Hingham Cop Suspended, Investigated by DSS
A veteran Hingham Police Lieutenant has been suspended and is being investigated by the Department of Social Services after his 17-year-old son called 911 saying that his father pointed a loaded gun at him during an argument, Boston has learned.
Lt. Kris Phillips is accused of “racking a bullet” into his service revolver weapon and pointing the weapon at his son after an altercation in a car on March 22, a state official said. The teen called 911 from the family’s Hingham home shortly after the alleged 8 p.m. incident.
Yesterday, Hingham Police Chief Taylor Mills confirmed that Phillips is currently on paid administrative leave and that the allegation of the gunpoint threat has been referred to the Department of Social Services – but not to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
A spokeswoman for Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said there is not a criminal investigation into the matter because Phillips was not charged with a domestic violence crime. DSS spokesman Juan Martinez said that the agency received a 51A report outlining the allegation that the teen had made on March 23 and that there is currently an ongoing investigation.
Mills wasn’t specific about the allegation made by the teen, only that it was an accusation of domestic violence. When asked why Phillips had not been arrested after the 911 call Mills said that “we do things by the numbers.”
“We don’t as a matter of protocol comment on allegations of domestic violence. There is nothing cloak and dagger going on here,” Mills said. “As there is with most domestic violence cases, it is not a cut-and-dry situation. No one likes to deal with this kind of thing when it’s one of your own.”
Mills’ administrative assistant, Lynne Phillips, is the teen’s stepmother and is also married to Phillips. She answered the phone at Mills’ office yesterday but declined to comment on the incident. Phillips, a 20-year veteran of the Hingham Police Department, was promoted to his current rank last month. He could not be reached last night.
“There will be a transparent nature to this,” Taylor Mills said. “There is more than meets the eye.”
March 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Huh, a longtime police reporter is telling us a cop ‘racked’ his bullet into his ‘revolver’? If this alleged dunderhead is carrying a revolver, A, he didn’t rack any bullet, and B, the Hingham Police need a serious budget infusion, because they’re probably the only police department left carrying six-shooters. Get it first … but first get it right.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Isn’t this funny. Its clear that now that the cat is out of the bag, someone is quite defensive. Just don’t be a troublemaker cop… how about that. The town would be remiss not to pay close attention to this behavior… I’m sure no one is surprised.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
You can trust that this will quietly go away. Cops are like that with their own.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
What is sickening, is that while this will get swept under the rug, the citizens of Hingham should demand better. This is behavior unbecoming of a role model, and unbecoming of a high ranking official in a small town department. Oh, and the story isn’t entirely accurate as reported here, its worse.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I believe ’service revolver’ is simply a quaint term for the weapon he uses while on duty and not, literally, a revolver. Phillips wasn’t playing Wyatt Earp on Main St.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
It is true, the story as reported is bad enough, but it is much worse. This is being swept under the rug, why are they investigating their own, why is the DA’s office or State Police not involved? One week after the incident happened and still nothing…???? And why is there no arrest of the man who is accussed of pointing a gun at his son? The chief says this is not “cut and dry?” It sounds fairly cut and dry to me! Ask yourself if it were anyone else but a police Lt, would there not be an arrest that night?
March 29th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
This is not by the numbers, Chief. Ever heard of “shall” arrest when placing someone in fear of imminent bodily injury. I’d say a gun to the head qualifies. Chief Mills just doesn’t want to look stupid for his recent promotion. Do the right thing Chief, and follow up on this like you should. Phillips is a guy who shouldn’t be supervising people to begin with. It always been a power thing with him, and this is just one more example. Not all cops are trouble makers, most are good people with nice families that get jaded by back handed comments from the general public (Julie and Mark) that don’t have a clue what is like to be in a job where most people hate you until they need you. To the others that say Hingham should demand better, they should. Take care of a problem person before its too late. Don’t blame the entire police force blame the individual.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Let’s see….this guy just got promoted to Lieutenant, his WIFE is the CHIEF’S SECRETARY?????? They are doing their own investigation (Yeah ok) I’m sure that will be thorough. HELLO!, anyone home in Hingham?????……No conflict of interest here….Time to WAKE UP! Good Luck, I can’t wait to see how they justify this one, sounds like this guy is trouble and obviously connected somehow.
March 30th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
This whole thing is a complete mess and has to looked at much closer! No charges filed, you’ve got to be kidding! I’m sure if you dig a little deeper, this is not the first incident for this officer, it never is! Whether this turns out to be true or not, at the very least, there should have been charges. If this was John Doe, he would have been arrested and the courts would determine the outcome. It’s really a shame for the cops out there that are hard working good people and this adds to the public’s negative view of the police. No one connected to this department should be investigating, give me a break!
March 31st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
NO ONE EVEN closely connected to this man or the HPD should be investigating this allegation. I can see it now, days have gone by where countless conversations with young Phillips have been had, not to ruin his fathers reputation… I’m sure he’ll be taken advantage of and be made to back down or change the details of the event. What a disgrace. We’re doing this adolescent a disservice, in addition to any domestic violence parties that Phillips may have to be involved in responding to. As an officer of the law, you shouldn’t be allowed to just ‘move on’ from this. Its really upsetting.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Where are all the tv reporters when you need them, they should be all over this! This guy is no good and not a victim. I’m sure if Ms. McPhee or other journalists ask around a little and look a little harder, they’ll find out. There are always two sides to every story and we should try not to jump to conclusions, however, this is different. From what I’ve heard, this guy is liked by no one and has done some very shady things in the past! What comes around, goes around I guess? Hope that the right thing happens here?
March 31st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
The Patriot Ledger had a story on this now the link is dead, and a search came up with no stories.
Are the HPD already pulling strings to end this story?
This Lt. should have his weapon taken and be put on a desk job if they refuse to fire him.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Wow, the link to the Patriot Ledger story is dead. Thats wonderful. I wonder if Michele McPhee could, on our behalf, let her journalist colleagues be aware that this story has been squashed b/c of police dept. politics and string pulling. How can you cover up a weapons violation and juvenile endangerment.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I dont like phillips, I think hes smug and he loves busting high school kids. But why are all of you ready to throw this guy in jail before we know the true story? Are you kidding me? Please remember what happened to the Duke lacrosse team. I agree that this should be investigated but as of now these are allegations. The funny thing about Hingham is the trouble making kids who leave high school and decide a few years later to become cops. Thats where the conflict of interest is!
April 1st, 2008 at 6:16 am
Hey HOLD UP, I wanted to address your response. I am pretty sure, that because so many people are referring to the ‘real story’… is that WE KNOW IT, and you don’t. The real story is significant. And we’re outraged that it could be brushed under the rug.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
and thats the exact problem I was addressing in the first place. My point is proven. Unless you were in the car when this incident took place you are out of line saying that you know the “real story”. I find it amusing that you are referring to this so called “real story” with these annonymous postings. Give me a break. And if you do know the “real story” because you were in the car then come forward and offer your information to the police so this can be resolved. But, ofcourse, you won’t. You will just blog and attempt to silence people like me who only want the truth. So keep the “real story” to yourself and keep blogging I guess. Innocent until proven guilty??
April 1st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Just like Hingham Officer who was fired last year or the year before for STEALING $3000. worth of cutlery.
He was fired, but not charged with a crime?
Ya, HPD is fair to it’s own alright!
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
It’s pretty obvious that this one is going to make everyone look bad all the way from the chief, the chief’s assistant who also happens to officer’s Phillips’ wife (gee I wonder if any inside infromation on the internal investigation is discussed at the dinner table at the Phillips house???), the overall department and the town.
So where are the major news networks or the Globe Spotlight team on this one? Why are they not looking into officer Phillips repeated shady activity where, in his official capacity as a representative of the department, he responds to an elderly resident’s request to the to remove a firearm from a residence after the owner has passed away or no longer wants the gun in the house and instead of turning the gun into the department, officer Phillips buys it from the owner at a fraction of it’s value and then resells it to a dealer at a handsome profit. This is incredibly easy to track and verify based on the records required to be kept by gun dealers. And does anyone believe for a second that officer Phillips reports the profits from these underhanded transactions on his tax returns??? I highly doubt it.
If this were John Q. Citizen, rest assured that in the unlikely event he was not arrested, at the very least all of his guns and any other form of weapons would have been taken from his home. Has this happened to officer Phillips? I suspect not. Has the attorney general opened an investigation into the allegations of using a gun in a domestic abuse incident? It would appear not.
And yes there is talk around town and from within the town’s own employees that this is much, much worse than what has been reported. Word around town has it that officer Phillips both verbally abused his son with despicable suggestions that were severely detrimental to his son’s well being as well as officer Phillips “racking” his gun.
Phillips is a long time veteran and someone who has been working with children in a variety of capacities including abuse prevention to he should absolutely know better. Furthermore, when any police officer introduces a loaded weapon into a domestic incident it should be an immediate suspension WITHOUT pay and, if proven true, should be followed by criminal charges.
An officer pulling a gun in an attempt to settle a personal argument is very bad news. Doing so with a family member is reprehensible. Phillips is a disgrace and a coward and someone who should have his right to carry a firearm permanently revoked. He has finally proven what many have always known. He is bad news and a person who has two sets of rules or standards. One set for himself and one set for everyone else.
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I believe that anytime a firearm is pointed at another person, it is Aggravated Assault.
Perhaps the / a local citizen(s) should officially press for charges on:
1) Fact of Law
2) Behalf of the boy
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Time to charge this loose cannon with several crimes, then fire his greasy ass.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Aggravated assault? Intimidation of a witness? Lies and more lies? Illegal purchase (scam) of firearms from the elderly? Pointing a loaded automatic weapon at your own son? Intimidation of fellow officers? Constant complaints of treating the public rudely? Leaving details early, before they’re over? His wife is the Chief’s secretary giving him all the inside info. and confidential info. from the department? Good promotion, Chief Mills! Sharp as usual! Time for the “Bad Lieutenant”, his wife and the incompetent Mills to all STEP DOWN OR BE FIRED!!!!