The state has opened a database containing disciplinary records for more than 2,100 Massachusetts police officers credibly accused of misconduct, including 30 officers who work or once worked in area communities or colleges.

Among those officers who faced discipline are one each from Athol, Orange, Royalston and Erving.  The newest disciplinary record in the database is linked to Orange Police Department’s Benjamin Kovacevic from Jan. 30. Kovacevic was not “fully accurate in a police report and use of force report,” according to the database, and received a suspension of one to five days.

Twelve officers from the Northampton Police Department faced discipline, the most among county police departments, according to the database — dating back to 1984 — maintained by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST commission. The statewide commission is a police oversight board established as part of a criminal justice reform law in 2020.

Hampshire County departments with officers who faced discipline included South Hadley, Amherst, and UMass Amherst (three each); Easthampton and Amherst College (two each); and Granby, Chesterfield, Hatfield, Belchertown and Holyoke Community College (one each). In Hampden County, the Holyoke Police Department had 15 officers listed, according to the database.

The database contains 3,413 records of 2,165 officers from 273 law enforcement agencies. It details thousands of allegations of misconduct against officers, the disciplinary outcomes, and some details of the incidents.

The POST Commission said it would update the document on a regular basis. It can be viewed on the POST website’s “View Law Enforcement Officer Disciplinary Records” section.

The three agencies with the most reportable disciplinary records are among the largest departments in the commonwealth: Massachusetts State Police (493 disciplinary records), Springfield (417) and Boston (373). Excluding the top three agencies, the average number of complaints for other police departments that had reportable disciplinary records is eight, though that number is not weighted to reflect the comparable size of each department.

The database offers a first glimpse at the backgrounds of local police officers and allows the public to scrape data to glean more information on bad behavior dating from December 1984 through Jan. 31, 2023.

Roughly 17% of police officers listed in the database received a written reprimand for their alleged misconduct. Another 12% got a written warning or letter of counseling and just over 9% were subject to retraining, according to the database.

Fewer than 1% of officers in the database were demoted or offered a last chance agreement and just over 5% were handed a suspension of between six and 29 days.

Half of the law enforcement agents in the database were accused of some form of conduct unbecoming of an officer. Roughly 2% of officers were accused of using excessive, non-deadly force, according to the database.

The oldest record in the database is Martin Conley of the Massachusetts State Police, who was charged with “conduct unbecoming” related to an incident on Dec. 14, 1984. Conley’s policing license is listed as “certified” and the discipline related to the incident is categorized as “other.” Officers who have resigned or retired in good standing are not included; the data reflect only those who have resigned or retired to avoid discipline.

“We are pleased with the progress of another major directive of our statute,” said Enrique Zuniga, POST Commission executive director, in a statement. “Since its inception, the POST Commission has ensured that we meet statutory obligations while focusing on the critical tasks associated with building this new agency. Over the past year, law enforcement agencies submitted disciplinary records and POST staff has worked carefully to validate these officer records for publishing. We know that releasing this information furthers police accountability and is a matter of great public interest.”

The reports contain law enforcement agency summaries of sustained allegations and discipline imposed on active police officers. In some instances, the discipline imposed is related to one or more allegations. The database also lists the officer’s name and law enforcement agency, and date and type of allegation. Certain CORI information has been redacted. The data does not reflect unfounded or non-sustained complaints.

Material from Chris Van Buskirk at the Boston Herald was used in this report.]]>