Aug 17, 2007 9:33 pm US/Eastern
Another BPD Scandal: Paid Detail Abuse?
By Maggie Mulvihill, I-Team Producer and Joe Bergantino, I-Team Reporter
(WBZ)
A 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department has been stripped of her weapon and placed on administrative duty after being charged with alleged extensive abuse of the paid detail system, the I-Team has learned.
Sgt. Jacqueline Creaven, 41, has been notified by department brass she has violated 119 rules and regulations relating to paid details, including accepting details that conflicted with her regular tour of duty and lying about the hours she actually worked on her detail card.
"I am disappointed that an officer in a supervisory rank would participate in these infractions," Police Commissioner Ed Davis said in a statement released Aug. 17.
Creaven's attorney however fired back saying her client is being targeted because she has contacted the FBI with information about alleged corruption within the department orchestrated by a now-retired captain, with whom Creaven has had a longstanding professional feud.
Attorney Leah M. Barrault would not allow the I-Team to interview Creaven. Creavan also intends to file a lawsuit in state court claiming she is being singled out for punishment by her superiors because she is female.
"She is going to be raising multiple instances in the past where male officers have been found to be in violation of the same rules and regulations and have gotten either less discipline or no discipline," Barrault said.
Barrault would not comment on the 119 rules violations because she had not yet reviewed them.
Creaven, who is assigned to Area D-4 in the South End, earns $67,000 annually, city payroll records show. Her detail earnings were not immediately available, said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. Driscoll declined comment about Creaven's contact with the FBI and an FBI spokeswoman could not immediately be reached.
Creaven is one of four officers Internal Affairs investigators have focused on during a year-long probe of suspected rampant detail abuse within the department, police sources said.
Creaven is the only officer to be formally charged to date.
She has already filed two complaints with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, one of which states that since September, 2006 Creaven has been "subjected to a series of retaliatory acts" including failing to be promoted to lieutenant, being denied union representation and being subject to internal investigations and a psychological exam.
Creaven was suspended in 2006 for 45 days following the death of a suicidal prisoner while she was the night supervisor at the South End station. "Sergeant (Creaven) failed to properly supervise as the prisoner was allowed to ingest medication from an unlabeled bottle, which was never taken into custody," according to a Dec. 27, 2005 internal department memorandum sent to Creaven.
The charges against Creaven mark the seventh scandal to envelope the department since July, 2006 when three officers were charged in federal court with intent to distribute cocaine. Other public embarrassments in the past year include:
- The May, 2007 arrest of 21-year-veteran Juan Ortiz for allegedly selling information to drug dealers
- The July, 2007 announcement that the detective's promotional exam has been scrapped because some officers are suspected of cheating
- The October, 2006 disclosure that evidence may be missing for the department's drug depository
- The July, 2007 apology from Superintendent-in-chief Robert Dunford for making a derogatory remark about sexual assault victims
- the January, 2007 federal indictment of Officer Edgardo Rodriguez for corruption
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