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Police officer with long disciplinary history fired
By Administrator   
Monday, November 29, 1999 07:00 PM

A Duxbury police officer with a history of writing bad checks to local businesses has been fired by Town Manager Richard MacDonald.


A Duxbury police officer with a history of writing bad checks to local businesses has been fired by Town Manager Richard MacDonald.


Officer Dale Parks, 39, was fired in June following a closed-door disciplinary hearing in May. Parks joined the Duxbury Police Department in 1997.

Parks allegedly failed to pay for work done on his girlfriend's Jeep at Millbrook Motors.

Information on Parks' termination was released to the press this week.

"It's very difficult to dismiss someone in such a position," said MacDonald. "However, my action was based on the facts presented to me."

Attempts to contact Parks were unsuccessful. On Monday, his attorney, Brad Louison, said he does not have Parks phone number and that Parks contacts him. A phone number in court documents listed for Parks no longer belongs to him.

Duxbury Police Union President Fran McTurner said he had no comment on the issue.

Parks was suspended for six months in 2005 for failing to appear for court, failing to produce medical records and a history of writing bad checks. Several of the checks bounced at three Duxbury businesses including Millbrook Travel, Millbrook Market, and the Duxbury General Store, according to a 2005 disciplinary hearing.

The most recent incident involving Parks, the failure to pay for work done to his girlfriend's jeep, was the main focus of a disciplinary hearing held at Town Hall on May 8.

"Officer Parks has committed a grievous violation of the rules and regulations of the Department," MacDonald wrote in his decision to fire Parks. "As of the date of the hearing, he had paid only $800 towards an invoice from Millbrook Motors for over $2,800 reflecting work done pursuant to a repair order, on a Jeep owned by Officer Parks; girlfriend, signed by Officer Parks on December 8, 2006."

Millbrook's service department contacted Parks after Parks dropped the Jeep off at the dealership, according to Town Counsel Robert Troy's report of the May 8 hearing. The service department determined that the engine was locked up from lack of maintenance and lack of oil.

Parks authorized a repair order on Dec. 8, and work on the Jeep was completed by the beginning of January.

"The bill for the repair was $2,800 along with an additional charge of $45 for vents," Troy wrote. "Millbrook has a policy that no vehicles are released until full payment is received."

Parks showed up at the dealership on Jan. 17 and asked if he could take the car back because he couldn't get a rental car, promising to make payment in full on Friday, Jan. 19, according to the hearing testimony.

Dealership owner Chip Loring said he knew Parks, and knew he was a police officer in town, so he let him take the car. Parks did not return on Jan. 19 to make payment, according to the hearing testimony.

Parks next showed up at the dealership on Jan. 24 and dropped off $800 in cash. Loring testified that parks promised to come in with another $1,000 towards the bill, but did not show up again until Feb. 12, when he left a check with the service department.

The check was deposited but later returned for insufficient funds. Loring then went to district court to apply for a criminal complaint against Parks.

During the hearing, Parks admitted that he signed the repair order and that Millbrook Motors did the work, according to Troy's report.

Parks testified that he knew he would be getting a refund from the IRS he planned to use to pay for the repair. He also testified that when the 19th (of January) came, the check wasn't there.

"Parks subsequently brought a check and dated it for February 15 because "there's not going to be any money there until Thursday.' Parks testified that he made the deposit as planned but that the check was not deposited until the 26th or 27th," Troy wrote.

Parks didn't realize the check had bounced and said that nobody had contacted him about the check.

"I mean, like I say, knowing that they would have no problem trying to get rid of me, why would I put myself in that position? It doesn't make sense," Parks said, according to Troy's hearing report.

Under cross-examination by police department attorney Charles Sabatt, Parks reviewed his bank statement and conceded that the statement showed that he had about 18 transactions since his deposit of $800 to cover the check he wrote to Millbrook Motors. Parks also testified that he knew by March 12 that the check he wrote to Millbrook had been returned because of insufficient funds and that he made no further efforts to pay the balance due on his bill.

In his decision to fire Parks, MacDonald stated that the severity of the violations justified his termination from the police department.

"Analysis of Officer Parks' disciplinary record also compels his immediate separation from the Duxbury Police Department," MacDonald wrote, referring to former Town Manager Rocco Longo's 2005 disciplinary decision against Parks.

Parks was suspended for six months for failing to appear for court, failing to produce medical records and a history of writing bad checks. He wrote nearly $2,000 in bad checks to local businesses including Millbrook Travel, Duxbury General Store, and Millbrook Market, according to the 2005 disciplinary hearing.

Parks appealed the 2005 suspension, but later agreed in February of 2006 to concede to the 2005 decision, basically agreeing to the discipline that was meted out, according to MacDonald.

Parks affirmation of the 2005 decision confirms that he agreed that any violation after that decision would lead to his termination, MacDonald stated.

Parks testimony at the most recent hearing showed that he knew the incident at Millbrook Motors would basically end his career with the Duxbury Police Department, according to MacDonald.

Parks is appealing his termination with the state's Civil Service Commission, according to Louison, his attorney.

"The appeal is based on the fact that the termination is excessive and we don't believe it is supported by the evidence," said Louison on Monday. A pretrial conference for the appeal is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Louison said he will argue both against the substance of the charges and the fact he believes the termination is an excessive disciplinary penalty. He said he has a good working relationship with the Duxbury police and administration, but said he doubts that he will reach a settlement with the town before the case appears before the Civil Service Commission.

The 2005 suspension was not the first time Parks was involved in controversy. Parks also filed a racial discrimination suit against the police department in 2005. (See sidebars)

Police Chief Mark DeLuca said there was little he could say about Park's dismissal because it is under appeal.

"It's never pleasant when you have to pursue a dismissal against one of your employees," he said.
 

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