The state’s police oversight agency will make its case at a closed-door hearing beginning Thursday for why one of the former Stoughton Police officers involved in the Sandra Birchmore case should never again work in law enforcement in Massachusetts.

Robert Devine, the former Stoughton deputy police chief, is among a trio of former Stoughton officers, along with brothers Matthew and William Farwell, accused of having inappropriate sexual relationships with Birchmore after she joined their police youth program as a teenager.

Devine is fighting efforts from the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, to revoke his certification for police work, a requirement for all officers employed in the commonwealth.

Beginning Thursday, his case will play out in secret

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