New police head appoints No. 2 amid leadership shake-up

BOSTON – The new head of the Massachusetts State Police has appointed a deputy, shoring up the agency’s leadership after a shake-up triggered by revisions to a police report about a judge’s daughter.

The state police said in a statement Wednesday that Col. Kerry Gilpin has elevated Lt. Col. Barry O’Brien to serve as her second in command.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Gilpin to run the agency after Col. Richard McKeon and his deputy, Francis Hughes, abruptly retired earlier this month. The two stepped aside amid accusations that McKeon ordered a trooper to scrub embarrassing information from a report to protect a judge and his daughter.

Gilpin says her office is investigating.

The trooper who says he was ordered to alter the report, Ryan Sceviour, has filed a federal lawsuit.