Milton Officer Fired for Sexual Harassment

Milton officer fired for behavior

By Stephen Kiehl, Globe Correspondent, 06/11/98

MILTON - The Milton Board of Selectmen voted unanimously last night to fire Clyde Brown, a Milton police officer accused of harassing several women.

Brown, who was joined at the meeting by his wife and one of his children, said he would appeal the board's decision.

''I'm not the type of person who just gets knocked down and doesn't get back up,'' Brown said.

His attorney, Harrison A. Fitch, said he would appeal to the Civil Service Commission or to Superior Court.

A hearing officer presiding over the case had found sufficient evidence that Brown behaved inappropriately and violated police ethics.

Hearing officer James P. Lampke's 170-page report, which was given to selectmen last week, found that Brown had ''uninvited and unwelcome'' contact with women, and that he lied to his superiors when questioned about it.

The Milton selectmen - Diane Ditullio Agostino, Katherine Haynes Dunphy, and Richard Neely - said they reached their decision based on the evidence of Brown's improper conduct and the need for credibility in the police department.

Brown, who is black, has denied the allegations, saying that he is being punished because he has been friendly with white women.

Yesterday, Police Chief Kevin Mearn rejected Brown's charges.

''This case is about conduct,'' Mearn said. ''It's about outrageous illegal activities.''

Brown has received the support of several other black officers.

Last October, two black Milton officers filed complaints against the department alleging unequal treatment in hiring and promotion. In April, Sergeant Wanda White filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, citing alleged threats and verbal abuse by superiors.

All three are represented by attorney Harrison A. Fitch.

''This department has had a kind of reign of terror against these black officers,'' Fitch said last night.

Lampke's report found no grounds that Brown was the victim of racial bias.

The Milton Police Department hired Brown in October 1995. He has been on paid leave since July 21, 1997, when the department began an investigation after three women complained about Brown's conduct.