Officer says superiors forced him out after he raised
concerns
A Rutland cop has sued Rutland Police Chief James Baker and
other high-level department officials, alleging they covered up police
corruption and threatened to force out those who tried to complained about it.
The lawsuit was filed Friday by Andrew N. Todd, who quit the
Rutland Police Department in early 2012 and now works for the Vermont State
Police.
Todd, in the 16-page lawsuit, claims Baker, Lt. Kevin Geno
and Capt. Scott Tucker, along with former state Public Safety Commissioner
Thomas Tremblay, conspired to ignore a complaint Todd filed about misconduct
inside the department from 2010 to 2012.
Among Todd’s allegations is a claim that a Rutland officer,
now retired, was twice seen having sexual contact with female citizens while he
was on duty, including one time in the department’s weight room.
Baker, responding to a telephone message, said he would have
no comment on the case.
Geno and Tucker were unavailable for comment late Friday
afternoon. Neither immediately responded to an email seeking comment that was
relayed to them by Sgt. John Sly, the senior officer on duty Friday afternoon
at Rutland police headquarters.
Tremblay, who lives in Essex Junction, also did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. Tremblay recently has done some
consulting work for Rutland on police matters.
Todd’s internal complaint, a copy of which was attached to
the lawsuit, was filed with department higher-ups June 14, 2010, and focused on
the conduct of the officer who retired last year and on evidence that suggested
some top members of the department leadership were friends with the officer and
were unwilling to confront his behavior.
“My formal complaint of unprofessional and unethical conduct
includes lying on time reports, stealing ... taking free items and not caring
and fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of a supervisor ... (and)
on-duty sexual relationships,” the document states.
The complaint also stated that the now-retired officer and
another Rutland officer engaged in racial profiling during the course of a drug
trafficking investigation.
Todd alleges in the lawsuit that he feared he would be fired
after learning from other officers in the department that they had been
encouraged to give “negative and false information” about Todd’s job
performance. Todd said the officers refused to do so.
Todd’s attorney, Rutland lawyer John Faignant, emailed a
copy of the lawsuit to the Burlington Free Press but declined to discuss the
case further Friday. He said Todd would have no comment.
Also named in the lawsuit was Larry Jensen, chairman of the
Rutland Police Commission, the Vermont League of Cities & Towns and its
insurance carrier.