State Police Colonel Retires Amid Trooper's Lawsuit, Allegations

WORCESTER, MA — Colonel Richard McKeon, the superintendent of Massachusetts State Police, announced his retirement Friday after he was alleged to have ordered a state trooper to alter the arrest report related to a judge's daughter.

"As you are now aware," McKeon wrote in a letter to Executive Office of Public Safety and Security secretary Daniel Bennett, "there has been increasing media and public controversy over how my office handled the processing of a woman in Worcester County after a Trooper arrested her on charges stemming from erratic behavior and potential threat to others in her operation of a motor vehicle."

A Trooper filed a suit this week against the Massachusetts State Police after he said the agency forced him to remove details from a police report regarding the arrest of a Worcester judge's daughter. On Tuesday, Trooper Ryan Sceviour filed a suit in federal court that said his employers ordered him to alter a report of a woman who was arrested after a crash in Worcester on Oct. 16, according to CBS News. Originally reported on Worcester blog Turtleboy Sports, it is alleged that Sceviour was told to remove details from the report that indicated Alli Bibaud made sexual comments and comments about heroin.

The lawsuit, which is available on MassLive, claims that Sceviour's rights were violated by state police superiors when he was forced to alter Bibaud's arrest report. The suit said that Bibaud, whose father is Judge Timothy M. Bibaud of Dudley District Court, reportedly offered Sceviour sex and also commented that she had to perform sex acts to "get those drugs."

"Supervisory members of the State Police, up to and including the Colonel, may review any report and have the responsibility to order any appropriate revisions," Massachusetts State Police said in a statement shortly after the suit was filed. "It is not uncommon for report narratives to be revised. Usually it is handled at the level of a trooper's immediate supervisor, i.e. usually a sergeant or a lieutenant. The trooper's supervisor did not do so in this case; when it came to the attention of the colonel and senior command staff they did so themselves."

The crash that involved Bibaud happened during Sceviour's evening shift, when she hit a guardrail; both she and her passenger survived the crash. Sceviour said she smelled of alcohol, and that a search of the car revealed heroin, needles and a metal spoon, The Washington Post reported. On the ride to the jail, she allegedly mentioned that her father was a judge.

The Globe reported that two days after the incident, Sceviour got a knock at the door of his home. It was a state trooper ordering Scevoiour to head to the State Police Holden barracks. He received disciplinary action and was reportedly told to remove an references to Judge Bibaud, or Alli's sexual comments.

"In the report in question, the revision consisted of removal of what the Colonel and senior commanders felt was a sensationalistic directly-quoted statement that made no contribution to proving the elements of the crimes with which she was charged," a MSP spokesperson said in a statement. "The Colonel determined that the inclusion of that statement did not meet the report-writing standards required by the department. The revised report – which is clearly marked as having been revised – includes observations made by troopers, descriptions of physical evidence found in the defendant’s possession, and summaries of statements made by the defendant relative to her possession and use of heroin, all of which constitute clear evidence against her."

The statement also argued that both version had been submitted to the court, and that the "revision did not change the substance of the trooper's narrative."

"Leaving aside the details of the incident which you now know," wrote McKeon in his letter of retirement, "my decision to instruct subordinates to focus the arrest report on information relevant to the charges made against this individual without compromising the strength of the case is instruction that I have given to the men and woman under my command more times than I can remember."

McKeon's full letter of retirement is here:

As you are now aware, there has been increasing media and public controversy over how my office handled the processing of a woman in Worcester County after a Trooper arrested her on charges stemming from erratic behavior and potential threat to others in her operation of a motor vehicle.

Leaving aside the details of the incident which you now know, my decision to instruct subordinates to focus the arrest report on information relevant to the charges made against this individual without compromising the strength of the case is instruction that I have given to the men and woman under my command more times than I can remember.

This case is not unlike the thousands of cases we are involved in every year involving drug addiction. In every case, department members have been trained to exercise their power and authority judiciously and to treat offenders with courtesy and respect. Our job is to enforce the law, bring charges consistent with the facts and present the case to the court in an orderly and honest manner.'

As State Police Superintendent for more than two years, I hope that part of what I have accomplished is to convey to our Troopers an understanding that what they do during the discharge of their duties reflects directly on the reputation of the Massachusetts State Police and on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

On a personal note, I speak not just as a 35 year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police but also as the father of three sons. I have not experienced the pain that thousands of parents in Massachusetts have suffered as a result of losing their children to opioid addiction and can only imagine the pain they have endured. In our law enforcement role, our first duty is to enforce the law and protect the public, but that doesn't preclude us from being empathetic to those in need.

I want to thank you and the Governor for your support during my tenure as Superintendent and for your support of the campaign that we are all engaged in to halt the rampant abuse of opioids and the heartbreaking strain in puts on thousands of families in Massachusetts.

With respect, I have decided to retire from the Massachusetts State Police in my capacity as the Superintendent. It has been an honor to serve the Commonwealth.

Watch: State Police Colonel Retires Amid Trooper's Lawsuit

Photo via Massachusetts State Police