Police Commissioner Bill Evans says the Boston police force has dealt internally with several cases of inappropriate misconduct within the past two years, though it’s “not a serious problem” department-wide.
“We take it very seriously,” Evans said in an interview with Boston Public Radio Wednesday. “I know of at least two or three people in the last couple of years for inappropriate conduct, they were facing disciplinary action and we worked out for them to go away.”
Evans said that the police force investigates all sexual harassment claims as criminal matters, resulting in termination of employment.
“I know, probably, there’s been a couple of instances of misconduct by our officers, whether that’s been inappropriately joking or thinking something is funny,” he said, “and we end up working out an agreement to get rid of that particular person.”
The problem of sexual harassment is minor on a district-wide scale, according to Evans. “It’s not a serious problem,” Evans said. “I think we do a great job, we monitor that type of activity.”
Evans said he plans to hold a refresher course in the upcoming week to educate his entire command staff on appropriate behavior and actions to take in case of an incident.
To hear his full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
