UVM officer files appeal after firing By Emily Stone Free Press Staff Writer The University of Vermont police officer who was fired last year after handcuffing a student at gunpoint is appealing to get his job back through the state Labor Relations Board, claiming he was following his training when he detained the wrong suspect. Officer Matthew Sheehan, an 18-year veteran of the department, was fired in December, according to papers filed with the board by his union. The papers state that Sheehan was "terminated without just cause" and asked that he get his job back. Sheehan, whose name had not been released previously by the university, was the officer who pulled his gun on and handcuffed a female student in November while responding to an armed robbery in a dorm. The alleged robber was described by the victim as a black male. The student was a black female. The incident launched discussions and raised concerns about how police treat minorities on campus. Ronald Rabideau, the union secretary treasurer who is representing Sheehan in his appeal, said Sheehan did not know the student was female until after he had handcuffed her. Rabideau said other officers identified the student as a suspect, and Sheehan then stepped in to detain her. "He detained who he was told was the suspect," Rabideau said. "They didn't know if it was a man or woman. They didn't realize until she was actually stood up after the detention occurred." Sheehan could not be reached for comment Thursday. UVM Police Chief Gary Margolis said he could not comment on the specifics of the incident because of the pending case before the Labor Relations Board. He said he and the school are standing by their decision. "I'm confident that the decision I arrived at was a good decision," Margolis said. "We're looking forward to defending our decision in the appropriate forum, which in this case is the labor board." The Nov. 6 incident prompted a quick, public reaction from UVM President Daniel Fogel, who sent out a campus-wide e-mail, held a public meeting, and appointed groups to look at the incident in particular and at broader diversity issues on campus. The Police Department responded by holding diversity training, which was attended by all UVM police officers and by about 80 officers from other Vermont departments as well. Rabideau said he did not believe Sheehan's actions that day had anything to do with race. According to Rabideau, Sheehan drove to Main Street after hearing the call about the robbery come over the police radio. When he arrived near University Place, three other officers were watching the student, whom they considered a suspect, Rabideau said. Sheehan asked if the student was the suspect, the other officers said yes, and Sheehan made the decision to handcuff the student, Rabideau said. The entire episode, from the moment the call came in about the robbery to the moment Sheehan handcuffed the young woman, took two minutes and 37 seconds, Rabideau said. "His opinion is that he was doing nothing more than he was supposed to as a police officer based on what he knew at the time," Rabideau said. The papers filed with the labor board March 28 state that Sheehan was fired for breach of professional standards, inappropriate use of force, failure to follow orders, unreasonable exercising of his own judgment in detaining a civilian, and failure to follow procedures in using mobile video recording equipment. Rabideau said Sheehan has been looking for another police job and collecting unemployment insurance since December. UVM has 20 days to respond to the grievance filed by the Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers Union No. 597. The board will then set a hearing date, which could be several months from now. The board will issue a written decision about a month or two after the hearing. Contact Emily Stone at 660-1898 or estone@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com