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In the small town of Barre, MA they have one requirement if you are looking to be a police officer there – you have to be a huge dooshnozzle. We know this because the town recently hired a consulting firm that came to the conclusion that the Chief of Police must be let go because he’s too nice. Not even kidding either. This is not an Onion article or an April Fool’s joke. The man has been recommended for termination because he is too nice:
While he agreed that Chief Erik Demetropoulos is a “great guy,” the CEO of a company that recently completed an assessment of the Police Department said the town’s top cop must go.
William B. Connors Jr. of Risk Management Advisors of Rockland, hired by the Board of Selectmen to do the assessment, said the environment at the Barre Police Department is “toxic” and suggested there’s nothing selectmen can do, short of finding a new chief, that will solve the problem.
“The current chief cannot continue,” Mr. Connors told selectmen Monday night. He recommended the board launch an immediate, nationwide search for someone to lead the department of eight full-time and seven part-time officers, in addition to the full-time chief.
Stop the fight!!! Eight cops? That’s it? How can there possibly be a “toxic environment” if you only have eight full time cops? Did two of them try to use the police station’s microwave at the same time?
But wait, it gets better….
“He’s too nice a guy,” Mr. Connors said, adding that the chief, who has lived most of his life in Barre, has many friends and that, too, is a problem.
Wait…..what??? Is this real life? You can be too nice as a police officer? That’s possible? Ummmm, isn’t this whole “black lives matter” thing urging police to be nicer to people? Aren’t we supposed to be looking for more “community policing” so people can look at cops as human beings instead of soldiers with badges?
LOL. I’m waiting for this to be some sort of April Fool’s joke, but it seems to be all too real. I mean, he has too many friends and this is a problem? So like, this consulting group believes that small town police chiefs should be huge buttnuts with no friends because they’re so unlikeable?
I think the town of Barre should hire Turtleboy Consulting INC to make recommendations about the consulting firm. Hey William Conners, we have a couple recommendations for you:
Lose 50 pounds and stop being such a miserable nudnik. Then maybe everyone won’t hate you so much.
The most insane part about this is that the town actually PAID for this consulting group to reach this conclusion. This just proves that anyone who can’t make money in America is an idiot. This company, Risk Management Advisors of Rockland, gets paid money by municipalities to tell them that their employees are too nice. They get paid for that.
But wait, it gets better. According to this blog which was sent to us by a Barre resident, the police chief is a hero:
A man hailed in the same paper as a hero for saving a small child from drowning on his day off- an act he was honored for by the very same select board that’s now casting him aside.
No wonder he has so many friends. Dude goes around saving little children from dying and gets honored by the board of selectman. What an asshole. He probably should’ve let that 2 year old boy die. Then no one would like him and he’d keep his job.
Look, one thing we’ve learned from writing about Spencer-East Brookfield is that small town politics can be the shadiest thing ever. The people who get elected to these boards all think they’re the hick version of Buddy Cianci. And they get away with it because no one is paying attention. The similarities are alarming. When they first voted to terminate the chief (a 2-1 vote) they gave no reason and said they were not free to discuss it. Sounds familiar. Then they needed to fabricate a reason why so they wasted the taxpayer’s money on this “consulting firm,” and found a miserable fat guy who hates nice people that would reach this conclusion. Also sounds familiar.
Clearly what happened here is that this guy is probably only so many years away from retirement and they didn’t wanna pay his pension. So they hired a consulting firm and told them to come to some conclusion that would get this guy fired. And since they couldn’t find a good reason they just said he was too nice.
It’s Wally World people, and we’re all living in it. The bottom line is this guy is a hero, a former Marine, and a nice guy. He’s everything we want and need in a police officer. Hopefully the town of Barre comes to their senses and recalls these selectman, because it appears as if they’re about to lose out on a really good leader, husband, and father.
P.s. They’ve started a Facebook page to support the chief too.
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34 Comment(s)
I am incredibly happy that I found this article. I, along with a friend of mine, used to work for Billy Connors. We are both police professionals in Central Ma and Billy’s name is brought up often. Turtle boy, you should take a look into Billy’s past. He used to work for the Sheriff’s dept (Suffolk) and was terminated. RMA Global was shut down in the 90’s by the Mass State Police for unethical practices.
This is definitely a guy to look into and to dig deep against.
The company website makes it sound like a Fortune 500 multinational company, but a business profile shows a company with 10-20 employees and revenues of $1-5 million. Looks like mostly a private investigation and personal security firm, the website claims they provided Bruce Springsteen’s security for a world tour a few years back.
Thumbs down on facts? Weirdos!
That’s probably not something I would advertise since the paparazzi was able to find out Bruce’s private flight info and be at he gate when he walked into Logan. I don’t consider that a superb , crack security team. Lol
The #bpdsquad has always had officers that love to harass minors, they do not credit anything a minor attests to, but still do nothing about the opioid/heroin abusers. Chief Erik and Joe of the FDP have always been, and I’m sure they would continue to be great leaders. Why militarize small town America? We’re losing kind hearted and level headed individuals, by the generation.
Long time reader, first time commenter. I know, before I even comment, that this isn’t going to be popular. I have been reading your blog for a while, and this is the first time that I have ever disagreed with you. Do I think the police chief should lose his job? Absolutely not. Do I understand why the committee came to that decision? Yes. Please, let me explain. Police are not there to be our friends, they are there to uphold the law. I think it is fine that he is a nice guy. I think it’s great that he has friends. But when he puts the uniform on, he needs to be able to supersede that, and do his job. Being nice and having friends is something he needs to do on his own time. While he is the police chief, he needs to be impartial. He needs to forget that he is friends and put his job first. Yes, I do think it’s okay for a cop to be nice. You get pulled over, he makes chit chat, gives you a warning, lets you go, that’s great. You get pulled over doing twenty five, thirty miles over the speed limit, you have a child in the car, you have an open container, it shouldn’t matter how good of friends you are, he needs to look past that and do his job. It’s a safety issue. You get called to a house because of a disturbance. Johnny has the music playing too loud. Chief is friends with Johnny’s mom. Instead of actually taking care of the problem, he gives Johnny a warning. Now Johnny knows, as long as mommy cries and gets the chief’s sympathy, he is going to be able to break the law, Johnny’s behavior gets worse. Cops get a call that Allan is drunk and belligerent. They arrive at his house and recognize him as the guy that the chief sits with at the little league game while their kids play. Cop feels it’s okay to let Allan go with a warning, seeing how he is the Chiefs friend. They leave. Allan beats the crap out of his wife and son. Ricky is a drug addict who is seen buying drugs at the Honey Farms. Ricky’s dad plays golf with the chief. Instead of doing his job, the chief calls Ricky’s dad and convinces him to send Ricky to rehab instead of arresting him. Ricky uses the Honey Farms bathroom to shoot up, then drives himself home, killing a mom and her three kids in an accident on the way home.
These, of course are hypothetical situations. The problem is they are feasible. The police should not be portrayed as “our friends” they have a job to do, and whether we like it or not, their job is to be an asshole. If they can not put their personal feelings aside and do that job, they shouldn’t be on the force. Now, none of these has been proven to have happened with the police chief, they are merely satire. Until they are proven, the police chief should keep his job, in my opinion. But do I understand why the committee thought it could become a problem? YES. Any rational person can see that.
You should go back to being just a “long time reader” and spare us your long-winded Ricky/Johnny scenarios.
Ummm, cops discretion is the way of the world, not particular to Barre.
Spencer has a history of needing police chiefs…he might want to inquire.
It is his own dept. who wanted him gone. If everyone in your own dept. says you are a bad leader and then a consulting firm says that you don’t have the management skills to lead a group of under ten people then no matter how nice you are something isn’t working. Also, the three selectmen work for basically nothing and have made a lot of decisions that have benefitted the town, like opening a shelter during the ice storm, getting rid of a corrupt town clerk, and fixing the library issue. Not everything is a conspiracy…
Douche* not doosh
dooshnozzle is a TB exclusive
The reason Eric is being let go is not because he is not a good police officer, he is a great police officer. He is being let go because his department is a disaster. If any of you listened to what the consultant actually said, he lacks the required management skills to effectively lead the police department on the personnel side of it. No matter how nice he is or how much the community likes him, the police department needs management, and they can not promote someone from within either to make that happen, the need to bring in a chief who can turn the department around. There are also more issues that have not been made public and that the chief himself is not disclosing. He actually has not made any statements in his own defense through this whole process, not to my knowledge anyway.
I love how people read a headline and assume it tells the whole story.
Selectman?
Thought their is a big push everywhere for officials to be a resident of the city or town they work in. So if you in a community hopefully you will make friends….
If this is true….that is insane! Cops are not aloud to be nice? Are you kidding?? I was born in Barre and still drive around there evey now and then. All I know is the last time I got pulled over for “a headlight out” was buy a short skinny guy with glasses. He was very rude on all levels, and gave me a really hard time. I even got scared Because it was late and Im a girl in the middle of nowhere with a guy screaming in my face. 🙁 There is no need for it. Cops can do the job and still act professinal and not acting like complete dick heads with something to prove…. I think we need more nice people in the world. Authority figures especially!!
I’ve had similar experiences with two young Barre police officers. I’ve always wondered why they have to be so nasty. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the training they get. Officers must be trained at the Academy to be that way. It’s very unnerving and rude. It fosters dislike between the public and the police. I don’t know why police departments don’t get it.
Joe and Eric always done their job and listen to you great guys
All that means is his department isnt collecting enough revenue, ie- speeding tickets, road violations etc.
Thats all small municipalities, boards members & other political whores look for, $$$
They are doing the same thing to Joe Rogowski the Fire Chief in Barre. This is why the recall petition was pulled by Gregory O’Sullivan and a bunch of the firemen went and collected signatures. the recall has enough signatures so Richard Jankouskas will either need to resign his position or be voted out in a special election. Kathryn Inman can be voted out Monday April 4th, Charlie Chase is running against her and would be terrific in that spot. These selectmen have been crooks for years in Barre and need to be ousted.
There is something going on because now they are trying to let the fire chief go as well who has done his job for a very long time!!
Too true TB, too true,, regarding the abortion that is Spencer-EB Regional School District. I heard that the former athletic director and long time teacher is: A. Beginning a 30 day suspension, ( starting today), B. being asked to make restitution for the misappropriation of funds, and C. Demanded to make a public apology. I’ve lived in town for 39 years and I must say this is bullshit on an unbelievable depth. Free CF.
He committed a crime and a large amount of money is not accounted for because of HIM!!! He’s lucky he’s not in jail!!
What proof do you have of this? First I’ve heard of any mishandling of funds. If this is true, then you should be paid instead of the consulting firm for uncovering something devious.
There talking about Spencer story comprehend what you read
I was responding to the Spencer athletic director, sorry for confusion
That’s 1000% bullshit. If that was the case, they would just say so.
Someone relative on the board needs a job it’s the only thing that makes sense the salary will go up watch
Dear TB: just one, gentle correction. A person is never a “former Marine”; one is once and for all time, forever a Marine.
Semper Fi, whatever Barre does. (I used to work there….whoa. Green Acres with Steve Brewer running the plantation and handing out the baksheesh.)
They have a selectman named Lief Erikson. That’s awesome.
He is a nice guy. And a great cop. Please “like” the Facebook page linked in the TBS blog – info can be found there on how to help Erik in this injustice done both to BPD and the taxpayers of Barre.
No backstory/history of this consultant?