State police have put a stop to any overnight guests at the police barracks on the Vineyard and Nantucket after a Boston man was arrested for a rape that allegedly took place at the Oak Bluffs barracks.
State police Colonel Geoffrey Noble, the head of the agency, made the decision as a criminal investigation into Edward Brown, who pleaded not guilty to the rape in Edgartown District Court last week, continues.
Colonel Noble has also requested a formal policy requiring written approval for visitors to enter non-public areas of the barracks, state police said this week. The barracks commander would need to sign off and guests must be accompanied at all times, according to a spokesperson.
“These allegations are deeply troubling,” Colonel Noble said in a statement Monday. “The Massachusetts State Police are fully cooperating with the ongoing criminal investigation and conducting an internal review of applicable policies, visitor authorization procedures and compliance with established requirements.”
Colonel Noble went on to say that he was committed to maintaining the highest standard of safety, security and accountability at all state police facilities and taking any corrective action that is needed.
Police did not respond to a request to produce visitor logs for the barracks on Temahigan Road, where troopers are stationed while they work on the Vineyard.
There apparently were no rules for who could come and go on the state-owned property, which features an 1800s shingled housing facility, along with a garage and storage building, according to town records.
Oak Bluffs police are investigating the alleged rape from August, and Oak Bluffs police Chief Jonathan Searle said that his department’s work is focused on the alleged crime that took place at the barracks.
“That being said, it is my belief that there was no policy in place at the time of this incident in regards to guests that are allowed in their living quarters,” Chief Searle wrote in an email to the Gazette.
The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office laid out the allegations against Mr. Brown, who works as a security guard in the Boston school system, at his arraignment last week.
Two 911 calls were made to the county dispatch shortly before 1 a.m. on August 15, with the callers saying there was a naked woman in distress outside of the barracks. One of the people who found the woman brought her to the hospital just down the road.
The woman, who is from Ireland, was out at the Ritz with friends and told investigators that she recalled a man grabbing her buttocks and trying to buy her a drink, assistant district attorney Courtney Scalice told the court last week.
The woman couldn’t initially recall what happened after the bar but remembered waking up with a man naked and on top of her in an unfamiliar location, which was later identified as the barracks, according to the prosecutor.
The woman later said that the man held her down by the neck and forced himself upon her, Ms. Scalice said.
Surveillance footage showed the man and woman leaving the bar in an Uber together, and the driver said the woman appeared highly intoxicated.
Mr. Brown was staying at the barracks with trooper Ryan Costello, and seemed to come and go from the facility without Mr. Costello present, according to Ms. Scalice’s telling of the events.
Mr. Brown has two restraining orders against him from ex-girlfriends who described harassing behavior, according to the district attorney’s office. One was still active when Mr. Brown was on the Vineyard.
The incident has also become a talking point in the governor race between Gov. Maura Healey and her Republican challenger Mike Minogue. Last week, Boston Globe associate editor Adrian Walker highlighted the allegations during a televised debate and asked both candidates how they would change the culture of misconduct in the state police.
Mr. Minogue said it started with leadership and claimed Governor Healey did not keep the higher ups in the state police accountable to the people. Addressing the Oak Bluffs case directly, Mr. Minogue said, “This other person shouldn’t have even been there and it’s a terrible thing.”
Governor Healey stood by Colonel Noble, who she hired from New Jersey in 2024, and said that any improper conduct would be dealt with.
“Do things happen? Sometimes things happen. But I can tell you, he and I make sure that swift action is taken…. Whenever there is bad actors, whenever somebody does something wrong, illegal, I am the first to take action and anyone who is under me knows that and carries that out, including Colonel Noble.”
The Oak Bluffs barracks is where Island officers are stationed and live, rent free. Other officers also stay there when there is a need for additional troopers, such as when dignitaries and presidents visit. Nantucket has a similar barracks setup.
The Oak Bluffs building was purchased by the state for police to use in the 1950s.