The state DYS worker who previously spent time in prison for motor vehicle homicide before urging Boston police officers to call his “boss, the female governor,” following a recent arrest has been placed on unpaid leave.
The development has come to light after the Herald reported that the Boston Police Department arrested Joshua Cooper on gun and assault charges following a chaotic incident last weekend in Dorchester.
After being found illegally possessing a loaded gun, the 36-year-old Stoughton man allegedly refused to comply with police orders before proceeding to knock several officers to the ground.
“The arrest of a state employee, trusted to protect vulnerable children, on firearms charges raises alarming questions about who is being hired by Governor Maura Healey and whether stronger background checks would have uncovered his homicide conviction,” MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale said in a statement shared with the Herald on Friday.
Cooper served a four-year sentence in state prison beginning in 2014 after the then 25-year-old man drunkenly drove through a red light and crashed into Morris Webb’s SUV, killing the 42-year-old father of three, in Brockton.
A Healey spokesperson declined to comment on Cooper’s arrest, referring the Herald to the Department of Youth Services.
A DYS official told the Herald that the agency hired Cooper as a juvenile justice youth development specialist last September, noting some of its staffers are “individuals who have lived experience with the justice system.”
At the time he caused the fatal crash, Cooper had been barred from consuming alcohol as a probation condition stemming from a 2013 incident in which he was charged with assaulting a police officer.
Before the motor vehicle homicide conviction, Cooper faced charges stemming from two incidents in 2013. One prompted charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and the other led to charges of assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon and threatening to commit a crime.
Over a decade later, Cooper applied for a DYS youth development specialist position, completing interviews and a background check, physical, drug test and psychological screening.
The DYS official noted that candidates can elect to participate in a discretionary review and waiver process if their background check raises an “issue of concern,” such as a felony conviction.
DYS hired Cooper after it “determined he met the regulatory criteria for consideration for a waiver and hire.”
Cooper is in legal trouble again after the Boston Police Department responded to a ShotSpotter activation in Dorchester early last Saturday morning, finding the man illegally possessing a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun.
Cooper became “increasingly agitated” when he arrived with officers at the BPD’s Roxbury office for booking, refusing to place his hands in preservation bags designed to maintain “evidence of gunshot residue,” according to an incident report.
“Throughout the duration of this encounter,” the report states, “Cooper insisted that he ‘handcuffs kids all day’ (referring to his position as a DYS worker), urged Officers to contact his boss, ‘the female Governor,’ and claimed he was going to sue Officers while smiling and laughing.”
Tension escalated even further, the report highlights.
Cooper “forcibly brought both of his hands towards the front of his body and wildly attempted to swing his fist towards an officer,” but he “violently struggled, knocking multiple Officers to the ground and nearly making contact with … civilian crime lab technicians who were barely able to exit the cell.”
Facing gun and assault charges stemming from the chaotic ordeal, Cooper has been free after posting a $3,000 bail following his arraignment at Dorchester Boston Municipal Court on Monday. He is slated to return to court in September for a probable cause hearing.
“We’ve taken immediate action to place this individual on unpaid leave while this is under review,” DYS Commissioner Cecely Reardon said in a statement shared with the Herald Friday evening. “This is unacceptable behavior, and we’re grateful to law enforcement for their actions.”
The agency noted that Cooper’s unpaid administrative leave is consistent with a relevant collective bargaining agreement.
Payroll records through the state Comptroller’s Office show that Cooper works as a “Youth Service Group Worker I,” earning $59,222 so far in 2025, as of July 12, at an annual rate of $65,427.
Cooper earned $16,299 in the position after his hire last year, at an annual rate of $63,522, records indicate.
A job application for a DYS juvenile justice youth development specialist outlines that a “criminal background check will be completed on the recommended candidate” before they are hired.
The role entails employees working with “juvenile justice-involved youth and young adults (most are 16-20 years old) in a 24-hour-a-day / 7-day-a-week locked residential facility,” providing them with “knowledge and life skills needed to become responsible and independent adults.”
The application adds that employees are “expected to use physical interventions to maintain safety and security (following) department policies” if “verbal de-escalation attempts are exhausted.”
“In this team-led environment,” the application states, “you will ensure the safety and security of the youth while offering the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and life skills needed to become responsible and independent adults.”
