A former female detective lieutenant with the Massachusetts State Police took the witness stand last week to describe a boys-club culture within the agency’s command as she made sweeping claims of race and gender discrimination within the agency’s promotional structure.

“Putting friends, family into positions has had a discriminatory effect on women and minorities,” testified Lisa Butner, a Black woman who is the lead plaintiff in a discrimination suit against the State Police .

The lawsuit, first filed in 2016, involves allegations that the overwhelmingly male and white State Police brass routinely pass over female and minority troopers for promotion, and exile those who do earn advancement to far-flung barracks and overnight shifts. Specifically, it involves allegations from five t

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