METHUEN — An officer out for more than a year with an injured shoulder has lost his case to have his superior officer disciplined for causing the injury during a training exercise.
Officer Ronald Valliere has been out of work since August 2008, collecting $1,078 per week, or $56,056 per year, according to chief Katherine Lavigne. He and the patrolmen's union charged that Sgt. Larry Phillips used excessive force by slamming him to the floor during an Aug. 19, 2008 training exercise.
But arbitrator Robert Canavan denied Valliere's grievance to have Phillips disciplined. He determined that Phillips did not use excessive force, officers knew there was a risk of injury during the exercise, and that while Valliere claimed Phillips' actions amounted to a "blatant, personal attack," Phillips didn't even know the person he was forcing to the ground was Valliere because Valliere covered his head and face with protective gear, the decision said.
Phillips declined to comment and deferred to his attorney, Alexander Cain of Andover, who said Phillips "feels vindicated" by the arbitrator's decision. Attorney Joseph Sandulli represented the patrolmen's union, which filed the grievance on Valliere's behalf. Sandulli did not return a call seeking comment.
Valliere has not set a date to return to work.
According to testimony, the exercise at Methuen High School was to simulate a response to a school shooting. Lt. Frank Korn, who ran the training, did not tell officers to refrain from physical contact — the training was supposed to be "intense and realistic," Canavan wrote.
Valliere played the role of a man with a gun in his waistband being ordered to put his hands behind his head and kneel.
"Just before I got to my knees, I got slammed to the floor from behind, my knees hit the floor," Valliere testified. "(I) brought my hands around to protect my face and head and landed on both of them. As soon as I hit the floor that way, I felt a knee go into my back and bent, you know, ripped my arms out from underneath me and put them behind my back but kept going, not in a handcuff way, but behind my head, and just bent them straight back and up to the point where I lifted my chest off the floor and I screamed out in pain."
Korn testified that Phillips pulled Valliere's arms "almost to the point of hyper extension." Officer Daniel O'Connell, another person present during the incident, called the move "excessive."
But Phillips said he used his left hand to strike Valliere between the shoulder blades and push him to the floor, then he simulated a handcuffing technique, the decision said.
"He testified that previous exercises had resulted in shooting situations. And, in order to avoid another shooting situation, he decided to place the suspect into custody," Canavan wrote. "After he had 'proned out' the subject, he moved into a position so that he could reach his hands. He then grabbed the subject's hands and placed them at the small of his back."
Phillips said he didn't know it was Valliere until the officer took off his helmet.
"(Phillips) denied that he intended to hurt anybody," Canavan wrote.
Valliere went to the hospital that night. Phillips said he learned the following morning that Valliere was injured. He tried calling Valliere to check on him and spoke to the officer's wife, who said she would let Valliere know the sergeant called.
The decision says Valliere underwent arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 12 to repair a tear in the subscularis of his left shoulder.
"He will need another operation on the same shoulder," Canavan wrote. "He continues to take pain medication, and he still has difficulty sleeping, sitting in chairs, dressing, doing normal household chores and caring for his grandson."
Valliere suffers from "wincing" pain every time he moves his left shoulder beyond a few degrees, and his right shoulder has more motion, but it's still limited, according to a doctor's report that Canavan quoted.
Valliere told the doctor that both his knees hurt and he cannot stoop, squat or kneel without pain. The doctor said that is "in spite of fairly normal MRI scans of the knees."
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