New Fire Department Probe Eyed

By Lauren Garrison
Norwalk Citizen
Article Launched:07/09/2007 01:26:41 PM EDT

As the Common Council subcommittee investigating allegations of racism in the Fire Department wraps up its work, members of the Human Relations Commission are considering whether another investigation, this time focusing on personnel issues, is warranted.

On Tuesday, the commission's vice chairman, Mary "Bea" Brown, said it will conduct a special meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the possibility of a new probe. Brown said she did not know how the majority of commission members feel about the matter.

In Brown's opinion, questions about the Fire Department remain to be answered, despite the department's hiring of 3D Seminars, LLC, of New Haven as a consultant to provide diversity assessment and training and the council subcommittee's three hearings. The subcommittee was formed in November 2006 in response to the revelation of a videotape containing footage of firefighters using racial slurs in casual conversations at the Broad River station. Scot Wilson, a black firefighter who at the time was suspended from duty and facing possible termination for reporting to work while under the influence of alcohol for a fifth time, had brought the videotape to Fire Chief Denis McCarthy's attention months earlier, but McCarthy had chosen not to view it when Wilson said he did not plan to press charges against those using the racist language, which was not directed at him or any other member of the department. McCarthy issued a public apology, accepting full responsibility for failing to respond in a "more aggressive" manner. "I should have reviewed the tape and acted to address the problems that it revealed about the conduct of some firefighters in the department," he said.

"I think McCarthy needs to answer some questions as to why he first said he didn't get any information from Scot, then he turned around and said he did get it," said Brown. She added, "I think [McCarthy] should have been suspended until all of this was over. If he had been suspended, then all of this would have been finished by now."

The subcommittee, which is headed by council member Phyllis Bolden, D-District B, who is also the chairman of the Health, Welfare and Public Safety Committee, should conclude its investigation "this month, no doubt," Bolden said on Tuesday.

Before deciding whether or not to begin another investigation, said Brown, the commission needs to "ask some questions and find out exactly where [Bolden's] investigation is going. If she's still continuing with it, then we'll latch on to her."

Bolden said the commission "has been interested from the onset in sharing the investigation with the subcommittee" but the two bodies were advised against doing so by Corporation Counsel Peter Nolin for several reasons. Therefore, said Bolden, members of the commission were allowed to sit in on, but not participate in, the subcommittee's investigation.

Brown noted that she attended all of the subcommittee's meetings but one.

Both Brown and Bolden described their specific interests as diverging. Brown said she is concerned with the personnel aspects of the incident and McCarthy's behavior in particular. Bolden, on the other hand, stressed, "The whole investigation from my point of view was to ensure that the health and welfare of all firefighters was in check. That's all there was to it. Also, to put in place some ground rules zero tolerance of racism and racial slurs." Bolden also said she wants to "leave Scot Wilson out of this."

At the conclusion of the subcommittee's investigation, said Bolden, each of its members will compose a summary of his or her opinion based on the testimonies from firefighters and others, and all of the summaries will be provided to the mayor, the Fire Commission and other relevant bodies.

Bolden declined to say whether or not she feels an investigation by the Human Relations Commission is necessary.

McCarthy could not be reached for comment before press time.