HADLEY — A veteran Hadley police officer who acknowledged posting to the department’s Facebook an “insensitive” item, comparing publicity given to the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks to the killing of two Florida deputies in a restaurant, apologized Monday to community members.
“This has been the worst week of my life, definitely the worst week of my career,” Sgt. Kenneth Hartwright said.
He added that he has been checking the comments section on Facebook “every three minutes for the last eight days, watching people tear me a new one.”
“The worst part? I think I deserve it,” Hartwright said. “I’ve been serving the public for 37 years and I’ve never been accused of what I’ve been accused of last week. I feel awful about this.”
“I am sorry,” he said.
Speaking to about a dozen people at a meeting organized in response to community concerns about the incident, Hadley Police Chief Michael Mason said by being open and honest, the department had a chance to make something better.
“It is on us to rebuild this trust,” Mason said.
Throughout the hourlong meeting, Hartwright repeatedly apologized for the post and at times choked up.
He said he had come in from doing yardwork at his house April 21 and turned on the television and logged onto Facebook when he saw the post shared by several of his contemporaries in the area.
“Two guys get kicked outta Starbucks and everyone freaks out. 2 cops just having lunch were assainated [sic] and no one bats an eye…” the post read. The Gazette obtained a copy of the post through a public records request.
Feeling extremely frustrated, he said, he focused on the second sentence and didn’t pay attention to the top part. He said he meant to post it on his personal page.
“I take this job and the protection of citizens seriously,” he said. “When we lose an officer, it hits home.”
Instead, it was posted to the department’s official Facebook page where it stayed for about 10 minutes before the error was realized and the post was taken down. A post went up later that evening explaining a post had been taken down.
Hartwright acknowledged that the post, even though it was meant for his personal page, was still insensitive. He said he took the message of it to be more against the press.
“It ended up being very shortsighted and insensitive,” Hartwright said of his reading and subsequent posting.
He said his intention was never to bring a negative light on the town.
Resident Dee Scanlon told Hartwright that she, too, had a knee-jerk reaction when she saw the post and was the one who called the department out on the issue.
“I’m white, I don’t get profiled but my family does. My children walk past here all the time,” Scanlon said. “It came from a place of fear for my children.”
She said she was afraid to do so because she was unsure what would happen. Referencing Hartwright’s remarks that he focused on the second part of the post and related it to his family, Scanlon said she read the first part and saw her family.
“It took a ton of courage for you to sit here and speak from the heart,” Scanlon said. “I am grateful you are here and that you protect my children and my family.”
Select Board Chairwoman Joyce Chunglo, who also serves as the board’s public safety liaison, told those in attendance that Hartwright has served in the department for 10 years without a blemish on his record.
“I have respected him for 10 years,” she said.
She said the situation was being dealt with internally but did not elaborate on what that meant. She added that she wanted Hartwright to stay with the town for the rest of his career.
Resident Jo-Ann Konieczny called the incident an opportunity for the people of Hadley to come together.
Others echoed Konieczny’s sentiment, asking how something meaningful can be done following the incident. Resident Shel Horowitz suggested the creation of an informal group that would be a mix of citizens and police, and possibly firefighters, to do visioning of what kind of town they wanted Hadley to be.
Sitting next to Hartwright, resident John Mieczkowski Sr. said there was no one in the room who hadn’t said or done something they regretted.
Mason concluded the meeting by saying the department would be taking a look at its use of Facebook in the future.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.