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Brookline fires police chief after determining he was a creep who called one woman employee a MILF, another a bitch

Gonzalez

The Brookline select board voted unanimously today to can Ashley Gonzalez as police chief for being a disgusting letch on duty or, more technically, for violating the town's official Policy Against Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Retaliation and for breaking Brookline Police Department rules and regulations against conduct unbecoming a police officer on multiple occasions and with several employees.

The board acted on the recommendation of an independent consultant, whose principals include former Massachusetts State Police Colonel Kerry Gilpin, to terminate him "after finding multiple admitted, corroborated and sustained allegations of sexual harassment against female employees of the Brookline Police Department in violation of town policies," the board said in a statement.

The board suspended Gonzalez in August, just two months after hiring him - after five years as chief of the Austin, TX Independent School District Police Department and a career rising through the ranks of the Norwalk, CT police department, which he left for Austin after serving as a deputy chief.

A redacted report by the consultant describes one incident whee Gonzalez went up to one of his new women employees on his first day on the job and told her she was "a MILT, totally MILF," and then went up to her on his second day, whipped out his phone, showed her a video of his daughter, doing some intricate acrobatic maneuver and, then, after she said that's amazing his daughter could bend her body like that, said "I bet your husband wishes you could bend like that."

Another employee told the investigators that Gonzalez, in what he thought was a joke, called her a bitch.

A third employee, a police officer, learned from Gonzalez she was wearing her collar insignia upside down, which led to a text exchange in which she said "there had never been anyone above me in the [women's] locker room" to show her how to put them on properly, to which he replied he would meet her the next morning in the women's locker room to show her.

The report describes one of the first meetings Gonzalez had with the department:

Towards the end of the meeting, Chief Gonzalez asked if anyone had anything they would like to add. [redacted] responded, "I do actually, I have one thing that keeps me up at night. According to [redacted,] Chief Gonzalez started laughing and stated, "Oh, your husband." [redacted] continued, "And I was shocked. ...

Redacted report.

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Comments

They surely checked references and need to sue these references as they had to have known of his despicable behavior...

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I guess this proves that guys named Ashley are far bigger bitches than girls named Ashley lol. This guy takes the cake on bitchiest Ashley of the year so far lol.

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...responding to a disgusting case of misogyny with a gendered insult is disgusting.

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...as what that scumbag did. Good riddance to that creep, in all seriousness.

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Not as disgusting as what that scumbag did

Adults know that there are more choices than "be as disgusting as this creep" and "be a disgusting sexist in calling him out".

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Based on news reports and court documents over the last two decades they would seem to be the most racist, misogynistic departments in Greater Boston. Well, the most racist and misogynistic to have actually been exposed, anyway.

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Is Brookline worse or just caught more often?

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>Worse or caught more often?

Um...yes?

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From Ann Arbor?

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What about him?

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He also endured a racist beating, covered up by his "brothers" on the PBD, and still remained a police officer. Like Ted Landsmark, Commissioner Cox did not blame the entire city for what happened to him.

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For what possible reason did this guy get the job in the first place?

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… might give you a hint.

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So, he's not just some outlier who brought his shocking ("just shocking!") behavior to fair Brookline. He had some ready and willing cop-bros to egg him on. Just the kind of leadership they were hoping for?

I can't imagine how he got hired in the first place. /s

"The report describes one of the first meetings Gonzalez had with the department:

Towards the end of the meeting, Chief Gonzalez asked if anyone had anything they would like to add. [redacted] responded, "I do actually, I have one thing that keeps me up at night. According to [redacted,] Chief Gonzalez started laughing and stated, "Oh, your husband." [redacted] continued, "And I was shocked. And what made it worse is that Deputy Superintendent Cullinane, who I knew my entire life, was like, 'Oh Chief, good one.' And then Richie Allen started laughing." During the interview, [[redacted] became upset, crying at times. She stated that she felt humiliated, undermined, horrified, embarrassed, and lost."

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According to Deputy Superintendent Cullinane upon hearing Chief Gonzalez's comment, then exclaimed, 'Oh Chief, good one.' Deputy Superintendent Cullinane denied making this comment. Deputy Superintendents Allen and Mealy denied hearing Deputy Superintendent Cullinane make this comment

The report found this comment and any reports of " laughter" unsustained . Six people in the room and only one person reported hearing this comment or laughter .

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First, I've deleted the names of the people who allegedly thought the chief had issued a true bon mot because there was disagreement whether anybody actually did go "good one" or whatever. However, even the other people who were there and were interviewed acknowledged what might have been a nervous chuckle or something like "whoa!" Yes, not the same as a guffaw.

That having been said, even without this incident, there's plenty left for the select board to have concluded Gonzalez should not be chief and to support my headline. You can read the whole report (redacted to protect people's privacy) at the link at the bottom of the story.

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There was a question on Twitter the other day about how many times men had actually stood up to misogyny (short answer: not many). Far be in for any of these douchebag cops to actually stand up for their female colleague who’s subjected to the asshole chief’s joke — and there would’ve been little confusion about “good one chief” vs. “nervous laughter.”

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The Thin Blue Line meets the Old Boy Network.

You have a lot to learn about how people lie to stay in power.

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Just Brookline being Brookline

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THIS GUY was the best candidate for the job???

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…. could play him brilliantly on tv. I’m already hearing his slimy comments in Shatner’s voice.

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Still a better hire than the Nazi from Woburn.

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The "your husband" thing, in isolation, probably wouldn't be considered harassment -- it would be funny among a group of friends, but is inappropriate at the workplace. But once you combine it with other incidents, you get a pattern.

(But then the MILF thing, even in isolation, is beyond the pale.)

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