June 13, 1972

• Robert C. Devine is born to Mary and Robert Devine.
• He has two brothers and three sisters.

1987

• Devine resides in Canton, Massachusetts.

By 1996

• He moves to Stoughton, Massachusetts, where he continues to live and work.

Marriage and Family

• Devine marries Lisa Linskey, who grew up in Quincy and attended South Boston Heights Academy.
• Lisa graduated from Curry College with a degree in Criminal Justice.
• They met when Devine, then a lieutenant in the Stoughton Police Department, was Lisa’s squad leader at the police academy.
• They have a daughter named Makenna.

Law Enforcement Career

1997

• Matthew Farwell and his twin brother, William were former Explorers, They joined the same program in September 1997, when  Matthew and William Farwell were 12 years old. Farwell brothers were known to have disciplinary issues while attending school.

September 1998

• Matthew and William Farwell, age 12, join the Stoughton Police Explorers Program, a youth mentorship initiative aimed at teens interested in law enforcement.
• Both brothers are known to have disciplinary issues in school at the time.

1999

• Joins the Stoughton Police Department.
• Begins volunteering with the Explorers Program, a youth mentorship initiative run by SPD.
• Devine invited former Explorers, Matthew Farwell and his twin brother, William, to serve as guest instructors. The Explorers, a co-ed branch of the Boy Scouts, is designed for older teens and often centers on specific fields like law enforcement. Matthew Farwell and his twin brother, William were former Explorers, They joined the same program in September 1997, when  Matthew and William Farwell were 12 years old. Farwell brothers were known to have disciplinary issues while attending school.

Billy has volunteered with the Stoughton Police Explorers program with which he grew up. William Farwell was designated a the rank of Lieutenant within Explorer Program.

He has assisted Stoughton Police Executive Officer Robert Devine with the running of the annual academy, bringing in Army EOD equipment so the kids could try on a bomb suit or drive one of the robots.

On April 12, 2012, Devine said, “All were in the very first Explorers class 11 years ago. It means a lot to have one of the men in our department. They grew up right before my eyes. If we played even a small part in their success, I’m proud of that.” Devine added, “They’ve donated their time as physical and drill instructors, and they also taught an explosives class. They bring in bomb robots, blast jackets and shields. They are very good at what they do.”

2001–2004

• Serves as School Resource Officer.

2002

• Chief Cachopa appoints Devine to run the Explorers Program, placing him in a supervisory role over minors and young adults including Sandra Birchmore.

Summer 2003

• Devine and Officer Roger Hardy open a youth gym at the O’Donnell Middle School.  Opened a Gym at the O’Donnell Middle School
• “We started this to give kids something to do,” said Devine. “It’s working out real well.”
• The gym is open Tues–Thurs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering free recreation like basketball and hockey.
• Intended to build relationships with local teens, the program ran until August 14, 2003.

2003–2016

• Devine continues to run the Explorers Program for over a decade.
• Billy Farwell (William) regularly volunteers and helps organize the annual academy, including demonstrations involving Army EOD equipment, such as bomb suits and robots, for the youth participants.
• Devine praises the Farwells publicly, stating:
• “All three were in the very first Explorers class 11 years ago. It means a lot to have one of the men in our department. They grew up right before my eyes. If we played even a small part in their success, I’m proud of that.”

2004–2006

• Promoted to Sergeant.

2006

• Promoted to Lieutenant.

2008

• Named Executive Officer by then-Chief Murphy during a period of internal department scrutiny.  Murphy has named Lieutenant Robert Devine as executive officer
• Devine was noted as one of the few officers who cooperated with prosecutors during a prior departmental corruption investigation, gaining a reputation as an “outsider” among peers.

2011

• Receives a departmental award for his role in investigating corruption within the SPD.
• Serves as department spokesperson and Deputy Chief.

2012

• Briefly serves as Acting Police Chief for two months while Chief Shastany attended FBI training.

May 2013

• Officially appointed Deputy Chief.  deputy police
• At his promotion ceremony, Devine is pinned by his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Makenna.
• Remains involved in youth-focused programs such as:
• Police Explorers Academy
• OASIS (Organizing Against Substance Abuse in Stoughton)

2013

• Begins an affair with Tiffany Overstreet while married.

March 10, 2014

• Publicly participates in a community reading event at the Stoughton Public Library.

October 2014

• Devine obtains restraining orders against Overstreet for alleged harassment of him and his wife.

November 2014

• Overstreet allegedly sends nude photos of herself and Devine to his coworkers and their spouses.

December 18, 2014

• Easton police raid Overstreet’s home, seizing her computers.
• She is arrested for violating harassment prevention orders and released on personal recognizance.
• Case is transferred to Dedham District Court.

December 23, 2014

• Five days after her arrest, Overstreet reports a break-in at her apartment. Police find no forced entry but report disarray.
• Investigation reveals Devine continued sexual contact with Overstreet, claiming he did so to prevent her from suicide.

2016

• The Stoughton Police Explorers Program officially ends.
• SPD reports no agreements on file with Learning for Life or Boy Scouts during the years it was active.

Circa 2017–2019

• Devine continues overseeing or participating in the Explorers Program, where Sandra Birchmore remained active.
• Allegedly engages in an inappropriate relationship with Birchmore during or after her time in the program.
• 2019 Robert Devine writes a Recommendations for Improving Firearms Vetting in Massachusetts. In the same article, Devine thanks his family for helping and supporting him through the Law School. 

I would like to thank my wife Lisa, my son Stephen and my daughter Makenna. Without your support, I would not have taken on the challenge of law school, much less that of writing this Article. I also thank the UMass Law Review editors for their hard work on this Article, as well as Professors Jeremiah Ho and Dwight Duncan for their guidance. I would finally like to dedicate these recommendations to those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, 2012. May they rest in peace.

2020 (exact dates unspecified)

• Devine engages in full sexual relationship with Sandra Birchmore, including meetings inside his Stoughton PD patrol car.  Read here
• Uses Facebook alias “Marty Riggs” (from Lethal Weapon) to solicit sex and coordinate meetings.
• Evidence shows ongoing communication and sexual contact.

2021

• Following Sandra Birchmore’s death, Devine becomes a subject of internal and external investigations into SPD officers’ sexual misconduct.
• Resigns quietly from the department during the internal affairs process.

January 11, 2021

• Admitted to practice law by the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers (BBO #707102).

March 28 – April 2, 2022:

• Interviews continue with witnesses; Devine’s involvement scrutinized.

April 4, 2022: 

• The Town of Stoughton placed William Farwell and Robert Devine on administrative leave. The move coincided with the end of William’s unrelated personal leave.  Town Manager Release

April 8, 2022

• Robert Devine was interviewed at the MPTC academy by Chief McNamara’s delegates. He denied any relationship with Sandra and stated, “because you won’t find it” when told no communication had been discovered.

May 17, 2022

• Detectives discovered a Facebook Messenger thread on Sandra’s laptop involving a user later identified as Devine using the alias “Marty Riggs”. The messages included discussions about meeting Sandra in his patrol car while on duty.

August 2022

• Internal Affairs Report 21-1-IA authored by Deputy Chief Holmes identifies Devine, along with Matthew and William Farwell, as having engaged in egregious misconduct involving Birchmore.

August 16, 2022:

• Robert Devine officially retired from the Stoughton Police Department.

August 25, 2022

• Detectives received a letter from Robert Devine. He claimed his accounts had been hacked. However, an internal IMC records check found no incident reports supporting this claim. Investigators maintained their assessment of his credibility.
• Statement of Chief Donna M. McNamara reveals misconduct by Farwell brothers, Devine in internal affairs report  Statement

September 13, 2022

• Chief Donna McNamara confirmed in an internal email that Matthew Farwell, William Farwell, and Robert Devine would not be returning to the department. Email

September 23, 2022

• Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara publicly condemns Devine:
• “All three men, the Farwell brothers and Devine, violated an oath of office… through a sustained and deliberate combination of lies, deceit, and treachery… not to mention human decency.”

March 2023

• Devine appears on the Massachusetts POST Commission list of officers under certification review.

2023–2024

• No criminal charges filed as of this date, but Devine’s certification is revoked or surrendered.
• Effectively banned from working in law enforcement in Massachusetts.

Robert C. Devine, led the department’s youth program since 2003, the Stoughton Police Explorers Program. Robert Devine brought in former Explorers Matthew Farwell and his twin brother, William, as guest instructors.

September 1998 Matthew and William Farwell joined Police Explorers Program, they were 12 years old. Farwell brothers were known to have disciplinary issues while attending school.

In 2003 Robert Devine brought in former Explorers Matthew Farwell and his twin brother, William, as guest instructors. Later that year William Farwell was designated a the rank of Lieutenant within Explorer Program.

Billy has volunteered with the Stoughton Police Explorers program with which he grew up.

He has assisted Stoughton Police Executive Officer Robert Devine with the running of the annual academy, bringing in Army EOD equipment so the kids could try on a bomb suit or drive one of the robots.

Devine said, “All three were in the very first Explorers class 11 years ago. It means a lot to have one of the men in our department. They grew up right before my eyes. If we played even a small part in their success, I’m proud of that.”

Robert C. Devine (born June 13, 1972) is a former Stoughton, Massachusetts police officer who served in law enforcement for over two decades. He was born to Mary and Robert Devine and grew up in Canton, later relocating to Stoughton by 1996. Devine has two brothers and three sisters. He married Lisa Linskey, a Quincy native and fellow law enforcement officer. They met when Devine was her squad leader at the police academy.

Devine joined the Stoughton Police Department in 1999 and rose through the ranks to Deputy Chief. He worked as a school resource officer, ran the Police Explorers Program, and participated in youth initiatives such as OASIS and the O’Donnell Middle School gym project Listen Here  . In 2013, he began an affair with Tiffany Overstreet.

By late 2014, the affair had become publicly volatile. Devine obtained restraining orders against Overstreet, alleging harassment and threats toward himself and his wife. In November 2014, Overstreet allegedly sent nude photos of herself and Devine to his coworkers and their spouses. That December, her home was raided by Easton police, and she was arrested for violating harassment prevention orders filed by Devine and his wife. Despite this, Devine admitted to continuing to meet Overstreet for sex, claiming he did so to prevent her from harming herself Read Here.

Devine was later implicated in the Sandra Birchmore case, where he was identified in an internal affairs investigation as having had an inappropriate relationship with the young woman, a former Police Explorer. He resigned during the investigation. In 2022, the Stoughton police chief publicly condemned Devine’s actions, and by 2023, he was effectively decertified and barred from working in law enforcement in Massachusetts. Read Here

Documents revealed a secret relationship between Devine and Overstreet that began in the fall of 2013 and eventually came to the attention of both his family and the department. Read Here

Devine contacted state police in November after an email containing graphic photos of him and Overstreet was sent to his police co-workers and their spouses, the police report states. Devine’s wife is a police officer in a different community.

The meetings, according to the report, came after Overstreet had threatened to commit suicide if Devine “abandoned her.” Court records show that a week before her arrest, on Dec. 11, Devine and his wife requested the court “immediately rescind” the harassment prevention orders against Overstreet. Read Here

• 2014 – By summer 2014, Devine wanted to end their relationship, and began receiving harassing and threatening messages, he told investigators.
  
• 2015 – internal affairs investigation was ordered by the Chief to look into Devine actions and in July 2015 – Devine received a 60-day unpaid suspension after an internal affairs investigation found that he improperly ordered an investigation into Overstreet using department resources and technology.  August, 2015 Rob Devine is featured in FBI LEEDA Insighter Magazine p32 – in 2015 Devine was paid $125,284 a year.
• July – December 2015 Robert Devine, was on paid administrative leave since July 2015. Devine, who made $122,695 in 2014, had been paid $121,625, as of December 10, 2015. His biweekly base salary is $3,659. will be reinstated as a patrolman following a 60-day unpaid suspension – a demotion that surprised two former police officers. Devine reached an agreement with Hartman to return to the lowest rank within the department.
  

2016

• January 26, 2016 Statement by Town Manager Hartman – Chief Shastany, said “The town manager cut me out of the entire process of an employee in my department. He made a deal without even talking to me. I wasn’t even allowed to speak to the lawyer handling my employee. There was a serious breach of courtesy and dignity. I won’t work for someone with no credibility. My integrity is worth too much.”
  

Michael Harman letter to Chief Paul Shastany

• As you may recall we Have been waiting to hear from HRD regarding any rights Robert Devine may have under Civil Service, We have recently learned that Civil Service has determined that Devine does have a valid leave of absence from his previous civil service position. From my perspective this development significantly alters the complexion of the situation. As I have indicated in our past conversations Ï am not willing to take the risk of having him return to the department into a command capacity therefore I have entered into an agreement to return him to the department as a patrolman following a sixty day suspension. Read Letter Here
• February 16, 2016: Town Manager Michael Hartman I wish to correct some of the misinformation that has appeared in recent news accounts concerning the Police Chief’s resignation. The decision to resolve the situation involving former Deputy Chief Devine by allowing him to return to duty as a Patrol Officer following a lengthy unpaid suspension was a difficult one and not one that I arrived at without considering all the different points of view. To the extent that it has been suggested that the decision was made without any input from the Police Chief is completely false. Prior to any decision being made I held a meeting in my office with the Chief and Town Counsel during which the various possible options were discussed. While the Chief made very clear at that meeting what his preferred option was, I made clear to the Chief that depending on what Civil Service rights former Deputy Chief Devine still retained. there was a possibility that he may eventually be returned to duty. As the process unfolded, the Chief had conversations with myself and Town Counsel which he was updated on where things stood prior to any final agreement having been made. While the Chief continued to express his disagreement with approach I was taking, he was made aware of what was happening at the time. For anyone to suggest otherwise is simply not providing the full story. Letter

Robert Devine assumed control of the Stoughton Police Explorers Program around 2003, following an order from then-Chief Manuel Cachopa. The program had been in existence prior to his assignment as the department’s juvenile officer. Upon taking over, Devine offered the first group of Explorers he led the option to shift the program’s focus away from traditional scouting toward a “junior police academy” model. The group opted for the latter, and the program maintained that structure until it was eventually disbanded.

Devine later described the program’s design, which included a rank structure, ride-along opportunities, participation for youth ages 13 to 18, and parental consent requirements. He also discussed how the department advertised the program to attract local participants.

Devine stated that he first met Sandra Birchmore in 2011, when she joined the Explorers Program at age 14. He said he was aware of the challenging home life she experienced—both during her time as a student, as an Explorer, and later as an adult.

When asked whether he remained in contact with Birchmore, Devine claimed that he did not, but said that she would often “find him” while he was on duty. According to Devine, Birchmore never had his personal cell phone number. He described her as being fixated on police officers and stated that she would sometimes offer to bring him coffee. These encounters, he said, occurred about once a week, typically involving brief conversations before he departed.

Devine denied having any social interaction with Birchmore outside of his official duties with the Town of Stoughton. He also denied using text messages, messaging apps, social media platforms, burner phones, or Snapchat to communicate with her.

He described Birchmore as someone who would often exaggerate stories, though he did not elaborate on specific examples. He also mentioned a time when Birchmore approached him at Doyle’s Pub in Brockton around her 21st birthday. He claimed that upon seeing her at the bar, he immediately left.

Regarding her relationships with other officers, Devine stated that he first became aware of Matthew Farwell’s involvement with Birchmore when Farwell was placed on administrative leave. However, he later clarified that Birchmore had previously mentioned the relationship to him as a consenting adult. She had also told him about a relationship with William Farwell, though Devine claimed he did not believe her.

Devine acknowledged that he had engaged in flirtatious behavior with a former Police Explorer and intern (name redacted). He also admitted to maintaining ongoing contact with several former Explorers after they reached adulthood.