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| NEWS > 02 October 2006 |
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The National Black Police Association has been in existence since 1972 nationally and has chartered organizations in the United Kingdom, Canada and Bermuda. The principal concerns of the National Black Police Association are the promotion of justice, fairness, and effectiveness in law enforcement issues and the effect of those issues upon the total community.
The Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and the Yonkers Chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have been monitoring the issue of police criminality in West... Read more
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The Summerville News
02 October 2006
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To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Cop fired, but why?
Scott Trant was an honorable police officer in 2004. That year he entered a burning building at 78-80 Flint St. to help rescue an elderly couple from the second floor. But two weeks ago, Trant was fired from the Somerville Police Department by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.
Curtatone and other city officials refused to comment on why Trant was fired, but Patrolmen’s Union President Jack Leutcher, who is advising the officer in his appeal with the state Civil Service Commission, said the firing is a result of Trant’s attempt to purchase a Vernon Street home.
“The city’s hands are covered in mud on this one,” he said.
Trant’s effort blocked an underhanded plan concocted by city officials to seize the home, sell it to a known third party at auction, and then inflate the asking price for the state, who would have to buy the home and knock it down when construction for a Green Line train station began, he said.
Leutcher said City Solicitor John Gannon stated at Trant’s disciplinary hearing that he was disappointed Trant was buying the home, because the location was being eyed as a possible train station and the purchase would complicate the Green Line extension. At the time, the home had accumulated over $25,000 in fines for various violations and was in danger of being seized by the city, Leutcher said.
“The reason Scott Trant is in trouble is he got in the way of the city taking this property and flipping it to the state for an inflated price,” he said. “He screwed up their deal.”
Leutcher said his conclusion of the city’s true intention for the property is based on Gannon’s statement at the hearing.
“It’s conjecture but it’s conjecture that slaps you in the face,” he said.
City spokesperson Thomas P. Champion said he could not comment on Trant’s case because it is pending and to comment would be illegal. He said he was “shocked and disappointed” Leutcher would publicly discuss the details of the case.
Leutcher said the city claims Trant used his inside position as a police officer to take over ownership of the home. Trant met the woman who owns the home after responding to her call for police assistance and eventually committed the woman’s husband to a mental health facility, he said. Leutcher said Trant didn’t do anything illegal in his handling of the case, “just different.”
Before moving forward on the deal to buy the home Trant contacted the state Ethics Commission and Gannon to ask if buying the home would be inappropriate. The state Ethics Commission did not have a problem with it and Gannon never got back to Trant, Leutcher said.
The union president said he would be contacting the attorney general’s office and the state Ethics Commission to investigate Curtatone’s actions against Trant.
Champion said the city encourages close examination.
“We welcome the scrutiny from the attorney general’s office and the Ethics Commission,” he said. “As a matter of policy we self-refer any accusations of wrongdoing within the administration to the appropriate office.”
Leutcher said if the city had legitimate motivations they should have been happy the Vernon Street home was being purchased and the fines paid. But, he said, the city’s actions have sent a chilling message to homeowners.
“Do the taxpayers want an administration that is after their property, not fines?” he said.
Scott Trant did not returned repeated phone calls.
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