Chapdelaine
Lt. Richard Pedrini, MPA photo
UPDATED, Nov. 8: Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said Nov. 6 in response to questions from YourArlington.com:
“The Town and the APD continue to investigate this matter in compliance with Civil Service and other applicable laws. We continue to take this matter very seriously and plan to act expediently while following all appropriate legal protocol to balance the Town’s and the employee’s interests.”
The website asked Chapdelaine and Chief Fred Ryan how long Lt. Richard Pedrini expects to be on paid administrative leave and what specific union rules in this case that apply to actions administrators may take.
Lt. Richard Pedrini, a veteran Arlington police officer who was soon to become the executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association (MPA), wrote three opinion columns complaining about the direction criminal-justice reform and progressive policing practices.
In the 2018 edition of The Sentinel, the official publication of the MPA: “I am sick and tired of the social justice warriors telling us how to do our jobs. It’s time we forget about ‘restraint,’ ‘measured responses,’ ‘procedural justice,’ ‘de-escalation’, ‘stigma-reduction’ and other feel-good BS that is getting our officers killed. Let’s stop lipsynching, please! Let’s meet violence with violence and get the job done.”
The views run counter to the department Chief Ryan has run since 1999. The issues raised involve conflicts between the officer’s First Amendment rights and the right of an administrator to operate a department as he sees fit. Civil Service protections for employees restrain what actions may be taken.
Lt. Pedrini described the writing in an interview with WBUR as “satire.”
Both Ryan and Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine countered Tuesday, Oct. 30, with statements.
The news release issued by John Guilfoil said Pedrini has been relieved of duty and placed on paid administrative leave while the Town of Arlington and Arlington Police Department investigate this matter.
Later on Oct. 30, the MPA said in a statement it has suspended Lt. Pedrini from his duties with the organization and is retracting his columns.
Oct. 30, 2018: Police lieutenant placed on leave after harsh comments
Globe, Oct. 30: Officer who wrote ‘meet violence with violence’ is put on leave
This news summary was published Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, and updated Nov. 8, to add a reference to WBUR.
