Cambridge Police Respond to Globe Article

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Cambridge Police have issued a statement in response to a controversial newspaper article that has the department on the receiving end of angry complaints and considerable disappointment from many quarters.

As The Boston Globe chronicled, a bump between a pedestrian and plainclothes officer and the video-documented incident that followed have led to possible charges for three involved parties.

It's stirred an outcry that Cambridge Police have sought to respond to through social media and through the statement released below.

The Cambridge Police Department conducted an internal review of an incident occurring on October 13, 2016 in the Porter Square area involving Sergeant Thomas Ahern and three defendants and determined that Sergeant Ahern’s actions were consistent with his duty obligations.

The Cambridge Police filed an application for criminal complaint against Cleon Hodge, 21, from Dorchester, for Disorderly Conduct and Assault and Battery. A criminal complaint was filed against two women: one for Interfering with a Police Officer and the other with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer and Interfering with a Police Officer.

The department refutes the defendant Hodge’s versions of the events published in the Boston Globe article and determined that the defendant made eye contact with the on-duty officer who was in plain clothes, was not on his phone, made no intention of avoiding a collision, and intentionally walked into and struck the officer with his shoulder. From there, Hodge demanded an apology from the officer who continued to walk away from the scene. As a result of those actions and the manner in which Hodge responded to the initial encounter with Sgt. Ahern, the two charges were sought.

One of the female defendants, a 25-year-old from Somerville, faces two criminal charges after she grabbed the right arm of Sergeant Ahern multiple times and attempted to interfere with the officer as he was addressing Hodge. Another defendant, a 52-year-old from Cambridge, faces one criminal charge for Interfering with a Police Officer after repeatedly encroaching on the personal space of Sergeant Ahern, while he addressed Hodge, even after being told multiple times to keep her distance while she video recorded the incident.

All three defendants were permitted to leave the scene without further incident and faced a preliminary clerks hearing for all misdemeanors on November 14. That hearing was continued at the request of the defendants. If probable cause is determined after a follow-up clerks hearing, the defendants would face the charges filed in the complaint.

The Cambridge Police Department has continually worked thoroughly and intimately with the community to build quality relationships and trust. It takes matters like this seriously and will continue to work closely with the community to address any concerns or questions that may arise from this incident.

On Twitter, citizens have messaged the CPD expressing mixed reactions from outrage to simple disappointment.

"You can be better than this," tweeted one person, while another wrote, "Bad look for the CPD."

Others remain, at the very least, grateful to police for the transparency, with one user tweeting, "Thank you for having the integrity to share this." Still other commenters felt this feeds a narrative of poor police behavior, tweeting to refer to the officer as a "thug" on some kind of "ego" trip."

Many suggested the charges in the case should be dropped.

Image via Cambridge Police Department