The Salem News - Latest Comments in Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Poops — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:18:16 -0000

They all sleep at night in Hamilton.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

LadyRich — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:16:05 -0000

Mike was a great cop. Everyone that knows the true story feels bad for what the department did to him for their own gain. Cullen, Hatfield, Wallace, Dupray, Trepanier, they all watched him fall as they wanted movement for $. Then officer Donovan who has not done anything for 15 years other than follow the leader and from what I understand sleeps at the new station while on duty. I do hope Mikecomes back and the others leave or are fired. They are not cops we need here. Hamilton lost a good man when he left.as investigation after investigation has show the truth. Shame on the town for even needing more than one investigation to see this. And just so you know Mike gave me a ticket for a warning for speeding and I still think he is nice and got unfairly hurt in this. We will all see the truth when the final investigation is done at the summer end.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

what a joke — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:28:32 -0000

What a Joke... Man I must live an Extremely Boreing Life If I sad here and read all of these postings regarding this issue. Mut now that you mention it. You guys are even more bored cause you sound like you actually care about all of this nonsence... Fire Robo Cop and take the girl and send her out to make muffins... Hatty will make a great security Guard at Gordon College....
Nothing Like a Royal Family squabble to keep you smiling.... :)

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

more to the story — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:24:23 -0000

You are right; we are under their thumbs. There is a rogue element in this department that does not respect the citizens of this town. I know many people who have been harassed and I know that other towns' own departments have no respect for the cops in Hamilton for good reason.

The Patriot Act has emboldened them.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

truthbetold — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:53:10 -0000

They needed a new building, the old one was a shamble.
My issue is with your comment about Bob Nyland. He is just under chief Cullen and I didn't see anything about him going to any lengths to stop this? No one at that police station should be chief because no one stood up to stop this. How long has this gone on? over a year! In fact they are all to blame for allowing such a mess to happen in such a small tightly nit community. Going after officers and involving the District Attorney to get jobs or take jobs well that is just plain wrong and Officer Wallace and Attorney Mackenna should be fired along with others who had an active role in this. Anyway someone should have stopped this,someone like Bob Nyland or the Chief or the Selectmen. Now our town is all over the papers and there seems to be fact to support wwhat is being said. So Sad. Any officer driving in their police cars from Hamilton's new safety building should be ashamed!

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

lazy bum — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:52:53 -0000

I hope you aren't a graduate of HWRHS, nice grammer, where did you get the information about the lights on when looking for speeders, did you see it on COPS?

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

GJK23 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:49:38 -0000

Well the town and firemen had to go along with it to get the money needed for the TWO stations. If Cullen called all the shots, where were the firefighters, fire chief et al. I'm not going to compare apples and oranges (police and fire), but everybody's pointing fingers at you know who. But isn't there a new fire station as well? :) This issue can be debated at another time. I'm not going to go off track here. There's an issue at hand that needs to be addressed and I'm sure it will be and should be.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Monica — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:43:24 -0000

GJK23,
HAMILTON FIRE DEPARTMENT IS AN ON CALL DEPARTMENT. WITH ONLY MAYBE TWO TO THREE OFFICERS ON DURING THE DAY. IF YOU SEE FIREFIGHTERS HANGING AROUND. IT IS MORE OUT OF DEDIDICATION TO THE JOB AND A BROTHERHOOD/SISTERHOOD. SO NOBODY IS GETTING PAID TO SIT AROUND UNTIL THE WISTLE BLOWS. AND AS FAR AS THE SAFETY BUILDING EVERYONE KNOWS CHIEF CULLEN CALLED ALL THE SHOTS. BECAUSE HE HAS EVERYONE IN HIS POCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

GJK23 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:33:10 -0000

Aside from the real issue here, some have complained about the new police station. Am I wrong or just seeing things? Isn't there a NEW FIRE STATION too? So what's all the screaming about the new police station for? I see plenty of firemen sitting around all day.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

concerned — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:17:03 -0000

I agree with gjk23. Respecting others, not just the police is important for the adults and youth of not just Hamilton Wenham but in the bigger picture. As for the fact that an officer was accused with serious crimes by the men and women he works with and then cleared later by investigators and found it was an attempt to personal gain, well that would cause many to become stressed and possibly depending on the kinds of crimes and punishment being wrongly accused would absolutely have need for counseling to overcome this. It could show the officer is going to be fine or it may show other issue but we deserve to know the facts by our selectmen not by the media. The town needs to deal with this right now and people deserve to know the truth. It should not havr taken this long nor so many investigations costing taxpayer dollars to see the obvious. I'm sorry this has become issue in Hamilton but it is best we understand the problems so any chance to cover this up further is not possible.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Dorothy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:26:08 -0000

Forget about all the negative in this story. The one good thing I got from this is that Lt. Robert Nyland is above any wrong doing. Think about it, A cop who can't be trusted to "cover up" illegal activity. Lt. Nyland gets my vote for the next Town Chief and as a Hamilton resident I would be proud to have him run the department. And as for Officer's Wallace and Hatfield, it sounds like they went about it the wrong way but that they were trying to expose the current Chief's activities. Not a bad thing.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

GJK23 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:19:09 -0000

There are issues with cops in every city or town. Hamilton's no different. It's a small, tight community so the smallest thing gets blown out of proportion. It's the same old story. Everybody hates the cops until they're needed. You call the cops because your neighbors radio is too loud. Go next door yourself and tell the neighbor to turn it down. Oh no, I'll sit right here infront of my 50 inch plasma TV and have the cops do it. There are good cops and bad cops. Good firemen and bad firemen. Good plumbers and bad plumbers. DEAL WITH IT! Nobody takes responsibility anymore.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

GJK23 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:57:25 -0000

The cops probably don't care for you either. Wow, that's a big one - THEY MUST HAVE THEIR HEADLIGHTS ON TO CATCH SPEEDERS. You have no respect for cops. Well then when where scooter is stolen from patton park don't cry to the cops. Pull you freakin' pants up over your ass and show some respect.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

generals22 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:28:24 -0000

EP- what are you talking about. how can you possibly say that all of this money is worth it because we have a low crime rate. hamilton has always had a low crime rate, it has nothing to do with the work of the current administration. its not like they came in and cleaned up the whole town.

also, im not saying that all the officers are bad or anything, but there have definitely been instances when they have crossed the line. whether they are bored, or are just trying to meet quotas for cars stopped, there have been many times when people (mostly highschoolers) have been pulled over for no reason. many of the cops are guilty of profiling, and i have heard many instances when kids who drive beat up cars were pulled over on a bogus excuse, and then searched for marijuana, which was not found. also, in response to the allegations that the police are trying to drive minorities out of town, i think that is a little too far, but i have heard stories from other kids who have black friends who were followed by hamilton police throughout the town, including one kid who was pulled over on suspiscion of robbery with no proof. in another instance, one of my friends, who is an upstanding member of this community, was pulled over, and the cop went on to berate him, saying he had reports that this kid had been driving recklessly around town all after noon, speeding and generally not operating safely. he threatened to take his license away, and threatened to take him down to the station. when the kid called his bluff and informed him that he had been at a national honor society meeting all afternoon, the cop simply left, no apology, and drove away. it is this kind of rampant behavior that is out out of line.

but to be fair to the current officers, this type of behavior has been going on in hamilton for a while. i am a new driver, and when i was taking drivers ed, they announced in the class to avoid driving through hamilton if you could, because the cops will pull you over for anything. and on a road lesson, my instructor told me that he grew up in hamilton, and he was driving around some friends from manchester in his beat up car. he got pulled over for no reason, and then when the cop found out his name, he apologized and let them go.

and to the poster who said hamilton wenham schools need work based on the post of another reader, i would like to let you know that as a current student at the high school, there are many of us who are law abiding and solid citizens.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

LME — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:26:04 -0000

PTSD? Are you kidding me?

I can see why a police officer in a real town, with actual crime could make that claim but in Hamilton- you have got to be kidding me.

This town has beyond an excess of cops, they have nothing to do and are so far beyond powertripping it's pathedic.

They've harassed me for sitting at the train station while I wait for my photos to develop at the nearby CVS, they've been aggressive with my friends who were goofing around with a clearly fak, prop gun.

Officer Wallace is the only cop on that force that I know of with any brains at all!

While most of the cops sit at wait at the Gulf station at night with their 'lights on' AKA their orange lights- which is TOTALLY illegal your headlights MUST be on if your trying to catch speeders at night everytime I see Wallace in this situation her lights are fully on.

She has sense, and doesn't spend her time trying to get teenagers in trouble- shes FAIR and to be compeltely honest the only cop on the force I have the slightest respect for.

The cops in this town are distgusting, while the school system which everyone knows is exceptional will not be accredited because of budget cuts. The police get a blackberries and 6 MILLION dollar station- its the most ridiculous building ever. I went in once and all teh cops are behind bulletproof glass.

This is Hamilton, it is completely ridiculous to have a fortress for the police department- or maybe not because I am so temted to egg it everytime I see it.

I have no respect for cops, anywhere because of the absolute disgusting nature of the cops I grew up with, and where I live currently althought they are the most corrupt in the coutry I much perfer them to the Hamilton cops.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

POOP — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:24:12 -0000

If Wallace and Hatfield are the most honest people on the HPD , what are the rest of them like?. Are we only seeing the tip of the iceberg..

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

DStDenizen — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:17:33 -0000

I second that. Hamilton has been known for years as a place to avoid at night, while driving. My brother, dead sober, was pulled over for "left of center" (no way) and put through hoops, doing sobriety tests.

$6mil police station; and override after override - glad I live in Salem! Talk about driving out the middle class, not to mention, seniors on fixed incomes. Yuk.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

concerned — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:29:20 -0000

I loved Hamilton but this is just incredible! I would like to know what Marchand was charged with by Wallace and Hatfeld and clear details as to why an investigator concluded they did it for their own purpose. What did walace know about Marchand going to Mexico to get his kidnaped niece that made her so willing to go to all the trouble to hurt him? It had to be bad but It seemed as if he did what Wallace said he did but that it was not wrong. If he went to get his neice that was taken from her parent good for him but if he broke the law to do it then do something about it and get him to pay for it. Just because Wallace came out and told on him isn't a reason to believe it was wrong and shame on our town Lawyer to go along with it. Also why did she care about it unless he did something so wrong he should be in trouble unless she had something to gain if he got in trouble and she was makiing it up? You have to think that an investigator came right out and said it was for her own reasons and to go beyond that if he was wrong why again is he not in jail? If they then hired an FBI agent and he knew he did something wrong why isn't he in jail? He is still being paid as if he is working and not in ANY trouble so it seems clear and easy to see there is a serious agenda within that police station by those officer's and there is some issue's in Hamilton to investigate AGAIN. Why in the world would officers be going after each other if it is proven no law was broken unless for their own good? They make money to protect the town so if there was a crime by Marchand fine, but to see there wasn't from investigators they should be out to protect and serve the town. I would like to see what Wallace, Hatfield and Dupray's plan was to get Dupray in as Chief and ruin Cullen and Marchand but now after all these investigations into Marchand show he was not wrong then the people who did wrong should pay! and if this new investigator finds after all this time he did wrong he should pay. If Cullen or the selectmen did not act on something to end this mess and to hide it they should pay. And the people deserve to know. Now we are at another point to spend more money on another chief to look at this Hamilton issue? Why do we need to spend even more of the tax money if it is already decided by two other investigators?
Sure a neice was kidnaped, there is a hard nosed cop doing a job some say he takes tooseriously and some cops made serious accusations against him seemingly trying to hurt him and the chief the department and town for what ever reason they had and it is sad but is it something someone should be reprimanded for and it should have been done a long time ago. If so a good investigation should have proven that and their should have been action done one way or the other right away. Fire Marchand if he is wrong and move on. Fire the others if it was done for their own reason. I am tired of this story and would hope that part of this is looked at as wasted money of taxpayers and the selectmen are asked soon why did this go on for so long? Now another investigator is calle d to look at this becasue the facts still don't show what they want? Is that the case? If so then there should be some angry people watching tax money used for this same issue over and over! The selectmen seem to be as guilty as the cops and the Chief and selectmen are faced with a big problem amd covering something up. Now we have another chief paid to look at this costing even more. I'm so confused if two people were already hired to look at this already and said hatfield Wallace and Mackenna were wrong Marchand was ok what is so hard to act on that and save the money for another investigate of the same things? Seems like a big loss of money for the taxpayers and in fact a cover up by the town. I'm beginning to believe there were some very bad things going on here for a long time and they are looking for someway out of this now. Hamilton should be an easy place to work and control. Getting investigator after investigator to look a the same things over and over by the selectmen is just wrong! Am I the only one who cansee this! Find the facts this time and do something about it. It is already hard for people to live in Hamilton with the taxes being wasted on things already decided! This is a perfect example of what Hamilton politics is like now.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

SHUT UP — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:33:05 -0000

THANK YOU LANE. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Hamilton before leaving for college 6 years ago. I have always had a clean record (not even a speeding ticket), but nonetheless, have been pulled over multiple times in the exact manner Lane has described while in high school - each time for NO REASON. Ridiculous...................

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

SHUT UP — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:24:09 -0000

Everyone just shut the H*** up! You all sound like BABIES! complaining about using wikipedia, pointing out assumptions about minorities at GConwell and DD, personal stories, backing up your story by saying you're a Repulican. you all sound like idiots!

If there is one thing we can all agree on, can it please be that regardless of whomever is guilty (or not) of whatever, that doesn't change the fact that building a multi-million dollar police station was the most IGNORANT and BIGGEST MISUSE of money...

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

CW — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:50:58 -0000

Did you maybe think when the judge said he did not want anymore of this in his court room he might be talking about you. It is probably better and safer for the community that you did move.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Present Resident — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:32:53 -0000

If you drive like you spell, that is probably why you got into trouble. It is nice to blame someone else for your problems.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

peace14 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:18:35 -0000

I have lived in this town for my entire life and Karen Wallace and Arthur Hatfield are two of the most honest people in the Hamilton Police department. I respect and commend them for standing up for what they believe in and bringing forward several issues of concern. How many people in this town can actually say they stand up for what they believe in?
Karen, I believe you did FOLLOW PROTOCOL when you went to the chief to address your concerns. It is not your fault he made the decision to look the other way. Thank You Karen and Arthur for protecting the town of Hamilton. The town is lucky to have such fine officers like yourselves.

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

taxidriver20 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:04:06 -0000

Speaking as an out of towner Hamilton police have ALWAYS had a rep of pulling people over for no apparent reason,if your going two or three mph over the limit, if they don't like the looks of your car or you for that matter etc. Granted many small affluent north shore towns are as bad if not worse. It's just the world we live in get used to it people!!

Re: Citing stress over accusations, Hamilton officer sues town

Thinkaboutit — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:32:05 -0000

Time for a new chief.... with principles.