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The Williamstown, Massachusetts police chief has resigned following months of outcry after allegations of racism and sexual misconduct in his department rocked the community this summer.
In August, Sergeant Scott McGowan filed a complaint in U.S. district court against the town accusing Chief Kyle Johnson of overseeing a department where racial discrimination and sexual harassment went on regularly. He specifically accused Johnson of sexually assaulting male and female members of the force, verbally demeaning women and turning a blind eye to incidents like a dispatcher using the N-word while a Black Williams College student was touring the station and an officer hanging a picture of Hitler in his locker for years. McGowan’s lawyer, David A. Russcol, spoke to WAMC then.
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Members of the town s Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee on Monday expressed their displeasure that incidents at the Williamstown Police Department alleged in a federal lawsuit against the town were not investigated at the times that they occurred. As part of its research into town policies and procedures, the DIRE Committee requested records of internal investigations at the WPD for the last 10 years. The response back summarizing was that … nothing was classified as internal affairs records within the Williamstown Police Department since Jan. 1, 2010, Andrew Art told his fellow committee members. There was one investigation that was handled by the Massachusetts State Police that was identified, but the records related to that investigation were not provided to the committee on the grounds that they had not been provided to other requesters. The basis for an exemption [was] the current litigation involving the [Sgt. Scott] McGo
Both McGowan's suit and the town's response to the same allegation in a complaint to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination indicate that Chief Kyle Johnson referred the investigation of the complaint to the State Police.
Members of the town's Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee on Monday expressed their displeasure that incidents at the Williamstown Police Department alleged in a federal lawsuit against the town were not investigated at the times that they occurred.