7/27/2019 Text of Northampton Sergeants' Union Letter

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IBPO 390-SNorthampton Police Sergeants Union

29 Center Street, Northampton, MA 01060

October 21, 2013

International Brotherhood of Police Officers

Local 390

29 Center Street

Northampton, MA 01060

IBPO 390 Members,

The members of the Sergeants Union, International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 390-S, wish to

address some of the content of the letter sent to Mayor Narkewicz, as well as all City Councilors, by

International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 390 President Joshua Wallace. On 10/20/13, SSrg.

Callahan met with Union President Wallace and expressed our concerns about the letter. Based on thetransparency that the patrol officers union desires in this letter, we would like to outline our concerns and

address what was discussed with President Wallace for all of the Local 390 members.

We take umbrage with references of supervisors and shift supervisors in the third and fourth paragraphs

of the letter. Within these two paragraphs, Union President Wallace freely refers to supervisors and

shift supervisors without explaining his basis of knowledge in making these statements or identifying

specific supervisors.

In the third paragraph, Wallace writes:

This conduct has been occurring for years on end, often times in direct view of both

patrol officers and supervisors of this department.

The use of the words direct view is very strong language. This infers that the conduct alleged was

happening blatantly in front of all of us. There are no members of IBPO Local 390-S that have any

direct viewof this conduct. President Wallace could not provide, or chose not to provide, the names of

any sergeants with direct view observations or knowledge to substantiate this statement in the letter.

In the fourth paragraph, President Wallace wrote the following:

As police officers, with a relentless pursuit of both the truth and of justice, it is our gravest

concern as to how these incidents have been handled. One of the most besmirching issues that

we have encountered is the minimization of these incidents by supervisors of this department, as

well as by Chief Russell Sienkiewicz. In speeches delivered by the Chief, as well as by shiftsupervisors at roll call, we have been informed that the Captains involvement is minimal, and

we have also been ordered that any contact with the media or sidebar commentary is forbidden

regarding these incidents. It is clear to us that the Chief of this department is doing all he can to

squash this investigation to prevent public coverage, and to shift blame from a sworn member of

this department onto a civilian one.

7/27/2019 Text of Northampton Sergeants' Union Letter

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IBPO 390-SNorthampton Police Sergeants Union

29 Center Street, Northampton, MA 01060The ironic part of this paragraph is that it starts off referring to the relentless pursuit of truth and

justice as well as besmirching. This paragraph, as written, infers that there is a concerted effort on

the part the supervisors, in conjunction with the Chief, to squash the investigation. Once again,

IBPO 390 President Wallace was asked by SSrg. Callahan which supervisors have made speechesat roll call or that have informed officers that the Captains involvement was minimal. Wallace

stated that a Shift Commander, not a sergeant, addressed his shift. Wallace agreed with Callahan

that this was probably at the direction of the Chief in his absence to address the members of hisshift as the day and evening shifts were addressed by the Chief to inform them of the investigation.

When asked if there were any other supervisors that have made speeches at roll calls in an attempt

to minimize the or squash the investigation, he could not identify any. By issuing a blanket

statement that used the word supervisors in the plural form, IBPO 390 has now besmirched the

reputation of every supervisor of this department by use of an inaccurate statement. This is now

out in the public domain. President Wallace assured SSrg. Callahan that was not the intent of the

letter, however, in a letter seeking truth and justice by the members of Local 390, this paragraph

and statement by your union is false and unwarranted at best. The paragraph as a whole infers a

conspiracy between Chief Sienkiewicz and supervisors of this department. This couldnt be furtherfrom the truth. By writing that paragraph as it is, IBPO 390 is questioning the integrity of every

supervisor of this department.

In closing, the members of IBPO Local 390-S are disheartened by the content and tone of this

letter. We, as members of IBPO 390-S, cannot and do not support your assertions made at this

point in time. While we support your union in the majority of its endeavors, we cannot support the

contents of your letter considering the information currently available. IBPO 390-S chooses to

wait for the investigation to be finished and then to make informed decisions on all of the issues

you have raised, based on facts of the case and not based on speculation and innuendo.

Sincerely,

Victor Caputo, President IBPO 390-S

Josef Barszcz, Vice President IBPO 390-S

David Callahan, Secretary/Treasurer

Anne McMahon

Craig Kirouac

Robert Powers

Cc: Mayor David Narkewicz

Chief Sienkiewicz

William Dwight

Jesse AdamsMaureen Carney

Paul Spector

Owen Freeman-DanielsPamela Schwartz

David Murphy

Marianne LaBarge

Eugene Tacy