Former state police official Philbin to be security specialist at transit authority

PROVIDENCE – Former Rhode Island State Police Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Philbin is returning to state service next week, this time as a security specialist with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Philbin will be responsible for investigating and eliminating “corrupt or other criminal activity, conflicts of interest, unethical conduct, misconduct and incompetence” within the agency, according to a description of the post. He will also field complaints and focus on enhancing efficiency, with an emphasis on protecting the health and safety of RIPTA employees, riders and the public.

In his new role, which starts Monday, Philbin will answer to RIPTA Chief of Security and Operations James Pereira, a former major for the Rhode Island State Police. He will earn an annual salary just shy of $76,000, according to RIPTA spokeswoman Cristy Raposo Perry.

Philbin retired from the State Police in 2019 after 25 years of service during which he rose to third-in-command under then Col. Ann Assumpico, overseeing the detective and administrative bureaus. He has since been working as director of operations overseeing security at ARL Healthcare, a marijuana dispensary in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

He declined to talk about his new position, but commented that he hadn't worked for the state police in years.

"Honestly, I'm just trying to move on with my life," he said.

What happend when Joseph Philbin retired from the Rhode Island State Police

Philbin’s departure from the Rhode Island State Police came amid a swirl of legal action targeting the storied department and not long after then Col. James Manni took command. (Manni retired earlier this year to become town manager in South Kingstown.)

Now retired State Police Lt. Michael Casey had sued his superiors, including Philbin, alleging they pressured him to change his background report on a recruit related to a retired State Police captain and then retaliated against him when he refused.

Many of Casey’s claims were dismissed in federal court, but alleged violations of the state Whistleblowers’ Protection Act against his former superiors remain alive in state Superior Court.

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The state has denied the allegations in court papers. Philbin told WPRI in 2020, after the suit was filed, that he “never told any troopers or detectives to change the report" and said a series of text messages and emails will show Casey’s allegations are “meritless.”

He said the applicant was disqualified the moment Casey told him he had failed to disclose an arrest.

A defendant in that case, now retired State Police Capt. Gerald M. McKinney, brought his own claims alleging that Manni was attempting to force him out of his command staff by reopening an investigation into a 2014 incident.

Philbin was McKinney’s commanding officer at the Lincoln barracks in 2014, when McKinney led a juvenile robbery suspect into a processing room and handcuffed one of his hands. The suspect became belligerent and McKinney backhanded him across the mouth.

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McKinney reported the incident to Philbin and wrote a detailed narrative. The incident never led to a formal finding of wrongdoing, and a video of the encounter disappeared.

That detail became more important when another state trooper, who was charged with and pleaded no contest to assaulting a suspect, alleged that the McKinney incident had been covered up.

His accusation led to former superintendent Assumpico taking another look at the McKinney incident. He was again cleared of any wrongdoing.

When Manni assumed command, however, he asked the Connecticut State Police to investigate whether the 2014 incident had been handled properly.

Manni forwarded the results of that inquiry to both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the state attorney general for review.

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“At the request of then Col. Manni, our office conducted a review of the Connecticut State Police investigation and determined no additional federal action was appropriate,” Jim Martin, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha’s office, said in an email Wednesday.

A spokesman the state attorney general's office didn't respond to an inquiry by press time Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former RISP Lt. Col. Joseph Philbin lands RIPTA security job