The AHRC is appalled to read the recent writings of Arlington Police Lieutenant Rick Pedrini in the non-profit Massachusetts Police Association’s newsletter, The Sentinel. His derogatory language about many groups of people who are represented in Arlington is frightening, disturbing and endangers the safety of all Arlington residents. These statements are in complete opposition to the mission of the Arlington Police Department (APD) and are detrimental to the incredibly positive and forward-thinking work that we have seen from APD under Chief Fred Ryan's leadership. We have been in contact with Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine and Chief Ryan about this and are pleased and unsurprised that they are taking this very seriously.
As Lieutenant Pedrini's words about groups of people are not reflective of individuals in those groups, we would like to emphasize that a single officer’s hateful language is not representative of the many officers in the APD who work tirelessly to build community trust and provide the safety and security that we all rely on in Arlington. The AHRC looks forward to working with the APD and the Town to address this specific incident and to find more ways to make Arlington a safe and inclusive community for all.