http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/nc/hc-enfdoc0122.artjan22,1,4986614.story

Union Questions Standards For Discipline

By JEFFREY B. COHEN
Courant Staff Writer

January 22 2005

ENFIELD -- The state Department of Correction may not be the only agency disciplining its employees for associating with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

In November, the agency fired employee Mark Vincenzo for going to a summertime soup kitchen fund-raiser sponsored in part by the Outlaws. Now, as Vincenzo's union fights the legal battles associated with his case, it wants to see the personnel records of a town police officer it believes went to the same fund-raiser but was disciplined much less severely.

To that end, the union - AFSCME Local 391 - filed a complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission against the town of Enfield last week.

"Somebody called and said ... did you know there was a police officer who was at the event and he didn't get fired?" said local President Jon Pepe. "I said no. They left me his name, so I requested his discipline history."

The town denied the request after the officer objected to the release of the information. The FOI Commission will settle the dispute.

State correction officials testified in federal court last year that Vincenzo's and other officers' association with the motorcycle club posed "a security threat, not only to the Department of Correction, but to the residents of Connecticut."

Vincenzo is not a member of the Outlaws club but previously has been disciplined for associating with it.

Following an investigation that became public last April, Officers Gary Piscottano, James Kight and Randy Sabettini were fired for being "less than truthful." They each had admitted to membership at one point. Sabettini's grievance process began in late 2004, officials said.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo and Officer Walter Scappini were formally counseled for unprofessional conduct. They had attended parties sponsored by the Outlaws, which some state investigators have claimed is involved in criminal activities.

Then, in the fall of 2004, the department investigated Vincenzo and later fired him for attending a July 11 fund-raiser sponsored in part by the Outlaws. Vincenzo maintains that he did not attend the fund-raiser but rather went to the adjacent bar after the event was over.

He is now arbitrating that matter.

Recognizing that the state and the town are free to discipline their employees differently, Pepe's interest in seeing the Enfield police officer's disciplinary history is two-fold.

First, he has been told that the officer got a relatively minor suspension for going to the same July 11 fund-raiser as Vincenzo. If that is the case, Pepe said, why would a law enforcement officer with a weapon only get a slap on the wrist for associating with the Outlaws, while a prison guard got fired for the same behavior?

Second, Pepe continues to argue that the Department of Correction has given his union no specific guidance on whether its members can associate with members of the Outlaws. In that regard, he said, he wants to see the Enfield police officer's disciplinary history to see whether the Enfield Police Department was more forthright in its dealings with its officers than the Correction Department was with its employees, he said.

"I want to see if he had prior notification," Pepe said. "I want to see if these guys were told prior [that they shouldn't associate with the Outlaws], and my guys weren't."

Enfield police officials would not comment on the matter or release the disciplinary records Pepe seeks.