Thomas Nee Boston Police: Allegations, Official Findings, and Key Takeaways

Table of Contents#

1. Who Is Thomas Nee? Background of the Former BPD Officer
2. Full Breakdown of Allegations Against Thomas Nee
3. Official Investigation Process: How BPD and State Regulators Responded
4. Official Findings and Final Disciplinary Outcomes
5. Broader Impacts of the Case on Boston Policing Policy
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
7. References

---

Who Is Thomas Nee? Background of the Former BPD Officer#

Thomas Nee was a 27-year veteran of the Boston Police Department prior to his 2022 termination, assigned primarily to District B-3 serving the Mattapan and Dorchester neighborhoods. Alongside his patrol duties, Nee held a senior leadership position in the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (BPPA), the city’s largest police union, where he advocated for officer benefits and disciplinary protections for over 10 years.

At the time the allegations surfaced in 2021, Nee earned a base salary of $98,000 annually, plus an average of$42,000 a year in overtime pay, according to public city payroll records.

---

Full Breakdown of Allegations Against Thomas Nee#

The allegations against Nee first emerged via an anonymous tip submitted to BPD’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD) in March 2021. A formal review of evidence corroborated three core sets of claims:

1. Overtime fraud: Nee was accused of submitting 78 false overtime slips between 2018 and 2021 for shifts he never worked, totaling $34,217 in unauthorized public pay. Evidence included time-stamped security footage showing Nee leaving precincts hours before his scheduled overtime shift, and GPS data from his department-issued phone showing he was at his personal residence or second private security job during the claimed overtime hours.
2. Misuse of department resources: Investigators confirmed Nee used marked BPD patrol vehicles for personal use an estimated 42 times between 2020 and 2021, including commuting to his private security job, running family errands, and taking out-of-state trips on personal time.
3. Witness tampering: After learning of the IAD probe, Nee pressured three junior officers under his supervision to lie to investigators about his shift attendance and vehicle use, including offering to adjust their overtime schedules in exchange for false testimony.

---

Official Investigation Process: How BPD and State Regulators Responded#

The investigation into Nee’s conduct unfolded across two parallel tracks: internal BPD disciplinary proceedings and a separate criminal public integrity probe:

1. Internal IAD investigation (March 2021 – January 2022): IAD investigators subpoenaed 3 years of payroll records, GPS data from 2 BPD vehicles assigned to Nee, security footage from 3 city precincts, and testimony from 17 witnesses including Nee, his subordinates, and BPD payroll staff. The BPPA filed an objection to the probe in August 2021, claiming IAD violated Nee’s collective bargaining rights by interviewing him without a union representative present on one occasion, but the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission dismissed the claim in January 2022, ruling the interview was voluntary.
2. Criminal referral (October 2021 – March 2023): IAD referred the case to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit in October 2021 after finding preliminary evidence of criminal conduct, separate from internal disciplinary rules.

---

Official Findings and Final Disciplinary Outcomes#

Internal BPD Rulings#

In June 2022, the BPD Disciplinary Board ruled Nee violated 11 department policies, including falsification of official records, theft of public funds, conduct unbecoming an officer, and witness intimidation. The board recommended immediate termination, which was approved by the BPD Commissioner in July 2022. Nee appealed the termination to the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission, but the appeal was unanimously denied in November 2023, upholding his permanent removal from the force.

Criminal Court Rulings#

In March 2023, Nee pleaded guilty to 3 felony counts of larceny over $250, 1 count of witness tampering, and 1 count of misuse of public property as part of a plea deal. His sentence included:

• 2 years of supervised probation
• 100 hours of community service focused on youth mentorship in Boston’s low-income neighborhoods
• Full restitution of $34,217 paid to the City of Boston
• A permanent ban from working in any law enforcement or public sector role in the state of Massachusetts

No jail time was included in the sentence, per the plea agreement, in exchange for Nee’s cooperation with a wider city audit of BPD overtime spending.

---

Broader Impacts of the Case on Boston Policing Policy#

The Nee case served as a catalyst for multiple policy changes to BPD oversight and accountability:

1. Overtime tracking reforms: In 2023, BPD rolled out mandatory biometric clock-in/clock-out systems for all patrol officers, plus random GPS audits of department vehicles to reduce fraudulent overtime claims.
2. Union bargaining reforms: The Boston City Council passed the 2023 Police Accountability Ordinance, which stripped the BPPA of the ability to appeal disciplinary dismissals for officers convicted of felony misconduct via collective bargaining agreements.
3. Citywide payroll audit: The wider audit of BPD overtime spending sparked by Nee’s case found $1.2 million in potentially fraudulent overtime claims across 23 additional officers, leading to 7 terminations and 3 additional criminal convictions as of 2024. Per a 2023 city resident survey, public trust in BPD increased by 8 percentage points in the Mattapan neighborhood following Nee’s conviction, the largest single-year improvement in trust recorded in the district in 10 years.

---

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)#

1. Was Thomas Nee the only BPD officer charged in the overtime fraud probe?#

No, 7 additional officers have been terminated and 3 have faced criminal charges as part of the wider audit sparked by Nee’s case. The audit is ongoing as of 2024.

2. Did Thomas Nee serve any jail time for his crimes?#

No, his plea agreement waived jail time in exchange for full restitution and cooperation with the broader BPD payroll fraud investigation.

3. Can Nee ever work in law enforcement again?#

No, his guilty plea includes a permanent ban from all public safety and public sector roles in the state of Massachusetts, and his law enforcement certification has been permanently revoked by the Massachusetts Police Training Committee.

---

References#

1. Boston Police Department. (2022). Official Disciplinary Ruling: Thomas Nee, BPD ID #4872. Retrieved from https://www.bpd.gov/disciplinary-records/2022/nee
2. Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. (2023, March 14). Press Release: Former BPD Officer Thomas Nee Pleads Guilty to Overtime Fraud and Witness Tampering. Retrieved from https://www.suffolkda.gov/news/press-releases/2023/03/nee-guilty-plea
3. Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. (2023, November 2). Ruling: Thomas Nee v. Boston Police Department, Docket No. CSC-22-347. Retrieved from https://www.mass.gov/civil-service-commission/rulings/2023/nee-appeal
4. City of Boston. (2023). 2023 Resident Public Safety Satisfaction Survey. Retrieved from https://www.boston.gov/public-safety-survey-2023
5. Boston City Council. (2023, July 19). Police Accountability Ordinance of 2023, Bill No. ORD-23-012. Retrieved from https://www.boston.gov/city-council/legislation/ord-23-012-police-accountability