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.”