"Watertown shouting match not routine" by Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent | March 5, 2010
It was not at a pub or in an alley.
Instead, the confrontation occurred after a routine session of the Watertown Town Council on Nov. 10, when an ugly shouting match between the police chief and the Town Council president broke out in the council’s back office. A handful of witnesses looked on.
According to an investigative report made public this week, Police Chief Edward P. Deveau made a beeline for the council’s back office shortly after 10 p.m. that day to confront Clyde L. Younger, the council’s former president. Deveau was apparently upset Younger had alluded to “serious allegations’’ about the Police Department publicly without checking with him first.
Younger described Deveau as getting “right in my face’’ and “towering over me screaming and hollering,’’ according to a 17-page investigative report. Younger said he finally responded to Deveau in similarly jocular language. Younger says that Deveau blocked the doorway during the argument to prevent him from leaving the room.
Earlier, Younger had called for a police review panel and alluded to “serious allegations’’ about an incident that occurred in the Police Department last August. Younger told the Globe yesterday that he was referring to rumors that a probationary police officer had been fired because a shotgun had discharged in a police cruiser.
The beef finally ended when Councilor Stephen Corbett stepped in between the two men to break it up. Younger, who has since left office, filed a complaint with the town against Deveau on Nov. 30. The report concluded that Deveau did not attempt to prevent Younger from leaving the office and that both men were equally to blame.
“I am pleased a thorough review of the matter, including three independent witnesses, concluded Mr. Younger’s complaint was without basis,’’ Deveau said in an e-mail to the Globe yesterday.
Deveau was at that evening’s council meeting to accept a proclamation for winning a regional leadership award from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. According to the investigative report, he said his tone was initially conversational, but became louder after Younger responded sharply. Deveau said he used salty language with Younger because he was comfortable with him and because he thought no one else could hear their discussion in the back room.
In an interview, Younger called the investigation a “whitewash’’ and said he did not believe the town attorney, Joseph S. Fair of Kopelman and Paige, conducted an impartial investigation since he “works for the town manager.’’ Younger said he is considering future legal action. The episode is the latest chapter in Watertown’s particularly spicy brand of politics....
Does it look like I care, readers?
Everyone knows authorities are a**holes, and Massachusetts has the biggest.
Also see: Watertown Battery-Maker Pours Battery Acid in Boston-Power Wound
I guess I just gave them a little of my own.
