoing legal proceedings, Rivera told WAMC Tuesday that he cannot comment on his arrest or the case, but said he was “not surprised” by the way in which footage of his arrest had been compiled and released.
Since the incident, the councilor has been taking part in regular meetings and was even picked by most of his colleagues to serve as the council’s vice president on Jan. 5.
It’s all a situation Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti says she is keeping track of - balancing due process with public concern.
“Until there is a conviction, until there is something that we are being told we need to do as a body, it's not my job as, council president, to weigh in on an active case,” she told WAMC Tuesday. “What … I do have authority over is appointing the council subcommittees, and I did not reappoint Councilor [Israel] Rivera to the public safety subcommittee for obvious reasons.”
“I wanted to respect the concerns of the public while also maintaining the respect of due process,” she added. “Everyone is entitled to due process. That's the most important thing I can do right now, until we have further instructions or further decisions made.”
Rivera’s is not the only councilor-related OUI case the city’s faced in recent years. Back in 2017, then-councilor David Bartley lost his license following a crash in Springfield, but ultimately remained on the council, only departing after losing his bid for re-election eight years later.
Rivera has pleaded not guilty in his case. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26.
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This piece originally aired on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.
The full video of Rivera's Dec. 21, 2025 arrest shared by Local 409 can be found here.
