City Councilor Israel Rivera talks at a recent City Council meeting on Dec. 16.
Photo credit: Holyoke Media
HOLYOKE — Two police unions that represent the Holyoke Police Department are calling for the resignation of City Councilor Israel Rivera from the City Council after receiving the body cam footage of his recent arrest.
The call for Rivera’s resignation comes after members of the Holyoke Police Supervisor’s Union, Local #409, and the Holyoke Police Patrolman’s Union, Local #388, formally requested an advisory ethics opinion from city officials regarding Rivera’s continued participation in matters directly affecting the Holyoke Police Department.
Rivera caught the attention of the two unions that represent the Holyoke Police Department after his OUI arrest on the night of Dec. 20 into early Dec. 21.
Rivera was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded not guilty to the OUI and two civil motor vehicle infractions, failure to stop at a red light and speeding.
According to police, Rivera also veered onto a sidewalk to avoid a barricade on Appleton Street. Rivera was pulled over after veering onto the sidewalk.
Rivera will have a pretrial hearing on Jan. 26.
The letter from the unions on Jan. 5 cited that Rivera’s incident on Dec. 20 is documented in an official Massachusetts State Police report and was captured on Massachusetts State Police body-worn cameras.
The letter was delivered to Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, City Solicitor Lisa Ball, City Councilor President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti and Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan to ask their opinion if Rivera should still be serving on the Public Safety Committee or making any decisions relating to the Holyoke Police Department.
The letter cited that during the encounter, Rivera allegedly made statements invoking his elected position and mentioning his authority over police funding. The police report states, in part, “I’m a City Councilor, you can’t really work with me? and “That’s fine, I’ll just cut the budget,” and “Everyone else gets a pass, but I don’t?”
It was also reported that Rivera used offensive racial slurs during this incident, including statements that are deeply troubling and inconsistent with the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, according to the letter from the unions.
The new letter on Jan. 19 from both unions stated that although the letter was hand-delivered to multiple city officials, they received no guidance, no acknowledgment and no response.
The unions said, “With the city’s refusal to act, we were left with no choice but to file a formal ethics complaint and submit a public records request for the body-worn camera footage related to this incident.”
The footage confirmed reported behavior from the unions.
Holyoke Police Department Lieutenant Andrew DiNapoli, who also serves as the president Holyoke Police Supervisors Union, Local #409, talked to Reminder Publishing after the original letter that was sent.
DiNapoli said at the time that they did not want Rivera removed from the City Council, but they want to see him removed from the Public Safety Committee and any other committees that may have direct dealings with the Police Department. They also did not want to see him allowed to vote at all on any Holyoke Police Department matters.
After receiving the dash cam and body cam footage and sending it to multiple news outlets, the unions are now calling upon Garcia and Murphy-Romboletti, all members of the local government, and Holyoke residents to join the unions in urging Rivera to resign from his position on the City Council.
The letter stated, “Having received and reviewed the footage of this incident, we are appalled by Councilor Rivera’s behavior. We believe all city officials should agree that his actions fall well short of the standards expected of someone entrusted with representing the citizens of Holyoke on the City Council.”
The letter said that Rivera repeatedly and deliberately used the racial slur, commonly referred to as the “N-word”, during his interaction with members of the Massachusetts State Police.
“This was not a single utterance taken out of context. It was repeated, unmistakable and offensive,” the letter stated.
Rivera did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reminder Publishing.
The City Council meets on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. Reminder Publishing will have more updates if they arise from that meeting.
