This public spectacle and the underlying problems are taking their toll on Westbrook’s professional firefighters and EMS personnel, the vast majority of whom had nothing to do with any of what is being discussed.

The public should know the overwhelming majority of men and women in this department are highly skilled and dedicated professionals who simply want to do their jobs.

This disturbing set of facts, which are now being characterized in wildly different ways depending on who defines them, should not result in any broad generalizations about Westbrook firefighters, nor the profession in general.

As an attorney myself, I understand the need for Ms. (Rebecca) Webber to be a zealous advocate for her clients. However, her recent comments (“Firefighters punished,” American Journal, Dec. 25) and characterization of the facts appear to be exaggerated and have not yet been fully adjudicated by any administrative tribunal, or court of law.

For example, there has never been any allegation of a “sexual assault” in the fire station made to the Westbrook police, or to any other law enforcement body. Had there been, the Westbrook Police Department would have conducted a vigorous investigation and would have brought criminal charges if probable cause existed to support such a decision.

My understanding of the “pornography” incident is that a movie rented from Netflix, which does not rent x-rated films, was being watched by a group of co-workers. The movie may well have been inappropriate for the workplace and may have made at least one supervisory employee uncomfortable, but this issue seemed to stem, like many others, from a failure in leadership and poor policy, both of which have been fixed.

As to the rest of the allegations, they occurred long before my tenure as acting fire chief, but in hindsight, almost everything would have been handled differently had I been responsible for the fire side of the house.

Wrongdoing should be investigated in a thorough, balanced and

expeditious manner and should be punished! Ms. Webber’s clients and all other employees, deserve to work in a comfortable and supportive environment free from harassment and hostility. I assure the public and the Westbrook Fire Department employees that going forward internal challenges will be handled in a very different manner.

At the same time, the uninvolved majority do not deserve to have their reputations tarnished by broad generalizations and exaggerated characterizations of the facts. This serves no purpose other than to undermine our attempts to turn this ship around.

Bill Baker,

Westbrook police chief