The Rowe’d to Hell…

The problems with cronyism are numerous. First, it destroys morale. Why bother working hard and being proficient when a lesser candidates get promoted based on a personal relationship? Second, by promoting a lesser candidate, the quality of work being done at a higher position suffers. Third, management is left with a huge blind spot. Instead of having the best candidate providing their best opinion based on experience, training, and knowledge, yet another “yes man” is put into a position to do nothing but artificially inflate the ego of those in power. This blind spot also obscures any objective view of the “crony” being promoted. Such is the case here…

Lieutenant John Mullen of the State Police Professional Standards Unit (essentially, Internal Affairs) retired effective July 29, 2020. Immediately upon Lieutenant Mullen’s retirement, Sgt. Justin Rowe was transferred into Professional Standards, despite the absence of a vacant Sergeant position. The Professional Standards Unit consisted of a Lieutenant (who just retired) and two Sergeants, both of whom had served in PSU for considerable time. The fact Sgt. Rowe was immediately transferred from Major Crime to Professional Standards (where there was no vacant Sergeant position but an upcoming Lieutenant position) was just about as transparent a move as could have been made. This is especially true considering Justin Rowe worked closely with Colonel Nate Noyes when Noyes was a Trooper in Troop E.

So, despite a total lack of experience conducting internal investigations, Justin Rowe was the heir apparent to the Lieutenant’s spot in Professional Standards. The “Good Ole Boy Network” was alive and well, and it was on full display for everyone to see. So obvious was this scheme, that no one else even bothered to apply for the Lieutenant’s spot when it was posted. There is some 50+ Sergeants in the Division of State Police. Only one applied for this job. Only one. Justin Rowe. (This has become a common occurrence under the Quinn/Noyes regime. Why waste one’s time applying when the decision is already made?)

Surprise! Surprise! On Monday, May 17, 2021, Colonel Noyes issued a division wide email announcing his good buddy, Sgt. Justin Rowe, as the next Lieutenant of the Professional Standards Unit. It is important to note, this promotion would be effective Friday, May 21, 2021. Alas, there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip…

One recipient of the promotional email was a woman named Sandra Roy. Ms. Roy was working on the Gun Line in Permits and Licensing. Not only did Sgt. Rowe consider himself the best candidate for the Professional Standards Lieutenant position, but he also fancied himself quite the Lothario, as he had sent Ms. Roy numerous unsolicited, sexually suggestive text messages in her DM’s, despite being married with children. These messages included Sgt. Rowe comparing himself to “Christian Grey” from the novel, “50 Shades of Grey.” Sgt. Rowe also commented on how sexy he thought Ms. Roy looked when she was smoking a cigarette, and how much he would like to see all her tattoos, especially those not visible to the public. (See #receipts.) When Ms. Roy found out that Justin Rowe was promoted, she was so incensed she posted those messages, along with her thoughts on them, to her Facebook account. She also disclosed this fact to a coworker in the Gun Line, Trooper Haden Wilber, who was temporarily assigned there while under investigation.

Trooper Wilber reviewed the posts and immediately recognized his duty to report the matter. He took this information to Lieutenant McQuade and subsequently to Major John Marasco (now Director of DMV). The matter was then turned over to the Department of Personnel, as are all complaints of sexual harassment. Only days later, Colonel Noyes issued another email. This one announced Sgt. Rowe had withdrawn from the Lieutenant’s position in Professional Standards. This email was sent Division wide prior to the effective date of the promotion. In other words, Sgt. Rowe NEVER spent even one minute as a Lieutenant. He was out before he was even in.

Ironically, the person investigating Trooper Wilber (a case to be discussed later) was Sgt. Justin Rowe. Certainly, an agency which prides itself on “Fairness, Professionalism and Integrity” would recognize the blatant conflict of interest and assign a different investigator to Trooper Wilber’s case, right? Wrong. The Division allowed Sgt. Rowe to continue his investigation into Trooper Wilber, even though Trooper Wilber had turned him in for sexual harassment. To no one’s surprise, Sgt. Rowe would later sustain the complaint against Trooper Wilber.

The Department of Personnel received Trooper Wilber’s complaint (See #receipts) and conducted a full investigation. They allegedly sustained the complaint against Sgt. Rowe, and recommended termination. That’s right: The guy who was supposed to be running the Professional Standards Unit, the Unit that decides what behavior is appropriate and inappropriate for Division members, was supposedly recommended for termination for sexually harassing a subordinate.

Was Sgt. Rowe terminated? No. Did he receive a Major Suspension of 7 days or more? No. (A Major Suspension would have rendered him ineligible for promotion for 7 years.) Was Sgt. Rowe demoted, as has been the case with female employees of the Department of Safety who have sustained complaints of sexual harassment? Also no.

However, he was allowed to serve as a Commander for the NH Police Cadet Training Academy at Police Standards and Training during the summer of 2021. After all, when an adult male is in the midst of a sexual harassment investigation, the best place for him is at an academy where he has access to, and command over, underage female cadets.

In the end, Sgt. Justin “50 Shades of Grey” Rowe was supposedly given a couple of days off. Then, months later, he was transferred back to the Major Crime unit. (See #receipts)

But the story doesn’t end there…

Just last week, the pillars of fairness and justice at the NH Attorney General’s Office proudly announced the arrest of Litchfield Police Chief, Ben Sargent on a charge of Official Oppression. The basis of this charge is that he allegedly sexually harassed a female subordinate. According to the affidavit, his sexually harassing behavior consisted of telling a female patrol officer that he loved her. There is of course more to the story, to include a pattern of behavior of Chief “Dirty Bird.”

So, the Chief of Police in a small community gets charged with a misdemeanor for telling a subordinate he loves her. Meanwhile, a State Police Sergeant gets a pass for blatantly telling a woman she’s sexy when she smokes, that he wants to see ALL her tattoos, and he wants to go all “50 Shades of Grey” on her?

There are only two possibilities as to why Sgt. Justin Rowe was not charged: First, the Department of Justice knew about the case and decided not to charge him. If that is the case, we should all be asking how they arrived at such a decision? The second possibility (and the more likely one) is the Department of Justice did not even know about Sgt. Rowe’s transgression, because the State Police never forwarded the case to the DOJ (AG) for potential prosecution. If this is the case, it would mean both Commissioner Quinn and Colonel Noyes ran interference to protect Justin Rowe from potential criminal charges.

Oh, look! Another Quinn cover-up!

If the Attorney General did not know about the case until now, they can still bring about criminal charges even though the Statute of Limitations on a misdemeanor is one year. They recently attempted to prosecute a Salem Police Sergeant for an 8-year-old traffic violation. The DOJ’s position was they had not learned of the offense until 8 years later, so the statute of limitations did not apply.

Well, they are learning about Sgt. Rowe’s actions now and the clock is ticking.

What say you, Attorney General Formella? Is the Rowe’d to hell paved with good intentions?

[ FOR THE ROBBILEAKS FAITHFUL ]

Below are the phone numbers to some important individuals that may have an interest in this topic.

Office of Governor Sununu: (603)-271-2121

Office of AG John Formella: (603)-271-3658