Multiple officers from the Suffolk University Police Department have been terminated, retired and resigned over discipline and misconduct issues according to the latest POST commission report.
The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standard and Training (POST) Commission releases updated reports regularly according to their website. On Sept. 17, 2024 a new report was released that contains a historical record of reported instances of misconduct, criminal activity and other violations committed by officers across the Commonwealth, including within SUPD.
The report lists the allegations against the officer, the reporting agency, the officer’s current police agency, if any, and the discipline as a result of the report. Discipline can range from written warnings and re-trainings to suspension and termination of employment.
These reports included SUPD officers. In January 2019 former officer Jeffery Barbosa resigned from the SUPD to avoid discipline.
Barbosa had allegedly committed “assault and battery, assault and battery of a family member [and] strangulation,” according to the report.
Former officer Tyrone Johnson was terminated Sept. 2023 by SUPD for “untruthfulness” according to the commission report. Johnson was also in violation of “conduct unbecoming” in the same report.
In Sept. 2005, Johnson was cited for workplace violence/threats by SUPD, listed in the report.
The Suffolk Board of Trustees voted April 19 in favor of arming the SUPD officers.
The university has tried to arm SUPD officers multiple times over years. Many times to a chorus of objections from students and faculty alike. The SUPD has been training for firearms handling since at least 2022.
Part of the POST report includes the officers current employment at the time of the report’s release. According to the report, Johnson is not currently employed by any police agency in the commonwealth.
Barbosa is currently employed by the Harvard University Police Department as a Critical Incident Response Team Officer. According to Barbosa’s LinkedIn he has also worked at multiple other police agencies around metro Boston since leaving the SUPD.
Officer Brian Gallagher is currently employed by the SUPD after departing the Cambridge Police Department. Gallagher resigned from CPD March 13, 2024 after it was reported he violated his “general duty requirements [to] refrain from insubordination or disrespect toward a superior officer or other member of the force.”
According to an investigation by the CPD Professional Standards Unit “Officer Brian Gallagher, a probationary officer, was allegedly under the influence of alcohol while on duty on October 7, 2023.”
“Officer Gallagher reportedly was out of sector, calling off on 86’s, and was observed to have slurred speech, an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person and dilated pupils. Officer Gallagher also appeared to have slurred speech while transmitting via the department radio,” PSU’s investigation said.
There are 17 reports currently listed in the POST commission report involving allegations against current and former SUPD officers. Other reports against SUPD officers range from falsification of university time clock records to insubordination and failing to respond to incidents following procedure.
Suffolk University Vice President of Communications Greg Gatlin said the university is committed to ensuring the quality of service from the Suffolk University Police Department.
“While the university cannot comment on individual personnel matters, we take very seriously the importance of police officer conduct and take appropriate disciplinary action where warranted. The university also conducts thorough background checks before hiring police officers,” said Gatlin.
The SUPD officers are currently receiving training for firearm certification to carry out the plan set in motion by the Board of Trustees’s vote in April. According to a survey done by Suffolk University in April of 2024, arming the SUPD was opposed by 62.3% of the students and 52.3% of Employees.
The students’ sentiments were backed up by the passing of a Student Government Association Senate resolution opposing the arming of the SUPD. The measure passed with 19 votes in favor, eight abstentions and zero votes against the resolution.
The SUPD has limited ability to respond to incidents due to limitations placed on them as a Private Police Force controlled by a private entity. The SUPD can not respond to incidents occurring off of Suffolk’s property, including the public sidewalks in front of the buildings. The SUPD can not respond to incidents on the Boston Common for example, an area that has been a problem in the past for Suffolk Students.
The SUPD must defer to other agencies in a large number of cases, including bomb threats and other incidents, for which they do not have the manpower, expertise or equipment to respond to. They must frequently rely on other agencies like the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.
Public records allow for the public to see what is happening within departments designed to protect them. Campus police departments are no different and the POST commission report offers an inside look into the SUPD and all other police departments in Massachusetts.
