Newton Detective Kim Murray responded to my inquiry and expression of support, and approved my sharing her reply:
“Thank you so much for all of the support. I have had a tough battle at NPD but will not give up. If you could clarify that the prejudice has mostly come from ranking staff within the department and certain employees at city hall when I previously complained of the behavior. Have there been insensitive comments made by other officers? yes, but most officers that I work with are good guys who treat people fairly. I have suffered a great deal of stress but I am determined to do a good job and hopefully create some change. Since this has come out unfortunately I have discovered social media postings from officers who believe that you can’t believe BLACK LIVES MATTER & be pro-police which is very sad. Some feel that the officers who have been charged in Minnesota/Atlanta should not have been. I have to expect these same individuals to have my back??? I am concerned for my safety & expect more backlash. If it were not for the union supporting me over the years although not always successful, I appreciate them trying. Thank you for taking the time to check in and clarify. Newton residents have been good to me.”
Context: Newton Police Officer Alleges Mayor Neglected Systemic Racism in the Newton PD | Village 14 https://village14.com/2020/06/20/newton-police-officer-alleges-mayor-neglected-systemic-racism-in-the-newton-pd/#ixzz6Q9jOnhif
Thank you Nathan for following up with this to confirm that Detective Kim Murray’s words in the previous thread were indeed her own and for bringing more information to her previous comment.
It pains me to know what she has been going through. Her comment “I am concerned for my safety & expect more backlash.” is especially telling. I wonder what ways we can best show our support for her as a community and help to bring about needed change?
I am happy to hear that Detective Murray feels supported by Newton residents. There are appropriate legal forums for work place grievances, including racial and gender discrimination, to be addressed where due process applies, and all parties have an opportunity to present their claims and supporting evidence . A local blog is not such a forum.
LOL. The local blog becomes one if the “appropriate legal forums” are obviously ineffective and stacked against you, as evidenced not only by Officer Murray’s comments but also by repeated heartbreaking examples of denied justice, such as the debacle that played out in the Brookline public safety departments.
And the blog also becomes one if you go to your own mayor asking for intervention and the mayor does nothing. And it if when you air your grievances, apologists for the NPD and the mayor confirm that they will make a clear and repeated effort to obfuscate and spread doubt, as they have here.
Time and time again, the “appropriate legal forums” have proven themselves to be a perpetuation of the institutional racism that they are intended to combat – a handy way for those in power to brush everything under the rug and allow the institutional racism to continue to fester. Enough.
Once again, thank you to Officer Murray and Nathan for the invaluable service that you have performed in alerting residents to this – hopefully the Globe will now agree that this is credible and newsworthy, in addition to being infuriating and shameful.
And hopefully the public will not allow this to get swept under the rug by the Newton Police Department, the mayor’s office, MCAD, and/or the Civil Service Commission.
If the mayor’s office received communication from Officer Murray regarding systemic racism in the NPD and requesting assistance or intervention, and if the mayor did indeed ignore it and failed to respond, then the mayor is either incompetent or a coward, and she needs to resign.
How can we support Officer Murray? I want to help. Emailing the Mayor and councilors? She shouldn’t be going through this and it’s shameful that Mayor Fuller’s administration has not had her back.
Thank you, Nathan, for following up with Officer Murray. This is an opportunity for the Tab to do some serious journalism. It’s very much in the public interest to know what exactly went on here.
@Michael,
I am not at all suggesting that this matter be “swept under the rug” and on another thread I stated that the Mayor should appoint independent counsel and NOT the City’s law department, to conduct an independent investigation.
I would suggest that the Detective get in touch with the organization One Blue, a nonprofit established by 4 female state police troopers in response to systemic sexism and racism in the Massachusetts State Police. All of the founders of the group have been subjected to systematic discrimination and pursued their legal rights. The group supports a number of individuals who have successfully sued the MSP for discriminatory practices.
I have learned that the Newton PD and the City’s Human Resources Department are actively attending to this issue now.
Good to hear, but this is the reason why nothing ever gets fixed – a closed-door resolution/arbitration/settlement with no political accountability that keeps the public in the dark.
The mayor and NPD chain of command need to answer to the public on this.
@Nathan – that’s encouraging. I’ll be curious to see the follow up from their investigation.