NEWS > 02 February 2006

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Pawtucket Times - Pawtucket, R
02 February 2006

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Former Seekonk police chief cl

SEEKONK -- In a decision that was rendered two months ago but has just been brought to light, former Seekonk police chief Vito Scotti was cleared by the state Ethics Commission of alleged wrongdoing involving police promotional exams that were administered in 2002 and 2003.

At Wednesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, Selectmen Chairman John Whelan noted the Ethics Commission ruling and issued a personal apology to Scotti and the members of the Seekonk Police Department.

Whelan, however, was the lone dissenting vote of the Board of Selectmen back in 2004 when a motion was made to bring the controversial matter before the state Ethics Commission in the first place.

Current Board members David Viera and Francis Venditti, along with former selectmen Steven Howitt and Doreen Taylor voted in favor of the action.

The state Ethics Comm-ission sent a confidential letter to Steven Howitt on November 30, 2005, stating that the panel had "conducted a careful review of the allegations you made to this Commission on Feb. 4, 2005." The letter went on to say that, based on that review, "we have decided not to take any further action."

The letter, from Senior Investigator Brett L. Wingard, adds, "While we understand you may be dissatisfied with this result, please be assured that we take all matters presented to us seriously." He also thanks Howitt for "bringing this matter to our attention."

Whelan said it was only recently when he made inquiries about the status of the investigation did he learn that Scotti had been cleared. A subsequent letter dated Jan. 25, 2006 from the state Ethics Commission reaffirms the panel's decision and states that the letter was sent to Howitt's residence "in error." "It should have been sent to the Board of Selectmen's attention at town hall," wrote Special Investigator Scott Cole.

The alleged police testing scandal caused much friction between several board members and Scotti, as well as other members of the police department, in late 2004. Howitt, former selectman Doreen Taylor and current selectman David Viera had raised numerous issues with two rounds of tests that had been administered for sergeants and lieutenants in 2002 and 2003. Their questions concerned the Johnston, RI testing company that Scotti chose for the exams, the timing of the exams, the material on the test itself, and test scores that were reportedly missing from one police officer's personnel file.

Scotti maintained repeatedly that the testing processes were conducted "with professionalism and integrity," and held a detailed press conference to rebut what he said were "misrepresentations" of police officers' testing and test results.

Besides Whelan, neither Viera or Venditti made any public comment about the matter.

However, after the meeting, Whelan and Selectman Michael Brady criticized Howitt for not notifying the current board about the Ethics Commission decision.

Whelan said he voted against the ethics investigation at the time because two town attorneys had already reviewed the matter. "I agreed with the attorneys," he said.

Brady said he has heard the term "witch hunt" bantered around in regard to recent events but said, 'this was the biggest witch hunt of all."

When contacted later by The Times, Howitt said that since the Nov. 30 letter had been marked as "confidential" to him, he felt that he should respect the confidentiality.He also said that since the letter was sent to him, he assumed the other board members involved at the time had also received copies.

"Three other members of the board were in favor of this (investigation) at the time," noted Howitt.

Howitt said he has mixed feelings about the ruling. He said he found it "disappointing" because he thinks "there are still questions there" involving the exam process.However, he said that on the other hand, it is also good for the town as a whole that the Ethics Commission believe there was no wrongdoing.

Scotti, who now works for the Bristol County Sheriff's Department, could not be reached for comment.

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Article sourced from

Pawtucket Times - Pawtucket, R02 February 2006

Former Seekonk police chief cl

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Pawtucket Times - Pawtucket, R
02 February 2006