As another State Police trooper is revealed to have been disciplined for wrongfully collecting overtime pay, Gov. Charlie Baker is calling for the Legislature to pass a bill he filed last year to curb overtime abuses.
The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that Sergeant Mark Lynch, a former head of the State Police union at the height of the overtime scandal, was found to have manipulated or skipped about 30 shifts he was paid for after details of the troopers' theft had been revealed to the public.
Baker's bill would alter the way State Police are recruited and trained. It would do away with the oral interview portion of promotion procedures to the lieutenant and captain ranks to reduce bias from superiors. The bill would also create a new cadet program to promote diversity in the ranks.
"I really want to see that bill, those changes in state law, find their way to my desk before the end of this session," Baker said while appearing in Fitchburg for an environmental announcement.
Baker said it would be better if the Legislature separates the State Police reforms from the greater police reform bill which has been caught in contentious negotiations between the House and Senate since the end of July.
When asked about Friday's emergency shutdown of the new gas compressor station in Weymouth, a project Baker's administration approved at the state level against the wishes of local officials and residents, the governor turned the podium over to Energy and Environment Secretary Kathleen Theoharides.
"In terms of the safety protocols that are in place for events of this nature, those were all followed and the Department of Environmental Protection is also doing things like unannounced site visits, so very much committed to the ongoing safety of that of that facility," Theoharides said.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch is calling for the gas compressor, which is in the testing phase of it's opening, to be shut down after the incident.
"This misguided and dangerous project presents an imminent public safety threat to the residents of Weymouth and its surrounding communities and must be subject to extensive state and federal oversight before any continuation in station operations," Lynch wrote to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct Elaine Chao's title. She is the secretary of transportation, not energy.
