Safety of all citizens and preserving quality of life issues are what we should expect from our town leaders. Issues like the LNG Facility and its safety to the town, PFAS contamination of our wells, the downtown improvements, and bike lanes are just a couple of issues that can have an impact on every citizen in town. With this frivolous distraction that the town is perpetrating against Sgt. Tim Brennan, it begs the question: Who is looking out for our safety and quality of life issues? I can’t even believe how much of our time, effort, and resources have been spent over a policy issue that should never put a sexual assault victim in a position where they are being violated again.
Contrary to popular belief, not everything in life is black and white. Not the laws, not the policies and procedures, nor the evolution of this entire situation.
No part of the developments of this case caused any further threat to a single citizen of Hopkinton. However, if Sgt. Brennan had moved forward to report this assault, despite the wishes of the victim, it would have betrayed this young lady’s trust in the police, possibly humiliating her beyond repair, caused embarrassment to her family, increased her level of anxiety, and most likely driven her into a deep depression – just to give a sample of “what could have been.” This treatment of sexual assault victims is the prime reason why many choose not to report them. This victim has had to deal with this assault for many years. She has had to replay it over and over, and figure it out, most likely one step at a time, and attempt to move on with her life. Who are any of us to comment on her feelings, the timeline of events, or her delay in going public? This young lady has had to break each part of this down, come up with a way to get past it and move onto the next step, when she is ready to advance. She has had to do this to protect herself and her family from any further victimization.
Had Sgt. Brennan followed department policy and made the report (the victim previously stated she wasn’t ready to go public with her story and would deny it ever happened) it would have looked like he was taking a cheap shot at one of his superiors. Fortunately, this young lady felt comfortable with a compassionate human being, with the courage and integrity to maintain her confidence in him, and knowing that he was putting himself at risk, but more importantly, not traumatizing her anymore. At the end of the day, he honored the victim’s request that he hold her story in confidence until she was ready to deal with this event. Please note that it is well stated that Sgt. Brennan did consistently encourage her to report it.
God forbid, if any of my kids had experienced anything similar, and they had confided in any police officer, who handled it similarly, I would be grateful for their support of my child, and for their respect of the sensitive nature of the case.
I have a rhetorical question for anyone who may want to take it on: Who was responsible for notifying anyone who may have had potential contact with the alleged perpetrator? The DA’s office, Town (Select Board, Town Manager), School Dept., Hopkinton Housewives, the victim herself?
Back to reality now. Whoever had this responsibility, whether legally mandated, ethically, or just being a good neighbor, FAILED MISERABLY! Whoever dropped the ball in that responsibility put numerous more people, and more specifically children, potentially at greater risk than anything that Sgt. Brennan ever did by violating a department policy!
Tim Brennan hit the ground running when he moved into town and hasn’t slowed down since, becoming a valued asset to this community. His family has been involved in the Boy Scouts, he has volunteered for town committees, has been a RAD (Rape Defense) trainer, as well as a great mentor for the younger members of the police department, to name just a few of his accomplishments both on and off the job. With the current turnover in our police department, our town can ill afford to lose any experienced officers.
Brennan has admitted violating a department policy, but for good reason if you ask me. He did nothing malicious; he has only been guilty of watching out for the safety and well-being of a vulnerable victim, and that is something to be respected, not punished. To ruin his career over this would be the biggest travesty in the history of the Town of Hopkinton.
Let’s put this aside and move forward with protecting the safety and quality of life issues that really matter and impact every citizen in town.
And please remember “nothing in life is black and white.”
Respectfully,
Don Collins
Don,
I think Tim Brennan acted in an appropriate and moral way when dealing with this situation. He handled the victim and the allegations in an appropriate and respectful manner. I have no concerns with his actions when dealing with the situation and the victim. I have had no contact with Tim Brennan and do not doubt any of the authenticity he has for the victim.
As a police officer, Tim Brennan failed ethically.
Tim Brennan has the ethical duty as a police officer to report professional misconduct by another officer. Multiple standards for police officers outline these details. Tim Brennan knew that he had these ethical guidelines and willfully ignored them. He did not consult with legal counsel. He did not bring it to other agencies, who can get involved in these situations.
He put the safety of Hopkinton Police over the safety of the rest of the public.
The state’s evidence against Jay Porter has raised concerns about violations of the victims’ civil liberties. When a law enforcement officer thinks another officer violates civil liberties, policing standards say to report that. It doesn’t matter if it’s arresting someone for ‘talking back’ or committing a crime – law enforcement needs to hold itself accountable.
Letting officers decide when to report civil liberties violations removes police accountability. We need to hold Tim Brennan accountable for not reporting misconduct of another officer.
NOTE: I am commenting anonymously here to protect the identity of people close to me who are survivors of sexual assault.
So much of the discussion of this situation has forgotten to consider the sexual assault victim. Her wishes and wellbeing should be of paramount concern. Collins gets to the crux of the matter, that victims of sexual assault are very reluctant to speak out and to seek justice. Sexual assault is a crime of power and control. The victim often both physically and psychologically dominated by their attacker. They can expect to be disbelieved, have their credibility attacked, and be called horrendous names. And then they’ve got to relive the attacks over and over as the wheels of justice creak forward. It is an exhausting and demoralizing journey for most victims. I applaud Sgt Brennan for protecting the young woman in this case while encouraging her to come forward. Having been in a position similar to his, albeit as a private citizen and not a police officer, I understand how difficult it is to watch someone struggle with the the shame and depression that sexual assault victims feel. No matter what you do, it seems like the wrong choice. The best thing you can do is listen and help them take baby steps forward. I can’t imagine how much harder the situation is where the attacker is a police officer. I can only assume anyone calling for Sgt Brennan’s dismissal based on a reporting policy violation has been lucky enough to not have sexual assault touch their lives. We are not talking about him failing to report petty theft or ticket fixing. The underlying crime is not one where the victim is made whole by restitution or an apology or even a conviction. The aftermath of sexual assault is nothing but gray area. You simply hope you can help the victim move from a very dark place to somewhere less dim. It is a lifelong struggle. A zero tolerance approach, punishing someone for respecting the wishes of a sexual assault victim is inane and unhelpful to not just Brennan and the young lady, but also to other victims struggling to decide whether or not to confide in a trusted person.
Please do not ascribe knowledge of my experiences to my position.
Do law enforcement officers have an obligation to report misconduct by their fellow officers?
I’m going to bite. If Sgt Brennan disclosed what he knew, when he knew it, how do you, A. S., imagine it all would have turned out?
This question is directed at A. S.
AS. Please go away. Far away and don’t come back. Is that bullying? No it’s begging.
Begging you to stop spewing your ridiculous nonsense.
Perhaps you’d prefer no police at all. Maybe that’s your ‘thing’
You are a broken record and the music sucks. So please, for the love of God and for the rest of us as well, put a lid on it.
Thank you in advance. No need to comment further. Really. Please don’t but if course, you won’t.
As reported above, Officer Brennan was accompanied by his attorney and “Attorney Elizabeth Keeley, the former Chief of the Human Trafficking Division at the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) for Massachusetts, and now an attorney in private practice.” Keeley had submitted a statement to the Select Board but was denied the opportunity to read it out loud at the meeting. I would like to know what was in her statement since she seemed to be the only qualified expert in the room in terms of sexual victimization and the relevant legal issues surrounding prosecution of sexual predators. I think if the SB was truly interested in a fair hearing for Officer Brennan, they wound have allowed her to read her statement. Those at the hearing as well as those watching on HCAM were denied the opportunity to hear her expert statement, one that had been made available to the SB. That does not seem appropriate. This seems consistent with their withholding the statement Chief Bennett made to Kroll. This seems to have been a very biased hearing. It also seemed to me that Mary Jo was very confused about the timeline regarding the age of the alleged victim at the time she confided in Brennan or maybe she thought she was currently 14??? Could this confusion have affected her vote?
The SB seemed resentful that they promoted an alleged sexual predator (Porter) and was determined to make Brennan pay for their embarrassment, regardless of whether his actions actually resulted in Porter being charged, something that would not have happened if he had reported it due to the alleged victim not being ready to report it/her position that she’d deny it if he reported it. They would not have been able to deny Porter’s promotions based on unsubstantiated claims made by Brennan and if Porter was made aware of the allegations, the alleged victim would have been at risk. Chief Bennett would not have been able to do any investigation if Brennan had reported it for the same reason. He might have questioned Porter, who would have denied it, but who would then have been made aware that the alleged victim was talking, which is what she was afraid of. Muriel seems to have been the only one who understood this.