Bio for new Boston Police Chief

… perhaps he’ll be able to institute some reforms?

In the pre-dawn darkness of 1995, Officer Michael Cox became a crime victim — at the hands of fellow Boston police officers
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/13/metro/pre-dawn-darkne…

“I was hit many, many times, it seemed like all at once, in different parts of my body . . . my head, my back and my face. Mostly my upper trunk. But it seemed like there were several people hitting me all at once,” Cox testified after the brutal attack, according to earlier Globe coverage.

It would take Cox, then a veteran plainclothes officer, six months to recover from the beating. And his fellow police officers would spend years trying to cover up what happened.

Today, officers in some departments are required to report crimes committed by colleagues. But no such standard existed on Jan. 25, 1995, when Cox was attacked.

There were two unwritten rules among Boston police officers back then: Punish any officer who pursued a complaint against a colleague, a stance that was ruthlessly enforced against Cox and his family. Following the incident, Cox’s tires were slashed and his family received numerous hang-up telephone calls at night, the Globe reported. Second was the perpetuation of a “code of silence” among colleagues. It was rare for anyone to talk to department investigators about who got hurt and why.

No more Irish stew in Boston.

intercst

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