Crime & Safety

State Upholds Braintree Cop's Firing, Questions Failure to Report Misconduct

The terminated officer allegedly tried to interfere with drug arrests in Braintree.

The Civil Service Commission last week denied the appeal of a Braintree police officer who was fired for allegedly trying to interfere with drug and drunk driving arrests.

In a decision issued Thursday upholding the town's termination of Paul Venuto in April 2012, Commissioner Cynthia Ittleman said the firing was justified because of Venuto's "serious misconduct," but also criticized the Braintree Police Department for allowing the incidents to go unreported for nearly three years.

Two separate incidents in 2008 and 2009, involving Venuto placing himself in the middle of a drug arrest and an OUI and cocaine arrest, were not officially examined until August 2011, when an alleged domestic dispute between Venuto and his girlfriend prompted then Chief Paul Frazier to order an internal investigation into Venuto's conduct. 

Venuto was subsequently placed on administrative leave until Mayor Joseph Sulivan notified him by letter on April 2, 2012 that he was being terminated for engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer, undue influence, and interfering with the Course of Justice.

Several officers were aware of Venuto's attempted interference in the two arrests, Ittleman wrote in the decision, but did not report it as required under the department's regulations.

Frazier's testimony, as summarized in the decision, indicated that those officers who failed to report would be trained "as a form of discipline" and not punished "so that, in the future, officers would not refrain from reporting such matters in a timely manner." 

But that training did not take place, and furthermore such training does not constitute discipline, Ittleman said.

"All BPD officers should have a clear understanding of the BPD Rules and Regulations and the need to promptly report violations; their failure to do so undermines their individual credibility, not to mention the effectiveness and the public perception of the BPD," Ittleman said.

Sullivan and Chief Russell Jenkins did not respond to requests for comment Monday morning. UPDATE: Jenkins issued a statement about the decision Monday afternoon.

The commission's decision describes a murky line in the department between acceptable influence and inappropriate interference.

Officer Richard Seibert, testifying for the town, said that "officers sometimes ask one another to use their discretion in issuing traffic violations... but not in matters involving narcotics."

Chief Frazier also "indicated that calls for discretion regarding traffic stops are not unusual."

The testimony led Commissioner Paul Stein, in a dissenting opinion, to question whether Venuto should have known the distinction between interfering with infractions like speeding tickets and more serious violations such as an OUI.

Despite those concerns, Ittleman said that Venuto's "grave transgressions" constituted just cause for termination.

In April 2008, Venuto called an unidentified friend who was under surveillance by Braintree detectives at 7-Eleven in The Landing after he heard the man's license plate number being run through the system by a dispatcher.

The man was later charged with possession of Oxycontin and marijuana. Venuto claimed that he had only called his friend to give him a hard time, but Detective Mark Sherrick testified that he had told Venuto he was observing a drug transaction.

A year and a half later, Venuto asked if anything could be done about an acquaintance who had been stopped speeding on his motorcycle on Quincy Avenue.

Venuto testified that he thought the man was only involved in a minor traffic violation, but the commission found that Venuto was informed about a potential OUI charge, and that the man was also charged with possession and intent to distribute cocaine.


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