Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Richard McKeon is retiring amid accusations that he ordered a trooper to remove embarrassing details from an arrest report for a state judge’s daughter.
McKeon, who was appointed to head the State Police by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2015, announced his retirement on Friday, effective Nov. 17. An announcement regarding his successor is expected in the coming days, according to the department.
His retirement comes after Trooper Ryan Sceviour filed a lawsuit in federal court on Nov. 7 claiming that he was improperly ordered to alter a police report.
Sceviour responded to a car crash on Oct. 16 in Worcester, according to the suit, per the Associated Press, and arrested the female driver after she allegedly failed the field sobriety tests. She also indicated that she had a heroin addiction, according to the suit.
That woman was the daughter of a Massachusetts Trial Court judge, Sceviour says in the suit, and he claims that he was “disciplined” at state police barracks following the arrest. Sceviour was then told, the AP reports, to remove references to the judge from the arrest report. The details later removed per those orders included statements made by the defendant that her father was a judge and would be furious with her, and that she would perform sexual acts for leniency and had done so to obtain drugs in the past.
McKeon announced his retirement one day after Baker said he was investigating the incident.
A second trooper is also suing State Police over the incident. Trooper Ali Rei filed the federal lawsuit on Friday, according to the AP, which reports that she says she was ordered to “shred and redact reports containing crude statements made by the judge’s daughter.”
“We have always been highly scrutinized for how we perform our duties, as any police agency should be, and these last few days have been no exception,” McKeon said in his retirement letter sent to fellow officers and Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett. “That public examination, while sometimes uncomfortable, comes with the great authority bestowed upon us, and we must always pay attention to how we are perceived by those whom we serve and protect.”
The woman at the center of the incident is Alli Bibaud, daughter of Judge Timothy Bibaud, a trial judge in Dudley District Court who oversees that drug court.
“Part of our code of honor is understanding when your own personal ambition detracts from the greater good of our mission,” McKeon’s letter reads. “I have today decided that putting the greater good of the Massachusetts State Police first, necessitates my decision to retire after 35 years of proud service.”
Baker thanked McKeon in a statement for his service.
“The Governor believes that Colonel McKeon made a mistake by getting involved in the Bibaud case and has ordered the State Police to examine procedures for the review of arrest reports,” spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton said. “Governor Baker recognizes the motivation to protect those with substance use disorders from potentially embarrassing information contained in their public records and expects the courts to hold the defendant accountable for all charges stemming from this incident.”
State House News Service contributed to this report.
