Mary Holmes’s federal civil rights lawsuit against the MBTA and two of its Transit Police officers settled in June 2017. The Mary Holmes MBTA settlement paid undisclosed money to Holmes and her attorneys and required the MBTA Transit Police Department to adopt a package of accountability reforms, including superintendent review of every excessive-force complaint, mandatory collection of video evidence, aggression-management training for all officers, online posting of use-of-force policies, and an easier civilian complaint process.1ACLU of Massachusetts. Settlement Reached in MBTA Police Brutality Case
What Happened at Dudley Square
On March 26, 2014, Holmes was at the Dudley Square MBTA station in Roxbury when she saw Officer Jennifer Garvey shoving and screaming at another woman. Holmes intervened and called 911 to report Garvey’s behavior.2ACLU. Roxbury Resident Mary Holmes Sues MBTA Police Officers for Police Brutality and Violation of Constitutional Right to Free Speech Garvey and her partner, Officer Alfred Trinh, then turned on Holmes. According to the complaint, they pepper-sprayed her in the face, knocked the phone from her hand, struck her legs with a metal baton, kicked her legs out from under her, slammed her head on a curb, and handcuffed her on the ground. She needed stitches for a leg wound.3ACLU of Massachusetts. Holmes v. Garvey First Amended Complaint
MBTA surveillance cameras recorded the encounter. Holmes was initially charged with assault and battery on a public employee, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, but prosecutors dropped every charge about four months later after reviewing the video.4WBUR. Civil Rights Lawsuit Filed Against MBTA Transit Police Holmes filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on August 19, 2015, represented by the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Law Offices of Howard Friedman, alleging police brutality and a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech.2ACLU. Roxbury Resident Mary Holmes Sues MBTA Police Officers for Police Brutality and Violation of Constitutional Right to Free Speech An amended complaint in April 2016 added the MBTA itself and one of Garvey’s supervisors, arguing the agency had failed to supervise, investigate, and discipline its officers.1ACLU of Massachusetts. Settlement Reached in MBTA Police Brutality Case
What the Settlement Required
The parties reached agreement the week of June 5, 2017.5ACLU of Massachusetts. Holmes v. Garvey The dollar figure was not made public, though the deal required payment to Holmes and her attorneys.6MassLive. Boston Woman Settles Civil Rights Case Against MBTA The reforms attached to the settlement were the heart of the deal:
- The MBTA Transit Police superintendent must personally review every citizen complaint of excessive force.
- Every excessive-force complaint triggers a formal request for all available video evidence.
- All MBTA police officers must complete at least four hours of “Management of Aggressive Behavior” training.
- The MBTA must post its use-of-force policy and other departmental policies online.
- The MBTA must make it easier for civilians to file police complaints.
The settlement also locked in monitoring improvements the MBTA had begun during the litigation. It did not require body cameras.1ACLU of Massachusetts. Settlement Reached in MBTA Police Brutality Case The Transit Police page on the MBTA website now hosts the Use of Force policy and related conduct and complaint documents as publicly accessible files.7MBTA. MBTA Transit Police
In a joint statement, Holmes said: “I saw something, I said something, and I was beaten and arrested for it. Hopefully, these policy changes will act as a deterrent and help ensure that no one else has to go through what I went through.”8ACLU of Massachusetts. MBTA-ACLU Joint Statement ACLU attorney Carl Williams said Garvey “had a history of complaints that were regularly ignored.”9ACLU. Settlement Reached in MBTA Police Brutality Case
What Happened to Officer Garvey
A consultant’s report by Municipal Resources Inc., later obtained by the Boston Globe, found that Garvey had accumulated 11 formal conduct complaints since her 2008 hire and that the MBTA had “ignored repeated warnings that Garvey was prone to using excessive force.”10Boston Globe. Scathing Report Says MBTA Police Tried to Whitewash Officer Assault of Bystander The MBTA initially exonerated Garvey in July 2014 after Holmes’s internal complaint, then reversed course once the lawsuit was filed and terminated her on December 28, 2015.3ACLU of Massachusetts. Holmes v. Garvey First Amended Complaint
Garvey was also prosecuted. In July 2017 she was convicted after a bench trial of two counts of assault and battery and two counts of filing a false police report. Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins sentenced her the following month to 18 months in jail, with six months to serve and the balance suspended, plus two years of probation.11Boston Herald. Disgraced T Cop Gets Six-Month Jail Stint The Appeals Court of Massachusetts affirmed her convictions on February 2, 2021.12FindLaw. Commonwealth v. Garvey, No. 19-P-1018 After her firing, Garvey applied to the Worcester Police Department and was denied.13Worcester Magazine. Disgraced MBTA Cop Denied Job at Worcester PD
The record on Officer Alfred Trinh is thinner. No public information shows criminal charges or discipline against him, and he was listed as an active MBTA officer as of August 2015.14Boston.com. Woman Says Transit Officers Brutalized Her for Calling Cops on Them