Brookline Police To Investigate Racial Harassment

BROOKLINE, MA — The Brookline Police Department is opening an investigation into three officers after a Boston man filed a lawsuit last week accusing them of racial profiling in 2017.

"On Friday, June 12, 2020 a detective from the Brookline Police Department reached out to me, asking me to participate in an investigation into the three police officers named in my lawsuit," said Chiuba E. Obele, who is Black.

Town officials said neither the Town of Brookline nor the Brookline Police Department received a formal complaint from Obele before he filed his complaint in federal court Thursday.

Read more: Man Sues Brookline Police, Town For Racial Discrimination

According to the 65-page complaint, Obele who is in his 20s, said officers who were called to his girlfriend's home in Brookline when he tripped the alarm didn't believe him when he told them he was the woman's boyfriend. His girlfriend is in her 70s. He is acting as his own attorney and is planning to attend Suffolk Law in the fall.

Obele requested in an open letter to the Select Board, which oversees the Brookline Police Department, that the investigation be undertaken by an independent investigation.

"If the Town is willing to hire a neutral, third-party to investigate my allegations," he said."I will ask the Court to stay the proceedings, while this investigation is underway. And I will agree to be interviewed by this independent investigator, and cooperate with him or her to the fullest possible extent."

Obele said he had one more condition for that.

"That I be allowed veto power over who is chosen to investigate my allegations, in case there is a potential conflict of interest," he said.

Read more from today:

• Brookline Teachers Union To Hold Rolling Rally From Larz To BHS
• Brookline Town Meeting To Be Held Virtually: What To Know

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.