The town of Milton, Mass., will pay an Episcopal priest $50,000 to settle a false arrest claim.

Police arrested the Rev. Henderson L. Brome, rector of St. Cyprian’s Church, Roxbury, and a 16-year resident of Milton on July 28, 2004. A native of Barbados, Fr. Brome was stopped by a patrolman responding to a report of an attempted car break-in.

The police ordered Fr. Brome to stop, handcuffed him and placed him in the back seat of the patrol car. Fr. Brome was released from custody after approximately 15 minutes after the woman who made the burglary complaint cleared him.

In a statement released on May 24, Fr. Brome said “Until this incident took place I have had an excellent relationship with the Milton Police Department and it has never been my intention to demonize the entire Milton Police Department over this incident.”

Police Chief Kevin Mearn told the Patriot-Ledger newspaper he was glad a settlement had been reached. “It was one of those unfortunate incidents that occur,” he said. “We had an obligation to the community to put this matter behind us.”

Fr. Brome’s false arrest came at a time of heightened racial sensitivity in South Boston. Six months before his arrest, a report by Northeastern University found that Milton had a disproportionately high rate of traffic tickets issued to black drivers.

Chief Mearn denied the Milton Police engaged in racial profiling of suspects, and noted that since the incident the department had hired a number of black officers and instituted a race sensitivity training program.

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