More than a year after the Ashland Police Department became mired in an internecine feud, the embattled police chief was placed on paid administrative leave Monday.
Scott Rohmer’s contract, which expires in June, will not be renewed, said Town Manager Anthony Schiavi, a retiring Air Force colonel who was sworn into office Wednesday.
In recent months, Rohmer, the town, and other officers have faced discrimination complaints filed by two female officers, as well as a lawsuit brought by two other officers.
Rohmer has denied most charges, but admitted last year to asking a subordinate officer to conduct a forensic search of his wife’s laptop and cellphone, according to an investigator hired by the town. The investigator rejected Rohmer’s assertion that he had permission from his wife.
Suspicious of her having an affair? Must be hell living in that house.
“We’re going to start with a bottom-up review of the entire department,” Schiavi said at a press conference, after announcing Rohmer’s exit to the entire Police Department.
The decision to move forward without Rohmer is the first step of many needed to turn the department around, Schiavi said.
“The first step in any recovery is admitting there’s a problem,” Schiavi said. “The community needs to believe in us again and trust us again.”
Rohmer said he was disappointed in Schiavi’s decision.
“I think the new town manager doesn’t have a full understanding of what’s going on,” said Rohmer, reached at his home after the announcement. “I’ve been a faithful servant of this community for 28 years as a police professional. I think the Police Department needs me there.”
Rohmer, a lifelong Ashland resident, said he has been working hard to address false allegations against the Police Department, including those made against him.
His attorney, Doug Louison, said it is telling that the town did not try to remove Rohmer for cause or initiate any disciplinary action against him.
Rohmer has been chief since 2007. His annual base salary is $105,469, Schiavi said.
Stephen Doherty, a retired police chief with 33 years of law enforcement experience, will take over as acting chief on April 8, Schiavi said. Until then, Lieutenant David Beaudoin, a defendant in two of the legal actions who has denied all allegations, will be in charge of the department.
Schiavi said putting Rohmer on leave was a difficult decision because “the chief has invested a tremendous amount of time in this department; he loves this department.”
Two of three legal complaints pending against Rohmer and others were filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, each by a female officer alleging gender discrimination and describing the department as an abusive and sexually hostile workplace.
The third complaint was filed jointly by Sergeant Robert MacQuarrie and Lieutenant Richard Briggs in Norfolk Superior Court in September. They allege Rohmer retaliated against them after they signed a complaint against the chief.
The allegations in the lawsuit were investigated last year by Edward C. Doocey, a Quincy lawyer hired by the town to review the charges against Rohmer, back when they were in the form of a complaint, rather than a lawsuit.
Doocey wrote that he found no evidence to support most of the allegations, including one that charged Rohmer had misappropriated department funds. But Doocey called the purchase of $13,000 worth of insignia jackets, some of which Rohmer acknowledged giving to family and friends, an “ill-conceived expenditure.”
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Someone else saying adios for a while:
"Rezwan Ferdaus of Ashland sentenced to 17 years in terror plot" by Brian Ballou | Globe Staff, November 01, 2012
A 26-year-old Ashland man was sentenced Thursday morning in federal court to 17 years in prison for planning to crash explosives-laden model airplanes into the Pentagon and US Capitol and rigging cellphones to detonate improvised explosive devices to kill American troops.
Rezwan Ferdaus, who grew up in Massachusetts and has a physics degree from Northeastern University, began planning a holy war against the United States in 2010 after becoming convinced by seeing jihadi websites and videos that America is evil. He later approached a federal informant and met with undercover agents to discuss a plot.
No, it's AmeriKa -- representing its leadership and government -- that is evil.
Related: The Ashland Patsy's About Face
Yes, it's just another patsy plot frame-up to reinforce the 9/11 narrative. For all we know, this guy was/is an agent. Physics degree from Northeastern, huh? Then he knows it is impossible for buildings to collapse that way due to jet fuel fires, right?
Undercover FBI agents supplied Ferdaus, a US citizen, with money to buy the planes, explosives, three grenades, and six AK-47 assault rifles. He was arrested after he locked the explosives and guns in a Framingham storage facility he had rented. Authorities have said the public was never in danger from the arms.
As Ferdaus walked into the US District Court courtroom in Boston, about a dozen family members and friends stood, waved at him and yelled, “We love you!” His mother, Anamaria, sitting in the front row, repeatedly instructed him to “keep your head up.”
Ferdaus acknowledged his supporters, smiling widely and lifting his cuffed hands to wave back. The courtroom then fell silent, awaiting the entry of Judge Richard Stearns.
In an address to the court, Ferdaus said “no dehumanization can serve as justification for inhumanity in other places,” but he did not specify what he was referring to. He also did not make a direct mention of his Muslim faith or terrorism by Islamic fundamentalists.
Instead, he talked about his mind-set as he faces 17 years behind bars.
“I can dream of a brighter future,’’ Ferdaus said. “God willing, I will acclimate. I am in acceptance of my fate.’’
So which mission is next? Given the staged and scripted nature of the psy-op media these days who really knows?
From the bench, Stearns seemed to have been moved by Ferdaus’s introspective statement, telling him “the statement convinces me you have the character and the capacity to search your own soul.’’
The judge also said he had received numerous letters of support from family and friends of Ferdaus, including a letter from his parents that contained photographs chronicling their son’s life.
Ferdaus was facing a 35-year sentence, but under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to drop four of six charges and to jointly recommend with the defense a sentence of 17 years.
I guess he got of light, huh?
--more--"
Rezwan Ferdaus, who grew up in Massachusetts and has a physics degree from Northeastern University, began planning a holy war against the United States in 2010 after becoming convinced by seeing jihadi websites and videos that America is evil. He later approached a federal informant and met with undercover agents to discuss a plot.
No, it's AmeriKa -- representing its leadership and government -- that is evil.
Related: The Ashland Patsy's About Face
Yes, it's just another patsy plot frame-up to reinforce the 9/11 narrative. For all we know, this guy was/is an agent. Physics degree from Northeastern, huh? Then he knows it is impossible for buildings to collapse that way due to jet fuel fires, right?
Undercover FBI agents supplied Ferdaus, a US citizen, with money to buy the planes, explosives, three grenades, and six AK-47 assault rifles. He was arrested after he locked the explosives and guns in a Framingham storage facility he had rented. Authorities have said the public was never in danger from the arms.
As Ferdaus walked into the US District Court courtroom in Boston, about a dozen family members and friends stood, waved at him and yelled, “We love you!” His mother, Anamaria, sitting in the front row, repeatedly instructed him to “keep your head up.”
Ferdaus acknowledged his supporters, smiling widely and lifting his cuffed hands to wave back. The courtroom then fell silent, awaiting the entry of Judge Richard Stearns.
In an address to the court, Ferdaus said “no dehumanization can serve as justification for inhumanity in other places,” but he did not specify what he was referring to. He also did not make a direct mention of his Muslim faith or terrorism by Islamic fundamentalists.
Instead, he talked about his mind-set as he faces 17 years behind bars.
“I can dream of a brighter future,’’ Ferdaus said. “God willing, I will acclimate. I am in acceptance of my fate.’’
So which mission is next? Given the staged and scripted nature of the psy-op media these days who really knows?
From the bench, Stearns seemed to have been moved by Ferdaus’s introspective statement, telling him “the statement convinces me you have the character and the capacity to search your own soul.’’
The judge also said he had received numerous letters of support from family and friends of Ferdaus, including a letter from his parents that contained photographs chronicling their son’s life.
Ferdaus was facing a 35-year sentence, but under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to drop four of six charges and to jointly recommend with the defense a sentence of 17 years.
I guess he got of light, huh?
--more--"
