The Rojas Files

It all began on Saturday, July 22, 2006 when Kevin Ksen, an IndyMedia citizen journalist, got arrested while covering some activity by Worcester Police, apparently in conjunction with the Fox TV show, "Cops"...

The first mention of Officer Mark A. Rojas appears in the paper in Dianne Williamson's column on the following Tuesday. Beginning with that column, the following is a chronological list of all the links I could find to articles in the T&G that mention Officer Rojas:

July 25, 2006 - Protesters’ show seems a bit much
September 16, 2006 - Worcester’s finest
September 21, 2006 - Complaint filed against police dept.
January 21, 2007 - Raid leads to arrests of three on drug charges
February 16, 2007 - Criminal charges against local activist set aside
February 17, 2007 - Two-time robber gets 7 to 10 years
February 17, 2007 - ‘Cops’ trespassing case is continued
February 20, 2007 - Complaint process challenged
March 15, 2007 - Activist presses police complaint
March 15, 2007 - Chief says activist has agenda
March 31, 2008 - Dog owner says shots unjustified
July 20, 2008 - Police public files costly
July 30, 2008 - Police commend fellow officers
November 9, 2008 - WPD’s documents delay ‘outrageous’
November 9, 2008 - Police delay goes against purported goal
November 12, 2008 - Council hears the call to issue records
November 12, 2008 - Councilor calls for release of police records
November 12, 2008 - Chief prodded on records
November 12, 2008 - City Council hears the call to issue police records
November 12, 2008 - Council hears call to issue records
November 12, 2008 - Obey the law
November 17, 2008 - Police records arrive quickly if chief wants
December 2, 2008 - Complaints against officer to be released
December 2, 2008 - Police ready to release complaint copies
December 2, 2008 - Police to release redacted copies of complaint
December 2, 2008 - Police to air complaints against officer
December 4, 2008 - Police delay release of file to T&G
December 5, 2008 - Union holds up release of records
December 5, 2008 - Union’s request holds up release of officer’s records
December 5, 2008 - Union holds up release of records
December 8, 2008 - T&G to receive officer’s records
December 10, 2008 - Worcester police release 1,500 pages of officer's file
December 11, 2008 - Police records redacted into big black hole
December 11, 2008 - Man’s account of alleged beating differs from police
December 11, 2008 - Trust redacted
December 11, 2008 - Court may decide police file release
December 12, 2008 - More details emerge about complaints against Rojas
December 12, 2008 - Rojas conviction set aside
December 18, 2008 - T&G asks court for redacted files
December 18, 2008 - T&G goes to court in records case
December 18, 2008 - Rojas files case heading to court
December 18, 2008 - Redacted material sought in Rojas file
December 18, 2008 - Worcester needs commitment to transparency on records
December 21, 2008 - How thorough? How fair?
December 24, 2008 - Closed session on Rojas records blocked
January 7,2009 - Council quiets ‘secret’ meetings
January 15, 2009 - Court hears arguments over blacking out police files
January 15, 2009 - Five misconduct probes of Officer Rojas pending
January 15, 2009 - 5 probes of Rojas are still pending
January 16, 2009 - Judge hears arguments in police privacy case
January 16, 2009 - City says women’s privacy at stake in suit for records
January 16, 2009 - Police records suit in the judge’s hands
January 16, 2009 - City police records suit goes to judge
January 18, 2009 - Record request reasonable and lawful
May 10, 2009 - Officer ‘John Doe’ sues chief
May 12, 2009 - Officer loses gun, but gets court secrecy
June 14, 2009 - Officer’s battle to carry gun to be open
June 18, 2009 - Rojas pushes for gun permit
July 20, 2009 - Worcester chief's suspension of Rojas' gun license upheld
July 21, 2009 - Judge upholds loss of gun
September 21, 2009 - Woman files lawsuit against Officer Rojas
December 14, 2009 - Fox’s ‘Cops’ too real for man in bed