Special Reports

Site Exposes Cops To Potentially Dangerous Ratings

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Everything is open to criticism on the Internet these days, from teachers and doctors, to restaurants and pets. But a new Web site has made some cops angry and worried. It's called Ratemycop.com.

Here are a few comments: "He started choking me....," "Cocky little punk...," and "He engaged in a vendetta..." These accusations are not against criminals, but police officers.

James Machado, president of the Massachusetts Police Association, doesn't like what he sees on ratemycop.com. "It certainly allows perpetrators and criminals easy access," he says.

The name says it all. Go to the Web site and write what you think about a certain officer.

Machado, who is also a sergeant in the Fall River Police Department, says it could be dangerous. "My fear is people who are undercover officers, people who are in narcotics divisions, those names and those identities are readily available on these sites," he says.

You can write pretty much anything you want about an officer with no one checking accuracy. From the positive like, "A guy who really seems to care." To the negative, "Very aggressive, dishonest cop."

How did the Web site get the names? "We asked for them," says ratemycop.com founder Gino Sesto. "We simply wrote letters to departments across the country saying we'd like a list of the officers that work for your department," he says.

When you click on Massachusetts, you'll find the names of officers from nine departments. More communities will be added in the future.

Sesto calls police criticism of the site nonsense. "This Web site does not give out any personal information. A police officer's name is not personal," he says.

But the Massachusetts Police Association's James Machado disagrees. "In this day and age of technology, simply having a name, one would be able to bring up an address and know one's family," he says.

Ratemycop.com's founder Gino Sesto fires back, "If they're doing a good job, they have nothing to fear. And that's our hope, that we would kind of sift out the bad cops," he says.

But here's what someone has written about Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis: "Previously chief in Lowell where he gave officers pretty much free reign to beat, rob and rape."

WBZ asked the Web site's creator about that one. "Maybe there's some validity to that, I don't know. There's nothing there that violates any of the terms of service, so I wouldn't take that down," says Sesto.

We tried to talk to Boston Police Commissioner Davis about what was written about him, but the department's press person gave us a "no comment."

Police say you don't have to go to a Web site to praise or criticize officers, because each department has a system in place to accept, and if necessary, investigate what anyone has to say about a cop.

The Web site's creator says in the future, the site will allow police officers to respond to anything written about them.

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