City Councilor Reacts to Barbosa Case: Wrongful Arrest of Three Women, Illegal Entry and Excessive Force by Brockton Police

Brockton, Mass. - Responding to Open Media Boston’s coverage of a recently resolved court case, Brockton City Councilor Michelle DuBois says “it’s a disturbing story.” 

As previously reported, the Barbosa family recently won a civil lawsuit in federal court in Boston after Brockton police officers illegally entered their home, and used excessive force when wrongfully arresting three women in 2008 after a celebration following the birth of a child.

In a phone interview, DuBois told Open Media Boston that she is “very happy” that the issue was covered in the press, but is also concerned about what’s “not being reported” in the city south of Boston.

Mother and Father, Henriqueta and Manuel Barbosa, and their daughters, Maria and Angela Barbosa, filed a complaint in 2011 against Officers Thomas Hyland, Patrick Donahue, Jesse Drane, Steven Johnson and Frank Baez.

Judge Judith Dein made a judgment in January, finding in the family’s favor, and awarding them $60,000 plus interest and legal fees.

Councilor DuBois says that she’s “a big advocate of public safety, and police officers and police departments,” and feels strongly that the vast majority “of the men and women that serve in the police department do the right thing all the time,” adding that “they’re also people that are in really tense situations that sometimes make mistakes like any human being does.”

She says that the issue has “stirred a lot of discussion in Brockton,” but that it was “extremely difficult for me to read” about the arrest of Angela who had just given birth to her son several days prior to this incident, and for whom the family were celebrating.

Still recovering from a C-section, Angela was arrested at her parent’s home, shortly after the arrest of her mother, Henriqueta. Councilor DuBois says that police handling of a videotape from the lobby of the Police Department, which captured the subsequent arrest of Maria was “sloppy police work at best.”

Maria, who went to the police station to bail out her mother and sister, was also arrested, but despite making a formal complaint, the videotape which captured images of her arrest was reviewed by police and then somehow lost.

According to Councilor DuBois, “in Brockton we’ve been having a lot of issues with big house parties, and being a councilor I get calls about the all the time,” and when police officers try to “break them up,” there can be “a lot of tension.”

She says that while the Barbosa’s celebration does not appear to have been a large party, “looking at the context of what is occurring in Brockton around these house parties, maybe the officers went in with a different type of intensity.”

Councilor DuBois says “there might have been some judgment failures that occurred,” and suggested that “more policies” to deal with the issue of large parties might need to be put in place, such as increasing the number of responding officers.

Neither the Brockton Police Department, nor the Brockton City Mayor’s office has responded to requests by Open Media Boston for comment.