What has not been charged — and what POST can do
Uncharged map
G.L. c. 268 § 13B
“Whoever,” not only civilians. Theory: using the flyer file to punish speech after the 2022 acquittal. Status: no charge.
G.L. c. 265 § 43A
Criminal harassment, also “whoever.” Theory: a willful malicious pattern aimed at Thomson. Status: no charge. Investigation plus reports is also ordinary police work.
G.L. c. 268 § 6A
Public employee files a false written report. Theory: intent written as fact (“sole purpose distress”) if it is knowingly false. Status: no charge. A bad opinion in a report is not automatically § 6A.
G.L. c. 268 § 13E
Alter, destroy, or conceal a record to keep it out of a proceeding. Theory: the missing woman-with-flyers log, if someone later proves deletion. Status: no charge. “Cannot find” is not proved destruction.
G.L. c. 12 §§ 11H–11I (MCRA)
Civil: interfere with constitutional rights by threats, intimidation, or coercion. Status: no public suit.
42 U.S.C. § 1983
Civil: state actor violates federal rights. First Amendment retaliation needs protected speech, adverse action, causal link. Hedberg said speech → cameras, family inbox, charges. Status: no public federal case posted.
18 U.S.C. § 242
Federal criminal civil-rights (color of law). High bar: willful deprivation of a right. Status: no charge.
Facts that would sit under those theories
Hedberg: sign is speech. Then lot camera, December 2022 plate look-back, “pass my number,” Tish as complainant, “nothing violated the order,” then 43A, 90 pages mid-trial, missing log. That sequence is the retaliation story. It is not an indictment.
Massachusetts POST
Created by St. 2020, c. 253. Statute: G.L. c. 6E. Site: mapostcommission.gov
POST is the statewide certifier and civil enforcer for peace officers. It is not a criminal court and not Westwood IAD.
What POST can do
c. 6E § 3 and §§ 8–11
Set certification standards; certify officers and agencies; deny, limit, suspend, revoke, or fine a certified person; receive complaints from any source; audit and investigate; publish status lists and certain disciplinary records; order retraining; refer matters that look criminal to a prosecutor — it does not prosecute them itself.
Division of Police Standards investigates misconduct and recommends discipline. Agency heads must send complaints to POST within two business days and send the finished IAD report when the town is done.
Suspension (§ 9)
interim hold while a serious case is pending.
Decertification (§ 10)
after a hearing, clear and convincing evidence. Shall revoke for listed grounds (felony, fraud in the certificate, certain falsified documents). May suspend or revoke for a misdemeanor, bias, or a pattern of unprofessional conduct. A decertified officer cannot work as a Massachusetts cop and goes on the National Decertification Index.
What POST cannot do
- Charge Aylward with 13B, 43A, or § 6A.
- Unseal Westwood’s full IAD folder.
- Fire an officer by itself in every case.
- Decide Thomson’s flyer trial.
- Treat “certified” as “clean IAD.”
Posted POST row on the flyer-file detective
Aylward, Christopher — MPTC ID 9998-2551 — still certified.
IA 11-1-IA — incident date January 22, 2011 — other misconduct: failure to respond to an incident according to established procedure — sustained — discipline: retraining.
That is not a decertification and not a 2017 or 2023 flyer finding.
Hedberg, Sheehy, Sicard, Silva: appear as certified on public status extracts (Sheehy and Sicard as retired / working details). No posted POST decertification order for those names on the lists reviewed.
Westwood block, Sept. 2, 2026 POST dump
Sustained allegations only. Not town IAD.
Aylward, Christopher M. — 9998-2551 — Certified
IA 11-1-IA — January 22, 2011 — failure to respond — sustained — retraining. Historical import. Still the only Aylward row. Not a flyer finding.
Puller, Paden A. — 3382-5592 — Certified
Harvard IA 2024-3 — May 31, 2024 — firearm left on a vehicle roof — written reprimand. Now listed at Westwood. Not in the Thomson flyer reports.
Abbatangelo, Dominic P. — 9998-2562 — Expired
Westwood IA 25-1 — February 12, 2025 — seven sustained rows, including failure to respond, untruthfulness, and a physical confrontation with a superior. One row lists suspension 6–29 days. Not on the August 26 decertified or suspended lists. Not the flyer detective.
Hedberg, Sheehy, Sicard, Silva and the other names in the flyer reports: no sustained row. POST commission-order summary (Aug. 24, 2026): no Westwood hearing listed.