It’s hard for me to understand those people who believe there is a “deep state” of corrupt government officials determined to take away our rights. The fabrications and fantasies of conspiracy theorists have stoked so much suspicion, fear, and rage that we are now in danger of seeing the end of democracy here and around the world.
But that does not mean that every story of corruption is unfounded.
Last week, reporter Sam Pollak spelled out in convincing detail a series of failures by the Provincetown police, Town Manager Alex Morse, and Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galibois that allowed a local businessman to avoid accountability for serious crimes that were witnessed and documented by at least three town officials.
Innkeeper and landlord Paul Schofield abused and terrorized four Bulgarian college students who lived in one of his apartments and worked for him last summer. He didn’t pay them and then broke into their apartment, stole money, destroyed their belongings, and assaulted them during multiple eviction attempts. They reported these acts to the police, who repeatedly refused to help — with the shameful excuse that these violent crimes were landlord-tenant issues, a “civil matter.” The students’ accounts were confirmed by their other employers, Richard Kelly, manager of the Dolphin Fleet, and Kristyn Samok, owner of Mad as a Hatter, and are recorded in official police reports.
Schofield was arrested on Sept. 7 when Health Director Lezli Rowell, Building Commissioner Anne Howard, and Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Hobart witnessed him committing the crimes he was charged with: assault, destruction of property, and disorderly conduct. Their accounts were documented in a 22-page report, and Rowell took a video of what she saw that day. None of that evidence was produced by the police before Schofield’s March 27 trial in Orleans District Court, where he was found not guilty.
The police also had extensive contact information for the students, including email addresses, a P.O box, and other ways of reaching them through their employers. But that information was also hidden from prosecutors. A month after asking for it, the D.A.’s victim witness advocate received a one-sentence reply from the police: “They went back to Bulgaria/Romania.” The students never knew the trial was taking place.
Last week, Galibois admitted that this was significant police misconduct, but to our knowledge he has made no move to do anything about it. Morse actually defended the police’s right to withhold evidence, revealing either his ignorance of the law or his willingness to dissemble. And Police Chief Jim Golden offered the excuse that police officers, “like all humans, are not infallible, and can make mistakes.”
Since Pollak’s story appeared, Galibois, Morse, and Golden have been silent, leaving us to wonder whether this was a case of monumental incompetence, deliberate obstruction, or actual corruption. Whatever motive was at play, a full investigation by the office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell may be the only way we will find out what really happened in the case of Paul Schofield.
