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NEW BEDFORD — A city police sergeant, reprimanded for sexual harassment in mid-2023, was found last year to have committed further sexual harassment. He went on paid administrative leave and then medical leave, and retired without discipline in November, months after the investigation’s findings were submitted to the police chief.
The Light reported in June 2023 on sexual harassment by Sgt. Samuel Ortega, who was disciplined with a written reprimand and ordered to take already-required training. That year, the Jensen Hughes consulting firm’s report on the New Bedford Police Department identified sexual harassment as an issue the department should address with bolstered policy and training.
Ortega went on to be investigated just months after receiving the reprimand, a 2024 report shows. An outside law firm, to which the city paid $31,000, found he again violated the department’s anti-harassment policy. A male captain, Ortega’s supervisor, was also found to have violated department policy for not reporting his behavior.
The investigative report also contained an allegation that Ortega had misappropriated funds in April 2022 by depositing a $200 donation for a community outreach program that he supervised into his wife’s bank account. The report said Ortega claimed the funds were “circled back” to the department.
Based on responses from NBPD and the Bristol County District Attorney’s office, it seems no one investigated that matter.
Department officials told The Light that then-Police Chief Paul Oliveira referred the $200-check matter to the DA’s office in February 2024. Misappropriation of funds, which is a crime, can disqualify a police officer from receiving a pension. The police spokesperson could not confirm whether the funds were “circled back” to NBPD, and said department officials have not heard from the DA’s office on the matter since making the referral.
But the DA’s office told The Light this week that the NBPD “consulted” with the DA “only as a potential resource,” and that the police department “handled the matter.”
Beyond an apparent failure to investigate the allegation of financial misconduct, the Ortega case raises questions about the police department’s anti-harassment policy, training, and discipline: whether leadership are sufficiently addressing the perception by some female officers that they are not treated fairly, feel harassed and feel “powerless to do anything about it,” as stated in the 2023 Jensen Hughes report.
The harassment allegations
The newer complaint against Ortega, filed in December 2023, alleged sexual harassment of women. The investigator sustained four allegations of harassment against Ortega — three of which occurred after Ortega’s mid-2023 reprimand for earlier misconduct.
The investigator concluded that in fall 2023, Ortega commented on a female colleague’s clothing and body, including her chest. He reportedly asked her if she got a new bra.
“Everyone was pretty shocked that Ortega said what he said,” the report summarizes, adding the woman “laughed it off.”
Allegations that an outside investigator in 2024 sustained against now-retired NBPD Sgt. Samuel Ortega for sexual harassment. Three of them took place months after Ortega was reprimanded for another harassment case. Source: New Bedford Police Department report 
Allegations that an outside investigator in 2024 sustained against now-retired NBPD Sgt. Samuel Ortega for sexual harassment. Three of them took place months after Ortega was reprimanded for another harassment case. Source: New Bedford Police Department report 
Allegations that an outside investigator in 2024 sustained against now-retired NBPD Sgt. Samuel Ortega for sexual harassment. Three of them took place months after Ortega was reprimanded for another harassment case. Source: New Bedford Police Department report
Also in the fall of 2023, Ortega suggested a female colleague should have an affair while on vacation, which “upset” the woman.
In that same time period, he asked a female colleague about her personal relationships and whether she was “f—ing” another member of the department, the investigator determined.
In 2023 or possibly 2022, before the reprimand, Ortega “poked” a woman’s stomach while they were riding in a department cruiser, saying she had gained weight, the investigator also concluded.
“This investigator finds that each instance of conduct constituted conduct that unreasonably interfered with individuals’ work performance and created an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment,” the report states.
Allegations the investigator did not sustain — meaning he could not prove or disprove — include that Ortega suggested a woman needed to have sex with a Black man so she wouldn’t be moody, and that he referenced a sex act while a female colleague was eating a doughnut stick.
Read the full investigative report here ⇢
Some names in the report have been redacted, obscuring how many women alleged inappropriate conduct. The Light first requested a copy of the investigative records in December 2023 and again in April 2024, about four months after Ortega had been placed on leave, but the request was denied by the city because the investigation was ongoing.
In another allegation that the investigator did not sustain, one person said Ortega made a comment that her husband needed to hit her to get her in line, according to the report. The comment was said to have happened “in front of another police officer who told Ortega that he crossed the line.”
Based on the report, it is unclear if that officer reported Ortega’s alleged comment to a supervisor. A footnote for this allegation states the attorney tried to interview a former male employee, possibly the officer, but he declined to participate.
Of the 14 people interviewed for the internal investigation, many said they did not recall or hear Ortega making inappropriate comments. Some said they “laughed” or that his behavior did not make them uncomfortable.
Ortega did not participate in a routine interview for the investigation, despite multiple attempts. The investigating attorney said Ortega was unable to participate due to “his medical issues.”
The department said Ortega was on paid administrative leave for only 15 days after the new internal affairs investigation began in December 2023. He applied for medical leave in January 2024 and pulled from his accrued sick and vacation time to earn about $42,000 through November, according to the department.
In March 2024, Ortega applied for disability retirement. The retirement board in September approved his application after review by a medical panel, and it took effect in November.
It is unclear what Ortega listed for his medical leave and disability. Under state law, medical information is generally exempt from public disclosure.
Amid this retirement process, the investigation’s findings were submitted in August 2024 to then-Police Chief Oliveira, who did not issue discipline before Ortega retired. With the exception of one employee, interviewed a second time in June, the investigator had interviewed all witnesses for the investigation by March 2024.
The investigation summary lists “Retired” under the “action taken” category, and states Ortega’s charges were “serious in nature but during the investigation he went out on medical leave and retired from employment.”
He was not disciplined for the new sustained findings of sexual harassment. Asked why not, NBPD spokesperson Holly Huntoon provided the following statement:
“The Department took into consideration the likelihood of litigation and the associated time and expense in deciding the best approach to effectuate the departure of Ortega from City service,” it reads.
Ortega did not respond to three requests for comment.
Oliveira, who retired May 3, did not respond to inquiries from The Light about Ortega. The city hired consultants in March to review the practices of the internal affairs and narcotics divisions, in light of the Boston Globe investigation “Snitch City,” which alleges misconduct by Oliveira and the narcotics division.
The summary also noted that no discipline was taken against the captain, Paul DaCosta, who violated department rules by failing to report Ortega’s behavior. DaCosta did not respond to a request for comment from The Light.
The investigating attorney, Thomas Costello, reviewed the actions of a third male officer, but found there was insufficient evidence that he violated the same department policy, which requires officers to report any violation by another officer to their commanding officer.
Alleged misappropriation referred to District Attorney’s office
On the $200 donation meant for the LEAD program Ortega supervised, he allegedly told the woman making the donation to leave the “to” section of the check blank.
“She later determined that his wife’s name was added in the ‘to’ section and the check was deposited,” the report states. “She asked Ortega about that, and he advised her that the money circled back” into the department or the outreach program.
Huntoon this week said she was not able to confirm whether the funds were deposited back to the department. The summary information about the police department’s internal affairs reports into Ortega show no findings about the allegation.
Under Massachusetts law, police officers may lose their pension if they are charged with or found guilty of misappropriating funds. Misappropriation, or embezzlement, can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony and is punishable by fines or jail time.
However, the state’s Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that pension forfeiture violates Eighth Amendment rights if the amount forfeited is “grossly disproportionate” to the crime. Since his retirement in November, Ortega, 48, has received about $42,000 in pension payments, according to the city’s retirement board.
In February 2024, about two months after the department was made aware of the allegation, then-Chief Oliveira “verbally communicated the matter” to the Bristol County DA’s office, according to Assistant Deputy Chief Scott Carola. A captain subsequently sent a one-sentence email to DA investigator Joseph Martin with a scanned copy of the donation check.
Bristol County DA spokesperson Jennifer Sowa did not respond to requests for information on the status of the referral and Martin’s investigation, saying the office “does not comment on investigation inquiries.”
In response to a records request from The Light, the office’s records officer Monica Carreiro wrote: “Please be advised that the New Bedford Police Department consulted with the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office in late February 2024, only as a potential resource should further assistance be necessary, as referenced in the three emails accompanying this letter.”
“However, the New Bedford Police Department handled the matter, attempted several interviews of Sergeant Ortega and the Sergeant left the employment of the New Bedford Police Department,” she concluded.
The DA’s office provided three emails. In them, Lt. Candido Trinidad, head of the internal affairs unit, wrote to DA investigator Martin in February 2024, stating he was working with Costello and scheduled an interview with Ortega for the following day. He asked Martin to contact him.
The outside investigator, Costello, never interviewed Ortega, despite multiple attempts, and did not appear to investigate whether he misappropriated funds, according to the report.
A clerk at New Bedford District Court said a systemwide search returned no criminal cases for Ortega, suggesting no charges were filed.
Harassment in policing
Generally, women in law enforcement cite gender and sexual harassment as the top two reasons for ending their careers in the field, according to the Jensen Hughes report.
Vicki Magley, a University of Connecticut psychological sciences professor who studies sexual harassment, said it is problematic that the other officer did not report Ortega’s behavior, no matter how others responded to it. The report references women laughing in response to Ortega’s behavior.
People cope with harassment in different forms, she said, including appeasement (which can take the form of laughing in response), re-labeling (for example, reasoning that the comment wasn’t a big deal, or the commenter was having an off day), and self blame (for example, a woman believing an inappropriate comment about her body is her fault because of what she chose to wear).
“What’s important are facts of the case, not the reactions of people,” she emphasized.
Of the 207 sworn officers in NBPD, 14 are women, or about 7%, according to Carola. He said the department has a goal of reaching 30% female officers by 2030.
Magley, though not dismissing training on sexual harassment, said research is lacking on its effectiveness. She emphasized the importance of early and consistent intervention that should be centered around respect and civility.
According to a 2023 Police Executive Research Forum report, officers surveyed nationwide feared being perceived as weak and jeopardizing future career opportunities if they reported harassment. They expressed sexual harassment as a pervasive problem, despite increased attention and training.
“If a supervisor hears [harassment] and doesn’t say something, it demonstrates tolerance for that behavior and it ratchets up,” said Magley, who chairs a National Academies advisory committee on ending sexual harassment in academia.
Generally, she continued, sexual harassment is reported at low levels because people do not always feel safe filing a report, worry it won’t be taken seriously, and have doubts whether action will be taken to address the issue. This contributes to underreporting of harassment, research shows.
The New Bedford police’s internal complaint data from 2015 to 2025 cites violation of the department’s anti-discrimination/harassment policy in only 12 of the hundreds of complaints the department’s internal affairs unit investigated. Some were sustained (including two against Ortega), others not-sustained (meaning investigators could not make a determination either way), and two officers were exonerated.
The city hired the same Boston-based firm, Valerio Dominello & Hillman, to investigate two other cases last year besides Ortega’s. Among the three cases, the city paid the firm nearly $50,000, according to figures provided by public information officer Jonathan Darling.
Three of the 12 harassment cases over the last decade involved Ortega, who joined the department in the 1990s. In 2016, a security officer at a school where Ortega served as a school resource officer alleged he was harassing her. Investigators closed the investigation as not sustained.
The complaints against other New Bedford officers detail harassment reported by female employees, or allegations of homophobia.
One case did not cite the anti-harassment policy in the listed violations, but sustained a complaint against a male officer for sexually harassing a female civilian. He received a written reprimand.
In 2023, a female officer reported overhearing a conversation among four male officers; it was not about her, but it “offended her,” per the complaint. Outside investigators closed the complaint as being not sustained, meaning they could not prove or disprove whether the male officers violated the anti-discrimination policy.
In 2024, a woman alleged “inappropriate behavior” by her supervisor in the department, as well as among “other dispatchers and officers.” Due to an “inability to obtain any independent evidence” about the female employee’s allegations “beyond her initial exit interview, there is no evidence any of the allegations took place,” a summary report reads. The complaint was closed as unfounded.
This year, a jury determined an officer in the department, Carola, engaged in retaliation after a former female officer complained years prior, alleging gender discrimination. The city was ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages, but is appealing the jury’s ruling.
The Jensen Hughes report in 2023 stated the department’s harassment policy, General Order 3-20, aligns with best practices, but that amendments should be made to “enhance its ability” to prevent, detect and respond to complaints, including issuing a “supplemental directive” for supervisors.
The firm also recommended the department prominently display the policy in police buildings, which Huntoon confirmed the department is doing.
Asked about the policy, Carola said the department, working with Jensen Hughes, “recently completed a draft of an updated policy” that the incoming chief will review and approve. (The city announced Jason Thody, former police chief in Hartford, Connecticut, as the new chief on June 24. He is expected to start the job July 14.)
The report recommended the department provide classroom-based annual refresher training on sexual harassment, and supplemental training for supervisors and leadership staff. Carola in an email said the “entire department receives annual training on anti-discrimination and harassment.”
The department has also been participating in a project by Tanya Meisenholder, a researcher at New York University who is leading an initiative, 30×30, to support and increase representation of women in policing.
She interviewed female officers in the city earlier this year, according to a source. Carola said she is working as “an independent consultant on the well-being and representation of women” in NBPD, and that the department has not yet received a final report from her. Meisenholder has previously deferred a request from The Light for more information, only stating that she conducted a focus group with New Bedford officers.
Asked what the department is doing to prevent sexual harassment and hold officers accountable, Acting Chief Derek Belong in a statement said “NBPD prioritizes a safe, inclusive workplace for all employees.”
Ortega is the third public safety officer that The Light has reported has retired in recent years while under investigation, or after being investigated. This month, Manuel Mota Jr. of the fire department retired just ahead of his termination hearing. He had been on administrative leave after being arrested and criminally charged twice this winter.
In 2021, disgraced narcotics detective Jared Lucas retired before facing discipline regarding misconduct with a confidential informant, and has earned more than $200,000 in retirement as of last month.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
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Bad behavior within the NBPD is rewarded with “paid administrative leave” (paid vacation) and a pension.
Time to remove bad apples and let honest policemen and policewomen do their jobs.
He’s in the Union, it’s basically impossible to discipline Union members, so they get away with all sorts of misdeeds. Not a new story, folks. Democrat states like Massachusetts are basically run by Unions. That’s why everything is so expensive. You have to pay the Union “tax”.