To Protect and Disgrace: Boston PD’s 20-Year Tour of Scandal, Secrecy, and Shenanigans

To Protect and Disgrace: Boston PD’s 20-Year Tour of Scandal, Secrecy, and Shenanigans

By RICHIE D. MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette (The Gossip You Didn’t Know You Needed)

Let’s hear it for the Boston Police Department — because nothing screams “public trust” quite like a department with more buried secrets than a mobster’s backyard.

For the last two decades, Boston’s finest have moonwalked from one scandal to the next, spinning PR disasters into press conference poetry, with all the accountability of a raccoon in a jewelry store. From shielding serial predators to treating racism like an inside joke, the BPD has perfected the art of the bureaucratic backflip.

So grab a cocktail, maybe a flashlight, and let’s excavate this graveyard of bad behavior with The Sassy Gazette’s latest three-part exposé series:

Introducing: The Read Files

A no-holds-barred investigative saga following the trial of Karen Read — a case drenched in mystery, manipulation, and the scent of a cover-up.

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1. The Patrick Rose Disaster (aka “How to Promote a Predator”)

Why act on multiple child sex abuse allegations when you can… promote him to union president? Patrick Rose managed to climb the ladder while allegedly being a full-time nightmare, and the department’s internal investigations had the rigor of a wet napkin. It took years, victims, and public outrage before anyone said, “Hey… wait a minute.”

2. Racist Texting Scandals: “We Thought It Was Just Cop Humor!”

Casual racism? Just a few “bad apples”? That orchard is overflowing. Officers were caught swapping slurs and fantasizing about beatdowns via text — and BPD’s response? A collective shrug and a feather-duster slap. “Cop culture” doesn’t look so funny when the punchline is systemic abuse.

3. Overtime Fraud: “Cha-Ching While You Sleep”

Some officers made more on fake overtime than most folks do working two real jobs. They were clocking hours from their couches, filing time cards while binge-watching COPS reruns. Millions of taxpayer dollars evaporated before federal investigators stepped in. Boston? Too busy printing “Integrity” on squad cars.

4. Body Cams: Optional, Like a Hat or a Moral Compass

Boston dragged its feet on implementing body cameras — and when they finally arrived? They conveniently “malfunctioned” at critical moments. Footage gone, accountability ghosted. Perfect if you’re into public safety cosplay, less ideal if you want actual justice.

5. Secretive Internal Affairs: Where Complaints Go to Die

The BPD’s internal affairs department is less an accountability mechanism and more a witness protection program — for dirty cops. Everything’s sealed, redacted, or buried in administrative purgatory. The only thing transparent about BPD misconduct investigations is their obvious intent to hide the results.

6. The Union That Makes the Mafia Look Cooperative

The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association? Think PR firm for chaos. No matter the scandal, they’re ready with a press release and a veiled threat to anyone who dares hold officers accountable. With union money flowing into campaigns and careers, it’s little wonder why accountability dies in committee.

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And Yet... They’re Always “Shocked and Appalled.”

Every scandal? Met with the same script:
“We are shocked. We are appalled. This does not reflect the values of our department.”
Translation: “We’ll wait a week, let the media cycle die, and then do nothing.”

What Does This Have to Do With Karen Read?

Everything.

Because when a woman stands accused of killing a cop, but the crime scene is tangled with possible police involvement, surveillance gaps, and investigators with a stake in the narrative — the question becomes:

Is she the villain… or the scapegoat?

That’s exactly what The Read Files explores.

From evidence that appears a little too conveniently placed, to shadowy figures shielding each other in blue, this three-part series peels back the layers of secrecy around Karen Read’s trial — and reveals how Boston’s decades of dysfunction set the stage for a modern-day witch hunt.

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Coming Soon on The Sassy Gazette:

• Part One: "Silence in Blue"
  When the system protects its own, the truth gets snowed under.
• Part Two: "The Taillight Trap"
  How one piece of glass became the prosecution’s glittering distraction.
• Part Three: "Trial by Optics"
  The courtroom becomes a stage — and justice is just the opening act.

Stay tuned. Because The Read Files aren’t just about one woman on trial — they’re about an entire system finally facing the mirror.

And baby, it ain’t a pretty reflection.