Arlington Police Lt: Cops Should Meet 'Violence With Violence'

ARLINGTON, MA – An Arlington police lieutenant has been placed on paid administrative leave after a series of controversial columns, including one in which he called for officers to meet "violence with violence." Lt. Richard Pedrini, incoming head of the Massachusetts Police Association, also slammed the criminal justice system, elected officials and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in three columns in The Sentinel, the official publication of the MPA.

"I am sick and tired of the social justice warriors telling us how to do our jobs," one column reads. "It’s time we forget about 'restraint', 'measured responses', 'procedural justice', 'de-escalation', 'stigma-reduction', and other feel-good BS that is getting our officers killed. Let’s stop lipsynching, please! Let’s meet violence with violence and get the job done."

About the state's elected officials, Pedrini wrote: "These are the same people who have tied our hands with CJ Reform, de-criminalization of dangerous narcotics, and the current juvenile justice disaster. How about you all just leave us alone, go down to the border, and hand out tin-foil blankets to the people you really care about? Or maybe drop the charade and get out on the streets with BLM, Antifa, and the “Resist” crowd. That’s all you’re good for. We know whose side you’re on and it’s not ours."

The columns were published in the MPA's "In Memoriam" issue, which featured slain Massachusetts officers Sgt. Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth Police Department and Sgt. Michael Chesna of the Weymouth Police Department on the cover. Pedrini told WBUR his columns were intended to be "tongue-in-cheek political satire" for MPA members and "not meant to be taken word for word."

But Arlington officials don't see it that way. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine issued a statement Tuesday saying he is "deeply disturbed by the apparent disregard for human life and for the duty of a police officer" shown in Pedrini's writing.

"The columns written by Mr. Pedrini in the Sentinel newsletter directly contradict the values, morals and mission statement of the Arlington Police Department," Police Chief Frederick Ryan added in a statement. "Such remarks risk eroding the public trust that municipal police departments in Massachusetts have worked so hard to build in recent years. I disavow the remarks in the strongest possible terms, and this matter will be dealt with swiftly and certainly."

Pedrini has been a member of the Arlington Police Department for 22 years.

Photo by Jenna Fisher (Patch Staff)