Updated 5:46 p.m.
PROVIDENCE -- Fire Chief James Rattigan, who was suspended this morning
for a week without pay, publicly apologized today for allegedly swearing
and threatening police officers in North Providence last April.
Rattigan was suspended by Mayor David N. Cicilline after the incident
was reported in today's The Providence Journal.
Cicilline told Rattigan he would lose his job if it happened again. He
also told Rattigan to apologize to the police.
In a statement received this afternoon, Rattigan said, "I extend my
sincerest apology to those officers for disrespecting them in such a
manner."
Rattigan added, "I apologize to the men and women of my department. I
would not expect this type of behavior from any of them and, therefore,
cannot justify it in myself, regardless of what may have sparked the
incident."
He also apologized to the people of Providence, saying he accepts the
mayor's reprimand.
According to a police report, Rattigan was temporarily handcuffed and
detained after the police found in him in a state of apparent
intoxication a block from his Locust Avenue home on April 25.
A woman driving by had called the police around 12:30 a.m. to complain
that a man was exposing himself on Locust Avenue, according to the
police report.
When Patrol Officer Paul E. Swinson approached Rattigan early that
morning, Rattigan cursed him, asking repeatedly, "Do you know who the
(expletive) I am?," Swinson wrote in a police report. Swinson called for
backup, the report says, because Rattigan "was becoming very
belligerent" and he could "detect a strong odor of alcohol."
After a struggle, Swinson handcuffed Rattigan and put him in the back of
the patrol car, the report says. After another officer arrived, Rattigan
was released. The report does not explain why.
Before Rattigan left, both officers wrote in separate reports, he took
their badge numbers and threatened their jobs. Rattigan threatened to
call the mayor and police chief, according to Patrolman David A.
Tesseris.
Mayor A. Ralph Mollis and Police Chief Ernest Spaziano said they did not
hear from Rattigan. In his statement, Rattigan said he had consumed "a
few beers" at a social event and was walking toward his front door when
he was approached by two police officers.
Rattigan, who was arrested for drunken driving three years ago, said
today he'd been dropped off near his house because he prefers letting
others drive when attending social events where alcohol is served.
He said he became "insulted and outraged" because the police officers
suggested that he had been engaging in "inappropriate public behavior.
"Unfortunately, I was overtaken by my emotions and answered the police
officers' inquiries in an unprofessional and rude manner, despite the
fact that they were simply carrying out their duties," he said in the
statement.
In a meeting with Cicilline this morning. Rattigan acknowledged acting
inappropriately when questioned by the officers, and he apologized to
the mayor for his conduct, according to a press release from Cicilline's
office.
"I told Chief Rattigan that this type of behavior is inappropriate and
totally unacceptable, and I directed him to apologize to the North
Providence Police Chief and the two officers involved in the incident,"
Cicilline said in the press release.
Cicilline said Rattigan understood that "if there's an incident or this
kind of behavior in the future that he will not retain his position.
Period."
It wasn't Rattigan's first encounter with the North Providence Police.
On March 10, 2000, Rattigan was charged with drunken driving after he
crashed a new Providence-owned Crown Victoria into a utility pole in
North Providence.
Rattigan declined to take a breath test and the charge was later
dismissed, although he was suspended for two months.
After crashing the car, Rattigan pleaded not guilty to the
drunken-driving charge. However, he pleaded guilty in Traffic Court to
refusal to take a blood alcohol test -- a civil offense -- and his
license was suspended for three months.
He also had to reimburse the city for the totaled car.
Rattigan was appointed in 1995 by former Providence Mayor Vincent A.
Cianci Jr. He earns $104,683 annually, including his base salary and
longevity pay, according to the city personnel department.
-- With reports from The Associated Press
