Chief Laskowski became chief of the Derby Fire Department in 2019.
DERBY — The city’s fire department chief has been put on leave as officials examine a comment he made on his personal Facebook page.
Chief Robert Laskowski was listening to a live police scanner June 1 at about 9 p.m. as police clashed with protesters in New York City.
“If anyone is bored listen to NYPD citywide on the scanner app and listen to what they are dealing with right now!,” the chief wrote.
Another person responds to his post by saying he was listening and that the situation in the city sounded “insane.”
“They need a few Blackhawks with snipers to solve the problem!” Laskowski replied.
That reply may have been what landed the veteran Derby volunteer firefighter in hot water with fire department officials and Derby City Hall.
Laskowski was put on administrative leave Wednesday by Derby Fire Commissioner Gary Parker. The commissioner said he could not comment, but that an investigation would commence and that a disciplinary hearing would be scheduled.
Laskowski said he wasn’t given a precise reason for his suspension, but that it had to do with a Facebook post.
Mayor Rich Dziekan confirmed the chief was on leave but said he could not comment further. He said a prepared statement could be distributed to the media Thursday (update: here’s the statement).
Laskowski said his post needs to be examined within the context of what was happening at the moment he wrote it.
“It was just an off-the-cuff comment I made when it sounded like the city was falling apart and the police were losing control,” Laskowski said. “It sounded like police were on their own, and my comment was just that they needed military help to calm things down. I didn’t say go shoot people. I didn’t say anything racist. It sounded like complete chaos. They needed help. That’s what I was saying.”
On June 2, Laskowski posted that it sounded like New York City was calmer than the previous night.
Laskowski was installed as fire chief in January 2019. He has been volunteering in Derby for more than 20 years.
The disciplinary hearing could raise First Amendment issues, said Curt Varone, an attorney in Rhode Island and a retired deputy assistant chief with the City of Providence. Click here for a Q&A he authored on firefighters and free speech in 2018.
“Firefighters have a First Amendment right to their opinion, and there is not a sharp line drawn between ‘this is appropriate’ and ‘this is not appropriate’,” Varone said.
Disciplinary actions must be tied to a written rule, he said.
“It all depends on how it is interpreted and who is doing the interpretation. You can’t just discipline somebody because you disagree with something they said,” Varone said. “But many fire departments don’t have firm rules with social media. They try to say it’s conduct unbecoming, or it’s detrimental to the organization, but they don’t have a specific social media policy. They have to point to a rule that was violated.”
