On Sunday morning, New England Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones showed up at the Foxborough Police Department shirtless and disoriented.
According to Deadspin, Jones was under the influence of synthetic marijuana and had a bad reaction to the drug.
Since the New England Patriots were getting ready to play their first playoff game this week, Jones showing up at the police department quickly became news.
Initially, the Foxboro Police Department didn’t provide any details about what led Jones to show up there.
A spokesperson for the department said Jones had a medical emergency when he showed up at the police station but declined to go into details about why Jones was there.
As more details of the incident leaked out, reporters found out that the department modified the official police log of the incident.
According to Boston.com, the official police logs have Jones arriving at the department at 7:42 a.m. Sunday. The dispatcher noted that Jones was evaluated by fire personnel at 7:52 a.m.
At 3:02 p.m. on Tuesday, Lt. Allan L. Haskell modified the log. The information Haskell changed or removed is unknown, and the Foxborough Police Department has refused to release the information.
According to Haskell, a “dispatch error” included a medical diagnosis, which he said was removed.
Peter Caruso II, an attorney that specializes in public records, said that police logs are the most basic records police departments keep. He also said they are supposed to be available to anyone who requests them.
Caruso added that the removal of information from the police log destroys a department’s transparency and makes the public think the police are trying to hide something.
“If any public official or any custodian of a public document is deleting and removing information from that public record, that is a gross violation of not only the public records law but the public trust,” he said.
On Wednesday, Foxborough Town Manager William G. Keegan, Jr. said that the town was reviewing records related to the Jones incident with their legal counsel.
“We fully appreciate and understand the need for transparency and full disclosure, as required by law, with respect to public safety actions such as this,” the statement read. “However, we are likewise, well aware of and are bound by law to secure individual rights and privileges involved when medical response actions [are] taken by the Town’s public safety personnel.”
When asked why Jones’ record was changed days after the incident, Haskell said there was nothing to it because the department modifies records all the time.
Haskell also said Jones wasn’t being given preferential treatment.
Police officers are allowed to redact information as long as they state the reason. In Jones’ case, the information wasn’t redacted, it was taken out of the report without any explanation.
Foxborough Police Chief Edward T. O’Leary has not responded to messages seeking comment.
Jones returned to work on Monday and participated in all meetings and practices. He is expected to play on Saturday.
© 2015 Bright Mountain Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted info@brightmountainmedia.com
