Tim Duncan incident investigation details released

by | Jul 10, 2020 | Newton | 11 comments

The Boston Globe today reported on the formation of the police review Task Force in Newton, slipping in an important tidbit:

According to a subsequent internal investigation by Newton police, the officer who conducted the stop — Sergeant Brian Tramontozzi — did not file a police report on the incident, despite regulations requiring him to do so. Officer Brian Conley, who drew his weapon, did not fill out a required police use of force form, that review found.

Sergeant Kevin Rudd, who conducted the internal affairs review, later found that officers “were prudent and justified” in conducting the stop, and determined it was reasonable for Conley to draw his weapon. On June 19, almost a month after the incident, Tramontozzi filed a police report at the direction of superiors.

11 Comments

  1. Ryan Grannan-Doll
    Ryan Grannan-Doll on July 10, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    I would not read too much into the no report issue. Filling those out is important, but there could be alot of benign explanations like – they wanted to home and would file the report the next day, they forgot, their supervisor did not remind them, etc.

  2. Ralph Ranalli
    Ralph Ranalli on July 10, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    Or maybe they did fill it out and their dog ate it.

  3. Lisap
    Lisap on July 10, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    Or, NPD does not enforce the requirement that officers fill out reports. Culture or standard practice?

  4. Ted Hess -Mahan
    Ted Hess -Mahan on July 11, 2020 at 7:36 am

    I think that if we are going to allow anyone to openly carry a firearm and use it in the course of their job, it is not an unreasonable requirement that they fill out a report every time they take it out of their holster and aim it at someone. No excuses.

    As far as not filling out an incident report, anyone who is supposed to protect the public should fill out a report whenever they stop someone, as in this case, suspected of a serious crime. Even if it is a case of mistaken identity. Again, no excuses.

  5. Gail Spector
    Gail Spector on July 11, 2020 at 10:08 am

    I’m disappointed that this information was buried in a Globe story about the task force. I doubt officers pull guns on people very often in Newton. Not filing a report after doing so is important news that deserves its own story.

    My daughter called the police recently after receiving a serious online threat. The officer came to our house to talk to her. She learned later that he did not file a report.

  6. Jane H.
    Jane H. on July 12, 2020 at 1:16 pm

    Officers generally do not file a report if no action is taken, if there is not going to be any police follow up. I can see it works both ways. An innocent person can end up in the police records for the public to see and have a bad name forever… when they are just the victim of some “harmless” prank. Aren’t there scams and cyber scams now where somebody calls the police and reports somebody they just don’t like? Sending the police to some innocent person’s home? I think it’s called SWATting – and the way the internet is these days.

  7. Meredith Warshaw
    Meredith Warshaw on July 12, 2020 at 1:38 pm

    If police are called because someone’s received a serious threat, there definitely needs to be a report in order to leave a written record. If that person makes another threat or escalates, the police have to know this is not the first time, plus it may be needed in court later if things reach that stage. There’s a reason for the saying that if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.

  8. Michael
    Michael on July 12, 2020 at 2:21 pm

    A teacher in Needham recently published this article which undoubtedly describes the degenerate thought processes of a not-insignificant proportion of cops in these parts. So much for the laughable civil service “Psychological Screening Plans” which were supposed to prevent guys like Lt. “Bill” from ever getting anywhere near the academy.

    Lately, I’ve had a recurring memory from my private high school. For context, my high school was acknowledged as a nationally recognized school of excellence in the early 90s. It was not acknowledged in any way for diversity. There was one black student in my graduating class and no teachers of color. There was one biracial student, me.

    Over my four years there, I became a connoisseur of slurs: mulatto, moolie, zebraboy, nigger, spic, wetback and the like. As a teen, I was silenced by the fear that happens when danger is sensed. As an adult, I write these slurs freely, because I own them.

    Most of these recurring memories circle around a classmate named Bill. Starting Freshman year, Bill would say that after college he was going “to become a police officer and bust all the niggers.” He would look at me and say, “But not you. You know, niggers.” He was so committed to this phrase and ambition that it was also his senior quote in the yearbook, except he replaced “the niggers” with “them all”. After some research online, I see that he was recently promoted to Lieutenant within the Massachusetts police department in which he serves.

    https://www.embracerace.org/resources/a-defining-moment-lies-in-front-of-us-yearning-to-be-embraced-again

  9. Jane H.
    Jane H. on July 13, 2020 at 10:26 am

    @Michael, I would say you should definitely contact the City in which this individual serves – presumably in the public interest, paid by taxpayer dollars. You should and could and can get this on record. Contact the mayor of that city – in writing. Contact the chief of police – in writing. People in positions like this should be vetted and knowing what you know, having experienced what you experienced, you should and could be part of that process.

  10. Michael Singer
    Michael Singer on July 13, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    @Jane: You are asking Michael to report something a minor allegedly said 27 years ago. I am certainly not defending that person, but I don’t think people should get in trouble for things they said as a kid 27 years ago. If he has continued that behavior, then that is certainly another story.