LAWRENCE POLICE CHIEF’S (WHO HARASSED LOCAL UNION PRESIDENT) CERTIFICATION IS SUSPENDED BY POST COMMISSION”

(3/22/24) The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission has provided notice of the suspension of the law enforcement certification of Lawrence provisional police chief William Castro.

The order of suspension from the Massachusetts POST Commission said Castro “engaged in a motor-vehicle pursuit in violation of the policies of the Lawrence Police Department,” was untruthful in his written report on that pursuit and failed to independently investigate whether there was a policy violation.

It also said “credible reports” have been received calling into question Castro’s hiring and certification practices concerning some candidates for employment as officers with the Lawrence Police Department.

Mayor Brian DePena announced Friday morning that Castro has been placed on paid administrative leave, and that effective immediately, Lt. Melix Bonilla has been placed in charge of the police department as the provisional police chief.

Castro, a political ally of DePena, worked for over two decades for the Essex County Sheriff’s Department and was a senior correctional officer when he resigned in February of 2023. Before being named acting police chief, he served as DePena’s chief of staff.

Jerry Flynn: Executive Director of the New England Police Benevolent Association (NEPBA) stated, “The POST COMMISSION took the appropriate action against a person who wasn’t qualified to be a circus security guard – NEVER-MIND THE CHIEF OF POLICE in a major crime infested city in the Commonwealth.

Flynn further stated, “This appointment was nothing short of Nepotism and to the detriment of our local president and a highly decorated detective of the Lawrence Police Department.”

Click to read the whole story from NECN here.

Click here to read the POST Notice.