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| NEWS > 12 June 2008 |
Other related articles:
Former officers plead guilty t
It was an unexpected move in the courtroom on Tuesday when David Wilkinson and Michael Casey pleaded guilty to filing false time sheets.
Wilkinson, past Chief of the North Syracuse Police Department, was Police Chief at the Marcellus Police Department when he was charged in 2006 with falsifying time sheets. He has been on paid leave since that time, but was forced to resign that position Tuesday.
Michael Casey is a retired captain from the North Syracuse Police Department that also held a position at the Marcellus PD. When he was charged in 2006, he resigned his position at t... Read more
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TheDay - New London,CT,USA
12 June 2008
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Madison Police Department, CT
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Charges Brought Against Police
Lt. Michael J. O’Connor, a veteran police officer with almost 20 years of service in the Madison Police Department, has been charged with a series of violations of department rules and regulations following an internal affairs investigation and Interim Chief of Police Robert Nolan has recommended O’Connor’s termination.
O’Connor received a letter detailing the charges and specifications on April 30. He has remained on active duty and continued to work his regular shifts. On Saturday, June 7, he reportedly received a registered letter at his home setting a date of June 25 for a hearing before the Board of Police Commissioners.
The recommendation for O’Connor’s termination is based on an internal affairs report from Sgt. Michael Sample of the Bridgeport Police Department Internal Affairs Unit. This is the first time since the beginning of investigations within the Madison department that there has been a public acknowledgement of internal affairs investigations being conducted by law enforcement personnel from outside the department.
The charges against O’Connor center on his “actions or inactions [that] contributed to the termination of several members of the Madison Police Department by not supervising, documenting, and disciplining several members of the department while acting in the capacity of his duties as [their] immediate field supervisor,” according to Nolan’s letter.
O’Connor, who is just a few weeks away from completing 20 years of service with the Madison Police Department, was promoted to lieutenant in December 2005 and became the supervisor of the department’s midnight shift.
Since May 2007, four officers formerly on the midnight shift have been terminated. They include Joseph Gambardella, a patrolman charged with stealing seafood from a local restaurant and gasoline from the town pumps; Bernard Durgin, a patrolman charged with worker’s compensation fraud, misuse of state criminal databases, threatening witnesses, and meeting with felons and prostitutes while on duty; and Matthew Sterling, a patrolman charged with visiting prostitutes while off duty and failing to report Durgin’s alleged on-duty meetings with felons and prostitutes.
The fourth officer terminated was Sgt. Timothy Heiden. Heiden and O’Connor were promoted on the same day in December 2005. When O’Connor moved from sergeant to lieutenant, Heiden, a patrolman, stepped into the sergeant’s slot. He also became the supervising sergeant on the midnight shift, O’Connor the supervising lieutenant. Heiden has been charged with failure to carry out his duties as a shift supervisor as well as allegedly interfering with a state police investigation into Gambardella.
The chief’s letter says, “Lt. O’Connor failed to actively and efficiently supervise the officers on his midnight shift through proactive checks and balances. Lt. O’Connor’s inaction served to condone police misconduct.”
It continues, “The responsibilities that a Lieutenant is accountable for include, but are not limited to, the direct monitoring and supervision of subordinate officers. Lt. O’Connor failed to detect and investigate police misconduct, failed to investigate citizen complaints and failed to prepare Supervisor Observation Reports recommending appropriate discipline.”
The charges allege that O’Connor “failed to investigate, document, notify and discipline his subordinates when confronted with serious misconduct (or) inappropriate behavior.”
Earlier Scandal
In addition to references to O’Connor’s alleged actions or inactions as lieutenant on the midnight shift, the April 30 letter reaches back several years to an earlier scandal within the Police Department. Six years ago Patrolman Donald Lanouette was allowed to retire amid charges of sexual impropriety involving a 17-year-old Explorer Scout. The scout unit was attached to the Police Department and Lanouette served as one of the advisors.
The letter detailing charges against O’Connor alleges he “had been personally made aware of the inappropriate behavior between Patrolman Lanouette and [the] Explorer…but did not communicate this information in writing to his supervisor at the time he received the information.”
The charges also contend that O’Connor “allowed Lanouette to be an Explorer Advisor when he was involved in a sex scandal involving several members of the Madison Police Department prior to being an advisor.” The scandal referred to in this charge was a stag party for the son of a department officer. The party reportedly involved two prostitutes from Bridgeport who performed sex acts with at least one officer. The stag party led to the disciplining of five officers, one of whom was Lanouette.
The letter to O’Connor concludes, “Based on the Internal Affairs investigation submitted by Sgt. Sample, I find sufficient evidence that you willfully and knowingly violated numerous sections of the Madison Police Department’s Standards of Conduct/Rules and Regulations; Oath of Office and Code of Ethics.
“I have further reviewed the recommendation made by Sgt. Sample regarding this investigation, which recommends termination. I concur with this recommendation and will be forwarding my recommendation and findings to the Madison Board of Police Commissioners for further action. In the meantime, you will remain on active duty with no restrictions.”
O’Connor continues to work and supervise the midnight shift.
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