Boston Police Make Up the Largest Share of Massachusetts' Suspended-Officer List

Sixteen of the 90 people on the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission's list of suspended officers, dated Oct. 16, 2026, are current or former Boston Police Department officers, according to a Watchman Report count of the commission's published list. Ten are still listed with the Boston Police Department, and six are listed as "Unassociated Officer, Formerly of Boston Police Department." That is more than any other agency on the list. The Massachusetts State Police is next with 13 (seven current and six former troopers), followed by the Springfield Police Department with five.

A suspension is an interim status, not a finding of wrongdoing, and each of these cases is suspended, pending. The commission says an officer "who is arrested, charged, or indicted for a felony will have their certification suspended immediately," and that it "may also suspend certification after a preliminary inquiry if an officer is charged with a misdemeanor that affects fitness to serve, or if suspension is deemed in the public interest." Suspended officers "may not perform any police duties or functions," the commission says.

For 13 of the 16 Boston-linked officers, the list gives the reason as "Engaged or may have engaged in criminal conduct." For the other three, it reads "Best interest of public health, safety or welfare." Statewide, 64 of the 90 entries cite possible criminal conduct (one of those also cites the public-welfare ground), 25 cite only the public-welfare ground, and one cites a "Pattern of unprofessional conduct that may escalate" with a 30-day suspension. The list does not describe the underlying allegations.

The suspensions vary widely in age. The oldest Boston entry took effect on Jan. 19, 2023, more than three and a half years ago, and that officer is still listed with the department. Four of the 10 officers still listed with Boston police were suspended in 2026, two of them on July 15 and July 16. Statewide, the oldest suspension on the list took effect on Dec. 5, 2022. One former Boston officer's entry shows an effective date of "6/9/3026," an apparent typo on the commission's list.

Watchman Report is not naming the officers on the list, with one exception whose case is already a public court matter. Boston Officer Nicholas O'Malley faces manslaughter charges in a fatal on-duty shooting in March 2026, and Boston police have suspended him from the force, WBUR reported. He and his lawyers say he fired because he saw the driver, who was suspected of a carjacking, try to drive away. He is presumed innocent. His POST suspension took effect March 19, 2026, and cites "Engaged or may have engaged in criminal conduct."

The list has grown since spring. The commission's March 23, 2026 list had 76 suspended officers, 15 of them current or former Boston officers (10 current and five former). On the commission's separate Oct. 16 list of decertified individuals, people whose certification has been revoked and who cannot work in Massachusetts law enforcement, 10 of 96 are former Boston officers, again the most of any agency. Former State Police are next with nine. Two of those former Boston officers, Christopher Curtis and Monicka Stinson, were convicted in court and appear on Watchman Report's Bad Cops page.

Boston has the largest municipal police department in the state, so a higher count does not by itself mean a higher rate, and the commission does not publish suspensions per officer. Separately, the commission's new online dashboard showed Boston police with the most overdue internal affairs investigations of any agency, WCVB reported on Oct. 1.

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