EPISODE 3: The Chief

Summary

Spotlight: Snitch City Episode 3: The Chief Release Date: March 18, 2025

Summary

In Episode 3 of Spotlight: Snitch City, investigative reporter Dugan Arnett delves deep into the intricate and shadowy world of the New Bedford Police Department, uncovering systemic misconduct centered around Chief Paul Oliveira. Through interviews, firsthand accounts, and meticulous investigation, the episode paints a compelling picture of corruption, misuse of informants, and the blurred lines between law enforcement and criminal behavior.

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1. Introduction to Leadership Change

[00:00 - 01:31]

The episode opens with Dugan Arnett setting the stage for a story filled with strong language and heavy themes. The focus shifts to a pivotal moment in Spring 2021 when Mayor John Mitchell announces the appointment of Paul Oliveira as the new Chief of the New Bedford Police Department.

Notable Quote:

“Policing has changed dramatically throughout the careers of those of us standing here. We will take the next steps to continue changing with the times and working together to keep the residents of the city of New Bedford safe.”
— Paul Oliveira [01:14]

Oliveira is portrayed as a charismatic leader with a robust appearance, likened to a character that Matt Damon could portray. His appointment is initially met with optimism as he pledges support and courage in his new role.

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2. Bobby Richard’s Perspective and Early Relationships

[02:08 - 07:06]

Bobby Richard, a former member of the New Bedford police force with nearly 25 years of service, becomes the central figure in exposing Oliveira’s misconduct. Richard, now working in private security, shares his long-standing relationship with Oliveira, tracing back to their time together at the police academy in 1992.

Notable Quote:

“I think that he probably started on day one and said, I want to be the police chief, right? ... rising to the top of the profession.”
— Bobby Richard [02:22]

Both men began their careers on street patrol before being promoted to the highly coveted drug unit in 1996. Their ascent during the height of the War on Drugs positioned them at the forefront of New Bedford’s narcotics enforcement.

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3. The Rise of Paul Oliveira and Misuse of Informants

[07:17 - 11:26]

As detectives in the drug unit, Richard and Oliveira depended heavily on confidential informants (CIs) to dismantle drug operations. Oliveira quickly distinguished himself by amassing a vast network of informants, categorized into low, medium, and high-level contacts, which earned him accolades and media attention.

Notable Quote:

“He's like the winning horse. He's winning all the races right now. We're just going to fucking ride him.”
— Bobby Richard [10:15]

However, this success was built on questionable practices. Richard began to notice discrepancies in Oliveira’s methods, particularly the off-the-books handling of informants, which compromised the integrity of their investigations.

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4. The Decisive Raid and Concealed Corruption

[11:26 - 16:26]

A turning point occurs during a December 1997 raid on a high-level Colombian drug dealer’s house, facilitated by an informant’s intel. The initial seizure of half a kilo of cocaine was celebrated as a major victory. However, the following day, Oliveira announced an additional four kilos were found, which Richard later learns were actually concealed in the attic.

Notable Quote:

“Paul got four kilos in a case last night.”
— Bobby Richard [13:32]

This revelation exposed Oliveira’s manipulation: he allowed his informant to retain a kilo of cocaine in exchange for critical intelligence, directly violating departmental protocols and legal standards.

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5. Systemic Corruption and Creation of Setup Cases

[16:26 - 22:40]

Richard describes how Oliveira’s tactics evolved into "setup cases," where he collaborated with mid-level dealers to orchestrate raids that consistently yielded high-value drug seizures. This strategy involved allowing major dealers to remain operational while targeting smaller associates, ensuring a steady stream of successful busts and media praise.

Notable Quote:

“A license to deal, ... the best of both worlds.”
— Bobby Richard [22:28]

Such practices not only subverted standard law enforcement objectives but also entrenched a culture of corruption within the department, as evidenced by an external audit revealing that 20% of officers suspected their peers of misconduct.

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6. Consequences and Richard’s Dilemma

[22:40 - 27:02]

As Oliveira’s unethical methods became more pronounced, Richard grappled with his complicity in the corruption. The internal affairs investigation, spearheaded by Oliveira, led to Richard’s demotion following allegations unrelated to the broader misconduct but symptomatic of the pervasive corruption.

Notable Quote:

“I can't think of any other reason to be honest with you.”
— Bobby Richard [25:56]

Facing moral turmoil and the systematic protection of corruption, Richard distanced himself from Oliveira, only to encounter further professional repercussions, culminating in his termination over a minor infraction—a violation of a strict no-smoking policy.

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7. FBI Involvement and Lack of Accountability

[27:02 - 31:21]

Despite multiple contacts from the FBI’s Public Corruption Unit over the years, there has been little to no action taken against Oliveira. Richard expresses frustration over the FBI’s inaction, yearning for a resolution that would bring Oliveira to justice.

Notable Quote:

“I want to see the fucking feds drive up on this guy's lawn and lock him up.”
— Bobby Richard [31:08]

The lack of accountability raises serious questions about federal oversight and the efficacy of investigations into local law enforcement corruption.

---

8. Oliveira’s Denial and Department’s Silence

[31:21 - 33:24]

When confronted, Oliveira denies any wrongdoing or awareness of the FBI’s inquiries, emphasizing his commitment to accountability and the integrity of his officers. However, his refusal to engage directly with Arnett's investigation only deepens suspicions about his involvement in systemic misconduct.

Notable Quote:

“Every single time. Police officers, human beings, they make mistakes. We gotta hold them accountable when they make mistakes.”
— Paul Oliveira [27:11]

The episode concludes with unresolved tensions and lingering doubts about the depth of corruption within the New Bedford Police Department, setting the stage for future investigations and revelations.

---

Impact and Broader Implications

This episode of Spotlight: Snitch City underscores the critical issues of police corruption, the manipulation of informant systems, and the challenges of ensuring accountability within law enforcement agencies. The revelations about Chief Paul Oliveira’s practices not only tarnish the reputation of the New Bedford Police Department but also highlight the broader systemic problems that can arise when oversight mechanisms fail.

Key Takeaways:

• Misuse of Informants: Oliveira’s manipulation of informant systems compromised the integrity of drug enforcement efforts.
• Systemic Corruption: The creation of setup cases and favoritism towards high-level dealers facilitated ongoing corruption.
• Lack of Accountability: Despite evidence and internal doubts, Oliveira escaped formal charges, raising concerns about federal oversight.
• Personal Consequences: Richard’s career suffered due to his resistance to corrupt practices, illustrating the personal cost of whistleblowing.

Conclusion: Episode 3 provides a gripping examination of the thin line between effective law enforcement and systemic corruption. Through the courageous testimonies of individuals like Bobby Richard, Spotlight: Snitch City sheds light on the darker aspects of policing, urging a call for greater transparency and accountability.

Transcript

[Dugan Arnett]

Before we begin, this story includes strong language. Please take care when listening.

[Bobby Richard]

There is a new top cop in New Bedford tonight. The police department appointing a new chief this afternoon.

[Dugan Arnett]

This major shift in local law enforcement took place one afternoon in the spring of 2021. That's right. I'm here in New Bedford where Mayor John Mitchell just announced there's going to be a change in leadership here at.

[Bobby Richard]

The New Bedford Police Department.

[Dugan Arnett]

In a portrait lined room at the New Bedford Public Libra, Mayor John Mitchell stepped forward to address the gathered crowd.

[Bobby Richard]

I've known this individual for a long time and I'm fully confident that he is up to this job. The leadership of the department and going forward will be under Chief Paul Oliveira.

[Dugan Arnett]

Beside him stood Paul Oliveira.

[Paul Oliveira]

It takes more courage than ever to wear this badge and I want to ensure all that. I believe in and support the men and women of the department.

[Dugan Arnett]

Chief Oliveira is handsome, a heftier. Matt Damon could play him in a movie. He's in his 50s, but he still looks like he could lead a team of detectives through a drug house door.

[Paul Oliveira]

Policing has changed dramatically throughout the careers of those of us standing here. We will take the next steps to continue changing with the times and working together to keep the residents of the city of New Bedford safe.

[Dugan Arnett]

To understand New Bedford's policing problem and why federal authorities have had their eyes on the department for years, you need to understand Paul Oliveira. To some degree. It started with him and it only grew from there, at least according to three of Oliveira's former colleagues in the drug unit. I talked to more than a dozen other cops who worked for Oliveira. I even talked to one of his former informants. When it comes to speaking on the record into a microphone with their names out there, most of them stop short. But not Bobby Richard.

[Bobby Richard]

There's a few people that know this stuff about Paul Olivera right from the womb, right, who have lived it with him. And I was one of those people.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard says he's willing to talk because he's off the force and no longer fears retaliation.

[Bobby Richard]

I think that he probably started on day one and said, I want to be the police chief, right? A lot of people don't start on the factory floor and say, I want to be the CEO. But it seemed to me that he had a clear direction in his mind about what he wanted to do and that was, you know, rising to the top of the profession.

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira first made a name for himself as a headline generating drug cop. From there he became a supervisor, then ran Internal Affairs. He was made deputy chief, then Chief. But behind Oliveira's rise to the top, there's a dark backstory.

[Bobby Richard]

Back then, he reached a level of invincibility where he felt like it couldn't be touched. He had become so successful in what he was doing on a daily basis and getting away with it that he became cult like, invincible, you know? Speak of the devil. There he is.

[Dugan Arnett]

Who? Richard and I are talking in the same ornate library where the mayor promoted Oliveira.

[Bobby Richard]

The chief.

[Dugan Arnett]

Really? This car, Richard points out the window.

[Bobby Richard]

It'S a black Suburban. Yeah, I was going by the black Suburban at the lights and five digit plates in case you guys are ever out just looking around, but holy shit. Yeah, so.

[Dugan Arnett]

It'S a little eerie. We're talking about Oliveira and he suddenly appears, as if on command, like he's everywhere. According to Richard, the key to Oliveira's early success was his manipulation of cis.

[Bobby Richard]

You live and die in this business on informants, essentially, and information.

[Dugan Arnett]

And my investigation has found that Olivera misused the CI system and according to his colleagues, broke the law, paving the way for others to do the same.

[Bobby Richard]

It changed the foreign playbook in terms of what was allowed, in terms of controlling it and filming it.

[Dugan Arnett]

And in the 90s, New Bedford's drug unit was going sideways.

[Bobby Richard]

Things just had gotten to the point of no control really, where you could see that the corruption level was just fucking off the hook. It really was.

[Dugan Arnett]

I'm Dugan Arnett and from the Boston Globe Spotlight Team. This is snitch City Episode 3 the Chief.

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[Bobby Richard]

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[Dugan Arnett]

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[Bobby Richard]

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[Dugan Arnett]

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[Bobby Richard]

Hey. Hey.

[Dugan Arnett]

How's it going?

[Bobby Richard]

Sorry, it took a little longer than I go.

[Dugan Arnett]

No, no, don't worry. We got Bobby. Richard works in private security today, but he was with the New Bedford police for almost 25 years. He's not the big bruiser type I pictured in my mind. He's kind of quiet, thoughtful.

[Bobby Richard]

The things that we talk about, I was directly involved in, I saw, I was aware of, I was told, not things that are hearsay.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard and Oliveira met in 1992.

[Bobby Richard]

New Bedford's a small enough place where I went to the police academy with Paul. We knew each other.

[Dugan Arnett]

What was your first impression of him?

[Bobby Richard]

Confident, right? Above average in terms of, I think, comprehension for what we're getting into.

[Dugan Arnett]

They start on the lowest rung, working street patrol. Oliveira, with a college degree in criminal justice, a rarity that sets him apart. And almost immediately, he makes an impact.

[Bobby Richard]

He had a high level of interaction and stops and arrests and some fairly successful ones. So it set him above, you know, the people at the time that they were considering. He was a rising star as a patrol officer and all that stuff.

[Dugan Arnett]

As patrol officers, Richard and Oliveira learned to cultivate informants. Typically it's drug users or sex workers. But Richard didn't want to be a street cop forever.

[Bobby Richard]

So just about three and a half years, and then, you know, I was looking to take the next step.

[Dugan Arnett]

And so was Oliveira. They both wanted more. More action, more responsibility, more prestige. They wanted to be in narcotics.

[Bobby Richard]

You had to be chosen. At the time, there was only 12 detectives that worked in there. It was a highly coveted position.

[Dugan Arnett]

Bobby, Richard and Paul Oliveira were promoted to the drug unit on the Same Day in 1996.

[Bobby Richard]

And then thus began the journey.

[Dugan Arnett]

This was the 1990s, the height of America's war on drugs, and there was a lot of work to do.

[Bobby Richard]

Today, the streets are even more dangerous than you think. So talk to your kids about drugs or somebody else will.

[Dugan Arnett]

Then President Bill Clinton was throwing billions at the problem. We put more police on the streets and taken criminals, guns and drugs off the streets. But we're a long way from my vision of a drug free America. The money and the mission trickled down to New Bedford, a major trafficking port. At the docks, so called dirty boats were offloading huge shipments after dark. Cocaine and heroin coursed through the motorcycle clubs and seedy waterfront bars. For New Bedford's narcotics unit, the objective was make cases, get drugs. And they were given lots of leeway to do that they came and went as they pleased, dressed in plain clothes and drove flashy cars seized from local dealers. It was exciting.

[Bobby Richard]

We would focus on hot areas. You know, if there was rampant, you know, dealing, we'd set up surveillance and all that stuff. We would work with, you know, outside agencies, you know, like the dea, which was, you know, something that was pretty cool for, you know, a city kid.

[Dugan Arnett]

Without informants, none of their work would have been possible. Richard says working a drug case without a CI is like walking into a casino and betting solely on a hunch.

[Bobby Richard]

You're like, this machine looks good and I'm going to keep putting money in it until it hits and it doesn't happen.

[Dugan Arnett]

You know, the more Richard worked with cis, the more he realized how shady it was. So much of it was off the books, and everything hinged on the word and integrity of police.

[Bobby Richard]

It's about credibility is what it is, because people make up informants, right? So I could tell you that Dougan Arnett's my informant, but he might not even exist.

[Dugan Arnett]

And when it came to informants, Paul Oliveira was a superstar.

[Bobby Richard]

When he came into the unit, he had an abundance of informants. He had low level informants, medium level informants, some upper level people and all that stuff and everything. So it was a magic copyright for Paul.

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira's former supervisor told me he was, quote, the cock of the walk. Others call him genius or God.

[Bobby Richard]

Paul had an infallible luck streak.

[Dugan Arnett]

Big cases, huge numbers. He made the department and himself look good.

[Bobby Richard]

I compare it to, you know, going out and hitting a home run every time you're at the plate, you stand there and you swing and every ball's going over the fence. The sheer joy of it, knowing that you're going to be able to do that. But also everything goes on around there. You're rounding the bases and everybody's clapping for you and any ounces are talking about you, and it's on the highlight reels and all that stuff. And I remember the boss used to have a reference to Paul. He's like, he's the winning horse. He's winning all the races right now. We're just going to fucking ride him. We're going to ride him, ride him, ride him. Fucking everybody jump on. We're just going to ride him.

[Dugan Arnett]

Everyone benefited, including Richard.

[Bobby Richard]

We certainly. He certainly took advantage of the fact that this guy was doing cases like crazy and bringing in numbers and bringing in money and bringing in, you know, positive media and all that stuff and everything. It was just a win, win.

[Dugan Arnett]

But there was a moment when Richard did start to wonder, how was Oliveira doing all this? To stick with the baseball analogy, this.

[Bobby Richard]

Guy could go out and hit a hormone every time. It's just impossible, right? Until people figured out how and why and how it was taking place.

[Dugan Arnett]

The secret behind Paul Oliveira's unprecedented success comes into focus for Bobby Richard in the winter of 1997.

[Bobby Richard]

I remember that the DEA had been set up on this particular house for the longest time, about a year and a half, trying to do it, and they never could do it.

[Dugan Arnett]

The house is notorious not far from the regional airport and the home base of a high level Colombian drug dealer. Nobody, not even federal agents, have been able to penetrate this drug operation. But Oliveira, less than 18 months into his narcotics gig, has something no one else does. An informant with direct intel about the place, which Oliveira parlays into a search warrant.

[Bobby Richard]

I remember Paul doing a pre raid briefing for this house and being the holy crisis is this place, you know what I mean?

[Dugan Arnett]

The raid goes down on a brisk December day, a week before Christmas.

[Bobby Richard]

We did it in the afternoon. I remember it was like noontime, 1 o'clock and all that stuff. The plan was to wait for the guy to leave the house.

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira's informant says the drugs are hidden in the kitchen in the range hood above the stove.

[Bobby Richard]

And lo and behold, we pulled it down. It was a half a kilo back there. We're talking 500 grams. Half a kilo. Already a great hit, right?

[Dugan Arnett]

News reports said the cocaine they found was extremely pure. A half a kilo of it could have been worth upwards of $100,000.

[Bobby Richard]

We ended up wrapping up the raid and go back to the station. Everybody gets booked.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard and his whole team feel good about how things worked out. They'd taken half a kilo of coke off the street and put a major dealer behind bars.

[Bobby Richard]

I come in the next day and his news media truck's out in front of the station.

[Dugan Arnett]

It was a good bust, but Richard is surprised by so much attention.

[Bobby Richard]

I'm like, what the fuck is going on? So I go up to the office and the bosses are up there, the chief's up there.

[Dugan Arnett]

And in another room, bricks of cocaine are arranged on a large table along with a nest of microphones.

[Bobby Richard]

We had a press conference, the whole dog and pony show and all that stuff.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard asks what's going on, like, oh, you didn't hear?

[Bobby Richard]

Paul got four kilos in a case last night.

[Dugan Arnett]

He thinks four kilos. When the raid ended, they'd only found half a kilo. He was There, he took part. Richard pulls Oliveira aside.

[Bobby Richard]

I asked my so what happened?

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira tells him that after everyone left the scene that night, he got another call from his informant. There was more cocaine in the house. The detectives had missed it.

[Bobby Richard]

He said, well, I ended up that the kilos were up in the attic.

[Dugan Arnett]

The informant told Oliveira that he went up there to get the rest.

[Bobby Richard]

And they bundled him up, put him in a garbage bag, and brought him down the end of the dead end street and threw them in the woods.

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira then drove back to the house and found the drugs. And that's how this bust went from good to historic. Oliveira's informant delivered big time. The bust was a record haul for New Bedford police. But Richard says what most people didn't know is that Oliveira cut his informant in on the deal. In exchange for his help finding those extra kilos of coke, Oliveira let the informant keep a kilo for himself.

[Bobby Richard]

Got a kilo? That's a hell of a reward, huh? For an informant. You know what I mean?

[Dugan Arnett]

Who told you that story? Like, who told you what happened?

[Bobby Richard]

Paul did. Himself. Yeah, directly.

[Dugan Arnett]

What Richard is saying is that Oliveira let his CI keep and sell a kilo of cocaine. I know this is a serious accusation, but I've dug into this, and I found two other people with direct knowledge of this investigation. And independently, they told the same story. To be clear, Oliveira has never been charged with a crime or disciplined by the department. I wanted to speak to him directly, but he denied my interview requests. I asked specific questions about this raid, but they were ignored. Some might argue that the ends justify the means, that Oliveira could be justified in letting a kilo or so slip to a dealer in exchange for getting more kilos off the street. But not only does it run counter to the objective of drug enforcement, it's also illegal. According to Richard and these other sources, Oliveira lied in police reports, pushed a false story, and let a known dealer keep a lot of drugs. And he was able to do this because he used the words confidential informant. Doing so allowed all of this alleged misconduct to go unquestioned. For Richard, this case marked a major turning point. Richard certainly didn't consider himself a saint. Like any successful drug cop, he often navigated policing's gray areas. But he says there was no gray area in this case.

[Bobby Richard]

And I remember a couple of days later, the lieutenant was so fucking taken with him, he went out and there's a picture of him sitting behind. The drugs are all spread on the table and the cash and all. He took a picture of him. He had it blown up to like 16 by fucking 20 and had it framed, brought it in and gave it to Paul. He was so proud of him, right? And I'm sitting, I'm like, holy man, this is how far we've come.

[Dugan Arnett]

The official story was that quote, good hard police work was behind it all.

[Bobby Richard]

Biggest case in New Bedford drug narcotics history right at the time it was all, it's all completely.

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[Dugan Arnett]

When you start getting into this vice narcotics undercover world, it is shadowy. It is underground. Lance Block is a Florida based attorney who's fought to change the way police are allowed to use confidential informants. He says the kind of alleged misconduct I've been telling you about isn't unique to New Bedford. It's a game to a lot of these police officers and to win they have to think like the criminal and they start acting like the criminal. And so you see behavior and decision making that is not what you would.

[Bobby Richard]

Expect from people who wear the badge.

[Dugan Arnett]

With integrity Bobby Richard says he saw it firsthand, admits to taking part in some of it himself. But he says that Paul Oliveira took it to the extreme.

[Bobby Richard]

He was reinventing the wheel, so to speak.

[Dugan Arnett]

From his perspective, the raid on the high level Colombian dealer changed things.

[Bobby Richard]

It's Tesla in the waters is what it is. If you do it wrong the first time, you get away with it, you try it again, right? If you realize that you can subjugate the rules by taking a risk and doing something incorrect, sloppy or illegal, and you gotten away with it, then you do it again, you're prone to do it again, right?

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard and other sources told me that's essentially what happened. And soon Oliveira became known for a particular tactic, something called a setup case.

[Bobby Richard]

He got into doing these cases where he was controlling both ends of the process.

[Dugan Arnett]

Setup cases were allegedly Oliveira's specialty. And here's how they work. They require a cop to essentially partner with a drug dealer.

[Bobby Richard]

The dealer brings the drugs to the house, it's put in the safe. Hold this for me. He goes back to Paul and tells him it's good to go. There's 250 grams of cocaine in the house and all that stuff and everything.

[Dugan Arnett]

What you're saying is he was arranging to have the drugs put in the target location that he would then execute the raid at.

[Bobby Richard]

Over and over and over.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard isn't my only source on this. Another former drug detective said the same thing. I was even able to speak with one of Oliveira's former informants. And they all said that the secret to Oliveira's success was forming alliances with mid level dealers and allowing them to stay in business in exchange for giving up lower level guys.

[Bobby Richard]

So one mid level dealer can fetch you a dozen low level dealers because of the way that it breaks down. You take 500 grams of powder cocaine and you push that out to 10 dealers, 50 grams at a time.

[Dugan Arnett]

Then that mid level dealer acts as an informant and offers up a handful of names.

[Bobby Richard]

You know, you're that mid level informant and you say that this guy's dealing, this guy's dealing, this guy's dealing, and it's just a matter of time until you start rounding them up. The middle of the dealer doesn't care because he'll get new distributors as the process goes on. He's only giving you the guys that he wants to fuck, for lack of a better terminology, but he'll give you those guys because it sustains his ability to be able to go out there and deal at the level he's, he's doing we used to call it a license to deal.

[Dugan Arnett]

A license to deal, you know, because.

[Bobby Richard]

You think that you have the blessing to do it. Think about it. You get the best of both worlds. You're a drug dealer who has the advocacy of one of the top police detectives in the jurisdiction that you live in.

[Dugan Arnett]

It turns the standard police playbook on its head. In drug cases, police want to go up the chain, Flip a user for a dealer, then a dealer for a supplier, get the biggest fish. But what Richard and others are saying is, is that Oliveira did it the other way around. He was content to let the bigger fish stay in business so long as he could get the smaller ones and keep making headline grabbing busts.

[Bobby Richard]

Whenever you can dictate the circumstances behind how something's going to come out, it's usually going to come out in your favor.

[Dugan Arnett]

It was all getting to be too much for Richard, and he was beginning to worry about his own exposure.

[Bobby Richard]

It's always in the back of your mind, like, I know this is going on, right? And I'm part of the problem too. By allowing it to happen and all that stuff, I'm culpable. I participated in it. I knew that, you know, that stuff that was going on is illegal. Things just had gotten to the point of no control, really, where you could see that, you know, the corruption level was just off the hook. It really was.

[Dugan Arnett]

Around this time, corruption within the city's police force was becoming impossible to ignore. An outside Audit found that 20% of New Bedford officers believed their colleagues were stealing drugs or money from local dealers. Meanwhile, agents from the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration reported that the informant situation in New Bedford had grown dire. One DEA agent said the city was on the doorstep of another Whitey Bulger incident, referencing the South Boston mobster who committed heinous crimes. With the protection of his FBI handler, Richard decided he didn't want to be part of this anymore. He wanted to distance himself from Oliveira.

[Bobby Richard]

We're no longer openly friendly with each other. We didn't do stuff to piss him off, and, you know, we were like ships in the night.

[Dugan Arnett]

Eventually, both men left the drug unit and went their separate ways. But years later, their paths crossed again. In 2010, Richard was charged with assault and battery. And by this point, Oliveira was part of the department's internal affairs unit. IA investigated Richard, and he says Oliveira led the probe.

[Bobby Richard]

That's the point where our relationship got most frictious. Our relationship pivoted. At that point, I felt that he went out of his way to investigate me from an internal affairs Level.

[Dugan Arnett]

The criminal case against Richard was dismissed, but the department's inquiry resulted in discipline and Richard was demoted. But things truly came to a head five years later.

[Bobby Richard]

The final straw came this whole issue with smoking.

[Dugan Arnett]

Despite everything he saw, everything he took part in, the thing that ended Richard's decades long career with the New Bedford Police Department was a cigar.

[Bobby Richard]

The rule was you could not smoke whatsoever.

[Dugan Arnett]

The rule is still on the books today.

[Bobby Richard]

It's one strike rule. If you catch me with a cigarette or cigar, it's immediately fireable.

[Dugan Arnett]

According to Richard, when Oliveira found a video of him with a cigar on duty, he had enough to get him fired.

[Bobby Richard]

I think I'm one of three people in the state of Massachusetts lost their job for smoking. And I think it was that he wanted me completely out of the picture because of the stuff that I know. I can't think of any other reason to be honest with you.

[Dugan Arnett]

I asked if Paul Oliveira had ever investigated or disciplined another officer for smoking, but he didn't respond other than to note that he was not chief when Richard was fired. And thus the ultimate decision to terminate Richard wasn't his. The city of New Bedford said Richard was fired for a number of violations and matters, including the cigar. And it noted that the case went to an arbitrator who agreed with the decision. Either way, a cigar was part of Bobby's ultimate undoing. And yet I found that Oliveira, as chief or deputy chief oversaw officers accused of much more serious misdeeds. In many of those cases, the officers either received minimal discipline or were allowed to resign before discipline was handed down.

[Paul Oliveira]

So I want to ensure that every single police officer is, you know, obeying the law, respecting people's civil rights, constitutional rights.

[Dugan Arnett]

Oliveira isn't talking to me, but he's been asked by others about police misconduct. In this interview, he's responding to a question about officers in his department making mistakes.

[Paul Oliveira]

Sure that I'm not going to sit here today and tell you, oh, I know every single one of my police officers does done right 100% of the time. Every single time. Police officers, human beings, they make mistakes. We gotta hold them accountable when they make mistakes. But to think that there's some gross negligence out there occurring on the city streets, I'm not gonna. I don't buy into that.

[Dugan Arnett]

Bobby Richard is perplexed at the hypocrisy, and he says there are even bigger consequences to consider. Much of the information that police gather from CIS is used in court as evidence. But if the underlying evidence is bad or false, how many cases could be Tainted. How deep does the rot go? Pretty deep. According to Richard, in another source I spoke with, there's another member of the same drug unit who saw the same things and feels the same way. We're at a parking lot just over the bridge in Fairhaven. An empty parking lot, no one around. My producer, Max, and I met this man late one night in an isolated parking lot underneath a bridge a town over from New Bedford. It was dark out, foggy. It felt like the perfect setting for a clandestine meeting with an off the record source, which is what this was. We talked to him about setup cases, about the manipulation of informants and the practice of collaborating with drug dealers. We need to get him to put his name to some of this stuff. And, Tenay, you were really pushing him about getting on the record. Yeah, but he refused to go on the record. He believes members of the police department under Oliveira's command will target his family. I mean, he said, my fear is my kids get pulled over, and suddenly.

[Bobby Richard]

These cops are planting drugs, right?

[Dugan Arnett]

And you want to be like, that's crazy. That's insane. But then it's the thing that I. That if I was in his shoes, that I would be worried about is how could this come back on my family? And there's something else I haven't told you, something that ties this source and Richard together. Both have been contacted by the FBI and asked about Oliveira. Richard said the phone call came out of the blue around 2017.

[Bobby Richard]

I mean, I met him in the Dunkin Donuts in Freetown, for Christ's sakes. And he was true to form. He came in unmarked vehicle, and he was wearing a fucking trench coat. And I'm like, jesus, just. I know who you are. This guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was FBI all day long. You know what I mean?

[Dugan Arnett]

The agent is from the FBI's Public Corruption Unit. Did they ask about Paul specifically?

[Bobby Richard]

Yeah.

[Dugan Arnett]

And Richard says he tells him everything he knows.

[Bobby Richard]

Questions had come up about some of the processes, informants, people that he was working with. And then we went back to, you know, the foundation to paint a history of corruption, Right, where just. It was a continuous process with him. It had been going on, you know, for a decade, 10, 12, 14 years, and all that stuff.

[Dugan Arnett]

Did you walk away from that hopeful that something was gonna.

[Bobby Richard]

I swear to God, I thought that, you know, the feds would pull up outside of his house one day and lock him up, and that would be it.

[Dugan Arnett]

And it just never happened.

[Bobby Richard]

Never happened? No, I think that it is. It's categorically insane that this guy's. This has been going on this long, and no federal agency can put pieces of the puzzle together.

[Dugan Arnett]

Richard says the FBI actually contacted him twice within the last decade, asking about Oliveira as recently as 2022. But after those initial conversations, he didn't hear another word. And that really pisses him off.

[Bobby Richard]

I want to see the fucking feds drive up on this guy's lawn and lock him up. Getting in his Suburban one morning. I really do. I think that that's the only way that this would bring closure to it for a lot of people.

[Dugan Arnett]

After the Globe published this story online, the city issued a statement saying Paul Oliveira, quote, has no knowledge of a formal request by either the FBI or the Department of Justice in this regard. Whatever the FBI was investigating, it appears to have gone nowhere, which is odd, considering something else I've uncovered. The FBI actually started asking questions about the New Bedford police and Paul Oliveira 25 years ago.

[Bobby Richard]

We were all just pissed off that they were so crooked and they could get away with it. So we were like, you know, how can we let people.

[Dugan Arnett]

That's next time on Snitch City. Snitch City is reported and hosted by me, Dugan Arnett. Additional reporting by Andrew Ryan and Brendan McCarthy. The podcast is written by Max Green and and Kristen Nelson. Along with me and Brendan McCarthy, Max Green is senior producer. Executive producers are Spotlight editor Brendan McCarthy and Kristin Nelson, the Globe's head of audio. Additional editing and support from Gordon Russell and Kathleen Goldhar. Nancy Barnes is the Boston Globe's executive editor. Sound design and mix by Steven Jackson. Episode artwork by Julian D. Paulson. Art direction by Ryan Huddle. Podcast visualization by Olivia Jarvis and Anoush Elbakian. Heather Cyrus is the audience editor. Tim Rasmussen is visuals editor. Legal review by John Albano. Fact checking by Matt Mahoney Marketing Support for this podcast comes from the Podglomera.

[Bobby Richard]

SA.