Overview
- The commission’s final decision, issued after a Dec. 18 vote, cites clear and convincing evidence of a pattern of unprofessional conduct and repeated sustained complaints, including earlier 2015 discipline that resulted in a suspension and demotion.
- Investigators found Devine leveraged his authority over Sandra Birchmore from the Stoughton Police Explorers program to develop a relationship that later became sexual.
- Evidence included on-duty communications and Facebook messages sent under the alias “Marty Riggs,” with a hearing officer concluding Devine was untruthful during internal affairs questioning.
- The panel ordered his decertification reported to the National Decertification Index, permanently preventing him from serving as a police officer in Massachusetts.
- Devine denies the allegations and challenges the evidence, while former officer Matthew Farwell remains federally charged in Birchmore’s 2021 death and is being held awaiting trial.