PROVINCETOWN — The Board of Selectmen will interview four candidates this week to conduct an independent investigation into an incident on May 7 involving Police Chief Jeff Jaran and his response to a rap song playing on a sound system at a restaurant he was patronizing.
The selectmen will interview John Ford, a retired Bourne police chief and investigator, at 6 p.m. today. Starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the selectmen will interview investigator and Bourne Selectman Donald Pickard of Pickard Associates, investigator and lawyer Frank Rudewicz of Marcum LLP and risk management consultant and former East Providence, R.I., police captain Roger Houle.
Two other candidates for the job have backed out, according to town records.
On May 7, Jaran was sitting at the bar of The Squealing Pig pub with his girlfriend when a rap song by N.W.A about police brutality began to play on the sound system. Jaran told the Times in June that he became uncomfortable with the lyrics and the volume of the music, and told the bartenders to turn the music off and that they should be ashamed of themselves. In a public statement he made in August, Jaran also said he was concerned about a potential violation of the town's noise bylaw.
Jaran and his girlfriend left the bar, and Jaran received an email of apology the next day from one bartender. He met with the two bartenders and the pub owner on May 9, and believed the issue was resolved. One of the bartenders, though, told Selectman Erik Yingling and the Provincetown Banner that Jaran had overreacted.
Both Yingling and Selectman Thomas Donegan have asked for Jaran to publicly apologize for the incident.
The independent investigation, estimated at $8,000 or less, is being sought after a disagreement arose among the five selectmen over the results of an initial inquiry into the incident conducted by Town Manager Sharon Lynn in June. Lynn said there was no corroborating testimony warranting further action, but Donegan and Yingling have pushed for further inquiry.