Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell is calling on Mayor Kim Janey to launch an independent probe into the police department's handling of child molestation allegations against former officer Patrick Rose.
Campbell criticized Janey for releasing "incomplete" documents from a 1990s internal affairs investigation into Rose around the same time that Derek Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd. Both women are running for mayor in an upcoming fall election.
“Transparency in the Rose case is what Bostonians deserve but not what we got on Tuesday," Campbell said in a statement.
Rose, a retired officer and the one-time president of the Boston Patrolmen's Association, was able to keep his badge despite sufficient evidence found by Boston Police internal investigators to support allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor, according to documents released Tuesday.
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The city released 13 pages of the internal affairs report. Janey said the rest was withheld to protect the identity of the victims.
"Heavily redacted and incomplete internal affairs files were released within twenty minutes of the most anticipated national news of the week," Campbell said, "the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd."
Chauvin's conviction sparked reaction in Boston and across the U.S. Activists called for change in demonstrations across the city Wednesday, arguing that Chauvin's conviction is only a step toward justice.
Campbell is now demanding that additional records be released and that Janey enlist the U.S. Attorney to conduct the investigation.
"There are so many questions left unanswered by the Administration," Campbell said. "I am calling on Acting Mayor Janey to enlist the U.S. Attorney to conduct a full, independent investigation, and calling for the immediate release of the full internal affairs files including facts of the case and disciplinary action. If BPD is refusing to release this information, the people deserve to know.”
A criminal complaint against Rose was eventually dropped. Rose had been relieved of his weapon and placed on administrative duty, but was returned to full duty after an attorney for the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association wrote to the commissioner in October 1997 and threatened to file a grievance, according to the documents.
Then-Boston Police Commissioner Paul F. Evans was notified in a June 1996 memo of the results of the probe. Evans is also calling for a full release of documents after Janey said previous police leaders had “neglected their duty to protect and serve.”
Janey called it "deeply unsettling and entirely unacceptable" that Rose remained on the force for two decades and eventually became head of the police union.
Evans argued the report in its entirety would show the full scope of actions taken against Rose.
Rose now faces 33 charges involving six alleged victims. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer says he maintains his innocence.
