Cop claims chief wants him fired
By David McLaughlin / News Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
ASHLAND -- Two months after the town fired a longtime police officer, a second officer whom the police chief has accused of conspiring against him may lose his job.
Patrolman Charles Garbarino said Chief Roy Melnick has recommended that the town fire him. In June, Sgt. Roy Testa was fired following racially tinged remarks he made to a state police employee.
Garbarino, a staunch critic of the chief, said yesterday that he did nothing wrong and that Melnick is out to get him. This year, he filed a complaint against Melnick for calling a former dispatcher his "token Jew" and a former detective his "token Jew" and his "token black."
"I stood up for my Jewish brothers. I'm proud of it, and I'd do it again," he said. "I won't look the other way."
The former Ashland detective who filed a complaint against Melnick, Matt Gutwill, just transferred to the Framingham Police Department.
Melnick has accused a core group of police officers, including Garbarino, Testa and Gutwill, of conspiring against him. The chief yesterday declined to comment on his recommendation about Garbarino, citing personnel rules, but he denied targeting Garbarino or any other officer.
The accusations against Testa, the chief said, surfaced after the state police contacted the Ashland Police Department. And Gutwill, Melnick said, has always wanted to be a Framingham officer and twice applied for a job in the department.
The chief described the 53-year-old Garbarino as a "dinosaur" who has refused to adapt to change in the department.
"The only dinosaur that doesn't like the change is Charlie Garbarino. You've got to adapt, and if you don't adapt you become extinct," Melnick said.
According to Garbarino, he is accused of "larceny by false pretenses" following overtime pay that he requested. His case will go before a disciplinary hearing, possibly next month. The hearing will result in a recommendation about whether Garbarino should be disciplined. Interim Town Manager Dale Morris will make the final decision.
Garbarino said he will request that the hearing be made public. He expects he will eventually be vindicated, but expects that Morris will follow the chief's recommendation and fire him.
"I can't trust that anybody at this hearing is going to be impartial," he said.
Morris declined comment, citing personnel matters.
In June, Garbarino said, Melnick ordered him to answer 15 questions related to a lawsuit filed by former Ashland Auxiliary Police Officer Bob Stetson.
Stetson, who worked with Garbarino on Internet-related investigations, is suing Melnick and the town in Worcester Superior Court for wrongful termination and illegal seizure of the auxiliary's records and money.
Garbarino said he came to the station on his day off to finish his work on Melnick's questions. He said he could only answer the questions while off duty at his home because he needed to use his personal computer. The police union's contract, he said, requires the department to pay an officer four hours of overtime whenever he or she comes to work on their day off.
Garbarino requested the extra pay, but Melnick denied it at the end of June. At the beginning of August, he said, sergeants Steve Zanella and Dave Whitney told him they were conducting an internal investigation because Melnick had filed a complaint against him. Garbarino wrote a nine-page response and was tape-recorded for 55 minutes by Ashland police.
Whitney and Zanella also directed the internal investigation into the "token Jew" and "token black" remarks Melnick made. The investigation has not been completed.
On Aug. 16, Garbarino said Zanella hand-delivered a letter to his home written by Morris. The letter asked Garbarino to appear Aug. 20 for a disciplinary hearing that was later canceled and will be rescheduled. The letter, according to Garbarino, stated he was accused of conduct unbecoming a police officer, filing a false report and untruthfulness.
Posted Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:56 am:
Melnick report delayed: Document needs more work, says town manager
By David McLaughlin / News Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
ASHLAND -- The investigation into disparaging remarks made by the police chief about his employees will not be completed for two more weeks because one of the complainants has agreed to talk to police.
Alan Glickman, a former dispatcher who has accused Police Chief Roy Melnick of referring to him as "my token Jew," said yesterday he will talk to police within two weeks for the first time in the investigation.
"I definitely do want to cooperate," he said.
The town announced last month that the police department's internal investigation into complaints filed against Melnick was finished. According to Melnick, the two police officers who directed the investigation determined the complaints were "unfounded" and Interim Town Manager Dale Morris upheld their finding.
Neither Glickman nor former Ashland police officer Matt Gutwill, who also filed a complaint against the chief, talked with the two officers who conducted the investigation. Gutwill has accused the chief of calling him his "token Jew" and his "token black."
Morris said last week the investigation's final report required more work, though he declined to say exactly what had to be done. Yesterday, again without explaining why, he said the investigation would require an additional two weeks.
"The housekeeping issues that need to be done are taking more time than I thought," he said.
Glickman confirmed that the delay was the result of his agreement to talk to police.
Melnick, who has apologized publicly for the remarks, accused of Glickman, Gutwill and a third officer who filed a complaint, Charles Garbarino, of not cooperating with the investigation. Glickman said he was "never given an opportunity" to speak with police.
The dispatcher said he was contacted by Sgt. Steve Zanella the day before the July 4 weekend about the investigation. A day before that, he said, he received a letter from Morris telling him that he should only talk to the town manager about the complaint.
Glickman said he told Zanella that before he met with police, he wanted to clear up the confusion about whom he could speak with, but he never received another call.
Zanella could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Morris said he told Glickman he could speak with police.
Morris declined to say whether the results of the investigation would change once police spoke with Glickman, who filed his complaint in June and has also accused the chief of removing documents from his personnel file.
"Once we get this issue resolved, we'll take the necessary action at the time," Morris said.
Garbarino, who the chief has recommended be fired, said the town should have tapped an outside agency to investigate the complaints. He has often criticized the fact that two police officers investigated their boss.
"It wouldn't have been secretive. It would have been done with impartiality, and it would have been a thorough job," Garbarino said.