HOLYOKE — A Holyoke police officer who last month reported his department-issued gun “stolen” from his car in Chicopee had placed the firearm unsecured under his passenger seat, according to newly released police records.
The officer, Kevin Whalen, reported to Chicopee police on Nov. 19 that his service weapon had been stolen from his car at a restaurant where he was picking up food. However, after watching surveillance footage of the parking lot, Chicopee police suspended their investigation on Monday “due to the alleged crime not taking place in Chicopee,” the department’s incident report says.
In an email Wednesday, Holyoke police Capt. Matthew Moriarty said that Belchertown police are now investigating the “reported theft” and that Holyoke police are fully cooperating. Whalen told Chicopee police that on the day in question, he visited a Planet Fitness gym in Belchertown after training at the Holyoke Revolver Club.
“He was wearing his duty belt while driving to Planet Fitness and had forgot his off duty holster,” Chicopee’s police report reads. “He then unholstered and placed his duty handgun under the passenger seat while driving.”
Under state law, a person with a license to carry a firearm is allowed to have a gun in the car only if that gun is under their direct control. Otherwise, the law requires that it be unloaded and placed in a locked location. Law enforcement officers are exempt from that law, though only when the officer “is acting within the scope of his duties.”
Moriarty said that the Holyoke Police Department’s internal investigation of Whalen is ongoing.
“As previously reported, the Officer has been placed on internal administrative duties until the conclusion of the internal investigation by our department,” Moriarty said.
Chicopee police, in their report on the incident, say that Whalen arrived at home after picking up food from Chicopee North China Restaurant and “was unable to locate his Glock 21 where he had previously placed it.” He reported the gun stolen, saying that a sedan with tinted windows was parked next to him.
Video footage from a nearby gas station’s security camera, however, showed that Whalen appeared to have locked his car before entering the restaurant and that the occupants of the other car never came near Whalen’s vehicle.
In a timeline of events Whalen gave to Chicopee police, he said that after he realized the gun was missing from his car, he drove back to the restaurant to try to see their surveillance footage. The police report also states that Whalen believed he had locked his car at both Planet Fitness in Belchertown and Chicopee North China Restaurant.
Holyoke police officers have lost or misplaced guns and equipment on several occasions over the years, including earlier this year when the department said two ballistic vests with gun magazines in the pouches were stolen from an officer’s car in South Hadley.
Moriarty said that anyone with information about Whalen’s gun can contact Belchertown or Holyoke police, or use the anonymous “Text-a-Tip” message system.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.