Quincy News: Five more State Police troopers file for retirement amid overtime abuse allegations

– News from elsewhere covered by Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

State Police head Colonel Kerry Gilpin
File photo
Five more Massachusetts State Police troopers flagged in alleged overtime abuse investigations have filed for retirement.

Any members of the state police department who retire while under investigation do not receive an honorable discharge as well as can still be investigated for possible misdeeds.

Also note that any trooper who has retired and is subsequently convicted of a felony committed while still on duty can be subject to forfeiture of pension pension benefits above and beyond the total dollar amount deducted from that officer’s paycheck to co-fund her or most likely his retirement benefits.

Burning benefits?
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Further note that neither interest nor any return on investment on paycheck pension deductions will be paid out to any such felony convicted and then formally pension benefits stripped former officer(s).

Additionally, a final audit of overtime shifts for Troop E in 2016 also identified seven more troopers who had a number of “overtime shifts, or partial shifts that warrant further investigation,” Massachusetts State Police spokesman David Procopio.

These seven troopers will remain on active duty as the investigation continues.

Former Troop E barracks
A file photo

Procopio also noted these seven troopers are separate from the five troopers announced last week as under review.

Per Quincy Quarry’s unofficial count, it would appear that at least forty current and former state police officers are under investigation at this point.

There is, however, some good news: an audit of overtime shifts worked in 2016 by officers at the six other state police troops found no payroll discrepancies.

The bad news, however, is that a federal grand jury is now also looking into the overtime abuse scandal within the Massachusetts State Police.