PLAINFIELD — A police sergeant who was not reappointed last month was the subject of an internal investigation into allegations of racial bias and sexual harassment brought by one town resident and other members of the department.
The report, obtained by the Gazette through a public records request, sheds new light on the decision to not reappoint Sgt. Matthew Miazga to the Plainfield Police Department.
The investigation into Miazga’s conduct contains allegations of racial bias, the use of the N-word and sexual harassment. It also contains a no confidence petition signed by several of Miazga’s co-workers. Miazga has denied the allegations both during the investigation and through his attorney.
Miazga was formerly the only full-time officer in Plainfield aside from Police Chief Justin Litchfield. In early June he was put on paid leave and, after an investigation, he was not rehired by Litchfield for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1.
The investigation into Miazga was conducted by Sgt. Fred Bezio of the Ashfield Police Department at the behest of Ashfield Chief Beth Bezio, who is also his wife.
Litchfield asked Ashfield to conduct the investigation following a complaint from a resident that Miazga had used the N-word in his presence and after a petition of no confidence in Miazga was submitted to Litchfield.
Miazga’s attorney, Ryan Kenny, said that his client denies both the sexual harassment and racial discrimination claims made against him.
“He’s never made racial comments in his life,” Kenny said.
He also said his client believes that the initial complaint was fabricated by Litchfield.
“Absolutely not,” said Litchfield, when asked if he had fabricated the complaint. “I don’t fabricate anything.”
In his interview with the resident about the alleged racial slur, Bezio wrote that the resident was hesitant about whether he heard the N-word or whether Miazga had said “a black guy.”
The no confidence petition calls into question Miazga’s “ability to function as the Sergeant.”
“… We have had concerns regarding Matthew Miazga’s competence, professionalism, misconduct, and leadership specifically regarding trust, integrity, collaboration, lack of respect for all other staff,” reads a section of the letter. “Additionally, racist and sexist comments are commonplace for Matthew Miazga, and it is hard to imagine that he can police in an unbiased manner when he has failed to supervise officers in an unbiased manner.”
The petition goes on to say that morale is low among the staff, that they attribute this primarily to Miazga, and that the petitioners want a change of leadership.
Litchfield told the Gazette that the no confidence petition was signed by four other officers, and that he did not sign it. Litchfield said there are six per-diem officers on the force besides himself, and he is now the only full-time officer.
In his report, Bezio details several allegations against Miazga, including that he discriminates against officers of color in the department and that he has expressed racist sentiments about members of the public. There’s also an incident where an officer allegedly pulled over a car containing people of color at Miazga’s behest without sufficient cause.
Miazga is also alleged to have bragged about his sexual prowess and exploits at work, and to have showed nude photos to a co-worker. His alleged behavior toward that co-worker prompted her to schedule shifts at times when Miazga was not present, the report states.
The report is redacted so the names of those interviewed were not identified. It details numerous alleged incidents of racism and racial bias from Miazga, and that his behavior prompted an officer to largely leave their work at the Plainfield department. The report describes incidents involving Miazga that stretch back as far as 2018.
Brandon Iavecchia, a Plainfield police officer, expressed skepticism about the report’s contents. He views bringing up alleged incidents from years ago as suspicious.
“I think it’s an excuse to not reappoint him,” Iavecchia said.
Iavecchia said he wasn’t interviewed for the investigation, despite working with Miazga. He also said he has never heard Miazga say anything racist, and that he’s never heard anything sexual from Miazga in uniform.
Iavecchia also said that he wasn’t approached about signing the no confidence petition.
“I wasn’t aware that that was even occurring,” he said.
Additionally, Iavecchia said that Miazga told him that before he was suspended Litchfield asked him to reduce his own hours in favor of Officer Anthony Gibbs.
In the wake of Miazga not being reappointed, Gibbs was appointed to the rank of corporal and Litchfield has said he intends to bring Gibbs up to full-time hours.
Litchfield denied asking Miazga to reduce his hours in favor of Gibbs. Rather, after Miazga complained about not getting enough road detail work, Litchfield said he offered to reduce the officer’s regular hours to allow him to increase his road detail work. Miazga turned down this proposal, the police chief said.
Iavecchia said that in late January or early Feburary, Miazga’s wife approached him and said that Litchfield had made her feel uncomfortable, to which Iavecchia said that she should tell her husband.
Litchfield has been accused of making advances against Miazga’s wife, Melissa Brown Miazga, last December when her husband was away at training. She detailed this in a formal complaint against Litchfield to the Select Board on July 6, and she expressed that this was the reason for “Chief Litchfield making up a false complaint against my husband.”
Litchfield was present at a closed-door meeting of the Select Board on July 25, for the purpose that can be used for discussing discipline, among other matters.
Kenny, Miazga’s attorney, alleged that Litchfield retaliated against Miazga after Miazga’s wife refused Litchfield’s advances.
“We believe that Mr. Miazga was retaliated against, ultimately terminated,” Kenny said.
Kenny said that he’s seen only a single minor disciplinary infraction, based on Miazga’s personnel files, prior to December 2021.
Litchfield said that after he received the report, which was completed on June 30, he consulted with town counsel and on their advice did not reappoint Miazga. He also said that he was surprised by the contents, but declined to say whether he had received previous complaints against Miazga.
“It wasn’t good,” Litchfield said, of what was in the report.
The Plainfield Select Board is set to discuss the investigation timeline and how one can obtain a redacted report of the investigation at its Tuesday meeting, among other police matters. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.