City: Trant had man committed to make a profit

By George P. Hassett

Scott Trant joined the Somerville Police Department in December 1998. He received several commendations for on the job heroics, including one incident in 2004 when he rushed into a burning building on Flint Street to save an elderly couple.

But on Sept. 20, 2006 Trant was fired from the department, forced to surrender his badge and gun, after city officials alleged that he had a mentally-ill man involuntarily committed to a mental health facility to ease his purchase of a Vernon Street home at a deep discount.

Last week, on May 19, Arbitrator James M. Litton upheld the city’s dismissal of Trant, leaving the former cop only the slimmest of chances to regain his job.

‚ÄúTrant’s wrongdoing in this case . . . includes making a lengthy and painstakingly detailed telephone call to Cambridge Psych for the purpose of learning how to involuntarily commit [someone} in order to . . . facilitate the purchase of the property‚Ķ

The misconduct in which I have found Trant to have engaged is also misconduct to which Trant has admitted,” Litton wrote in his opinion. “Such misconduct merits immediate discharge.”

   
Trant had already been fined $10,000 by the State Ethics Commission for his conduct in the incident. According to filings with the arbitrator, on Feb. 9, 2005 an Everett woman came to the Somerville Police Department for help in getting her mentally-ill ex-husband evicted from the home at 19-21 Vernon St. The ex-husband had been living illegally as a squatter in the basement of the property, which had fallen into disrepair and was repeatedly cited for safety violations.

The officer the woman sought help from was Trant, who was on-duty and in full uniform at the time. Trant visited the Vernon Street home, conducted a welfare check on the ex-husband and called the psychiatric unit of Cambridge Hospital for “information on how to get a person committed.”

At the same time, according to his own testimony, Trant – who also works as a real estate agent — developed an interest in buying the property from the Everett woman. He offered her $200,000 for the home which was assessed at $438,700.

But the squatter, according to the city, was blocking Trant’s chance to make a profit and Trant used his position as a police officer to do something about it. Attorneys for the city said Trant’s call to Cambridge Hospital was ‚Äúa clear attempt to use his authority as a police officer to take away a citizen’s personal liberty for his own financial gain.‚Äù

“You used your position as a police officer to initiate action in an attempt to subject a citizen to involuntary commitment to a mental health facility in order to have that citizen removed from the property you were attempting to purchase,” wrote Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone in a letter to Trant firing him from the police department.

City officials alerted the State Ethics Commission and the FBI to the situation and the police department started its own internal investigation.

Ultimately, the property transaction did not occur, and Trant requested the Everett woman pay $600 for his legal fees, which she did.

According to Trant’s union lawyer, city officials had an ‚Äúulterior motive‚Äù in preventing Trant from buying the home. City Solicitor John Gannon, testified that he was ‚Äúdisappointed‚Äù when he learned that Trant was interested in buying 19-21 Vernon St. ‚Äúbecause the City might obtain the property as a revenue source.‚Äù

‚ÄúThe city’s hands are covered in mud on this,‚Äù said Patrolmen’s Union President Jack Leuchter when Trant was fired in 2006.

Leuchter said city officials opened an investigation into Trant’s dealings because he had upset city officials plans to take the property and flip it for a profit.

 
However, those accusations did not convince Litton and at this point they seem unlikely to help Trant get his job back. Trant, according to those involved in the case, has only a narrow opportunity to appeal Litton’s decision.

‚ÄúIt’s an uphill battle now,‚Äù Leuchter said.