STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE of Energy and Environmental Affairs is investigating allegations of environmental police officers spending portions of the work day at home and receiving overtime for patrolling parks and pools, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday.
A five-month undercover investigation by WCVB-TV (Channel 5) showed footage of environmental police with their state vehicles at home for hours at a time during the workday. Other footage showed Sgt. Chris Folan as he towed a boat from Lakeville to Hingham and then spent a few hours “hanging around.”
“I’ve talked to the folks at Environmental Affairs that they need to look through some of the issues that were raised by the report and if there are issues associated with people behaving inappropriately and treating the taxpayers with less than the respect that they deserve, then we’ll take action on that,” Baker told reporters Monday.
The office, headed up Secretary Matt Beaton, a former Republican House member from Shrewsbury, has been dinged by scandals previously. Top officials in the Department of Conservation and Recreation were suspended last summer for using taxpayer resources on a July 4
th private party and one of those officials later left the agency after allegedly using lights and sirens to bypass traffic.
Another top state environmental official resigned and the state moved to terminate a personnel officer following allegations by a program coordinator working for the environmental police that she faced political retribution on the job because her fiancé is challenging Westfield Republican Sen. Don Humason.
Asked about environmental officers making overtime for patrolling parks and pools for DCR, Baker said, “That’s the stuff people are looking into.”
The governor said he is unbothered by one state agency providing security services to another state agency, noting State Police officers provide security for Department of Transportation projects. The Department of Conservation and Recreation has a ranger contingent that provides security within the State House and also patrols state parks.
Baker was quizzed about the issue by WCVB reporter Kathy Curran, whose story on Friday alleged that environmental police officers are allowed to split their shifts “to accommodate the lucrative details in the middle of their work days.”
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About Andy Metzger
Andy Metzger is currently studying law at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics.
Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.
About Andy Metzger
Andy Metzger is currently studying law at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics.
Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.
“I would say that that depends on the circumstances and the facts of the case, which is why we’re investigating that, and if people have played fast and loose with the rules we’ll do something about it,” Baker said.
Col. James McGinn, director of the environmental police, told the news station that officers can work from home if they are writing reports or washing their cruisers.
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