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Date: 3/15/2021
HOLYOKE – A Holyoke police officer recently released a YouTube video accusing the Holyoke Police Department of corruption.
The five-year Holyoke Police officer who posted the video, Rafael Roca, explained in the beginning, that he wanted to “expose the corruption and the lies and the injustice” he felt was taking place within the department. Roca said he retired from the U.S. Marines after a lengthy career in 2016 and pursued his “lifelong dream” of being a police officer.
Roca then went on to accuse current Holyoke Police Chief, Manny Febo, of being a corrupt police officer. Febo, according to Roca, allegedly promoted a friend to the position of provisional lieutenant. He said the promoted individual allegedly “lost two weapons as an officer.” He went on to say that one weapon had allegedly been lost and another had been stolen from the officer’s home, an incident which Roca claimed was “covered up.”
He said when he spoke out against the alleged “injustice, racism and favoritism and nepotism” that he had witnessed, he was punished and “shunned.” Roca said his attempts to transfer to a different police department were allegedly sabotaged by the chief, and cited a single informal complaint made against him that he said ended with no investigation and him working in an administrative role for more than a month.
Roca said he had performed consistently in his role as a police officer and “engaged in crime fighting” when others were allegedly sleeping in their police cruisers and “ignoring crime.” He went on to say there had been officers he knew of that were allegedly involved in “drunk driving incidents,” who had “assaulted people with their boats who have been labeled as racist” and officers who had “stolen money.” He went on to say there were police officers who allegedly “have made an excess of $260,000 a year” and no one had questioned the situation.
He went on to say that he felt as though he would either be fired or suspended for posting the 45-minute long video. “When you speak up and when you expose corruption, that’s what they do. They label you a liar,” he said.
Roca said “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and resulted in him posting the video was a call from a coworker he received the day the video was posted, March 7. He said that the officer had allegedly been instructed to give him “remedial training on how to apply a tourniquet.” This, he said, was a result of an incident in late January in which he had responded to an incident that resulted in a stabbing and been praised by his coworkers.
He went on to say that he had “tried to sue, tried speaking with the supervisors, I’ve tried my union, I’ve tried it all.” Roca said he hoped that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General, along with the FBI, would open an investigation into the department. He said he felt as though for too long “officers have been afraid to speak up” and wanted this to change.
At the end of the video, Roca went on to tell viewers to seek accountability from elected officials.
On March 9, spokesperson for the Holyoke Police Department Matthew Moriarty confirmed that Roca was on paid leave while an internal investigation was completed regarding the matter. Febo also issued a statement on the matter, and said while he would not be commenting on the “internal personnel matter that is ongoing,” he did take the opportunity to “address some of the allegations and give facts.”
Febo said with regard to the allegation that the department covered up stolen and/or lost rifles, the incident in question took place 10 years ago and “was fully investigated by [the] previous chief, discipline meted out, and every step was reported publicly at that time.”
Additionally Febo referenced the claim regarding a detective that had his vehicle and weapon stolen, which was covered up. “A vehicle was stolen in Granby, Mass., that vehicle was driven by suspects who drove around and broke into parked vehicles in driveways in South Hadley. One of our detectives who is assigned to a task force had his task force vehicle broken into,” he said. “Taken from that vehicle was two ballistic vests with two magazines in the pouches, along with some K9 gear, and a first aid bag. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in Hartford, CT and one of the vests and some K9 gear was recovered. Each police department documented the incident and can be retrieved easily.”
Febo then addressed the incident in which Roca referred to an officer involving an alleged intentional boat accident. He said the incident took place last year and involved the department responding “to a call at the boat ramp where a citizen had stated that an officer had purposely rammed his boat.” Febo went on to say there were “conflicting accounts” regarding the incident and “very minor contact.” He said while “no formal complaint was filed,” a report was filed and “the incident was not covered up.” Additionally, he said, “...the officer was spoken to about rudeness when dealing with the public. He was also advised that he is not to respond to his own complaints while off duty.”
Lastly, Febo responded to Roca’s claim that minority officers are not given opportunities for specialized assignments. He said that currently, there were “46 total patrolmen with eight years or more of full-time experience on the job.”
“Out of those 46, 12 are minority officers. Nine of those 12 are in specialized assignments other than patrol operations. That is roughly 75 percent of minority officers with eight years or more in specialized assignments,” he said. “Of the remaining 34 non-minority officers in this group, 18 are in a specialized assignment. That is roughly 53 percent of non-minority officers with eight years or more who are assigned to specialized assignments.”
Additional he said there were 38 officers total with “six years or less of full-time experience”
“Of those 38, 17 are minority officers. There are only two officers in this group that are assigned to specialized units. One is a female who is being trained to investigate sensitive crimes involving children, females and domestic violence. The other officer was chosen specifically due to his extensive knowledge and expertise in firearms, he is assigned to the ATF task force,” he said. “The Holyoke Police Department has a chief, two lieutenants and four sergeants who are minority in the department command staff.”