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| NEWS > 08 January 2009 |
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 Article sourced from
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Bristol Press - CT, United Sta
08 January 2009
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Southington Police Department,
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Southington Police chief under
A complaint against Police Chief John Daly filed by members of his own department has created division within the department that was exacerbated Thursday as members of the Police Commission dueled verbally with rank-and-file officers during a heated meeting.
A complaint dated Dec. 30 and made public at the meeting highlighted at least 10 grievances with Daly’s actions as police chief by the Law Enforcement Alliance of Southington, the union representation of the department.
“We file this formal complaint in the belief that Chief Daly has violated numerous Southington Police General Orders,” read an allegation in the complaint filed by Stephen Salerno, president of the union.
The document also accused Daly of violating the Southington Police Department’s code of ethics and possibly the Connecticut General Statutes and said he “engaged in conduct which is unbecoming of a police officer, let alone a law enforcement chief executive.”
Before the meeting, Daly said he had knowledge of the allegations, but a copy of the document had not been available to him and he had not seen it. At least two newspapers had posted the document on their Web sites that morning.
“You would have to talk to my bosses,” Daly said, referring to the Board of Police Commissioners. “I haven’t read it, not going to comment on it.”
Several hours later, after having had an opportunity to look at the complaint, Daly was confronted at the meeting by about two dozen police officers, wives and family members. Town Council Chairman John Barry and Councilor Anthony D’Angelo also attended the meeting.
“It’s hard to say what will come of this,” Salerno said during a break in the meeting. “The actions of the chief and the police commission are pushing us up against a wall.”
Issues filed by the union included a July 17 incident during which Daly was on sick leave, but was photographed by a local newspaper playing golf; that he arrived at the scene of a fatal motor-vehicle crash with his wife, Sabrina, and removed a tarpaulin covering a dead body in a vehicle and displayed the corpse to his wife; and on several occasions brought his children to crime scenes and allowed them to wander unsupervised throughout the secure area. In one instance, they were said to be found in an emergency response vehicle containing police equipment, weapons and ammunition.
There was a similar controversy in Bristol in August 2007, when off-duty police Capt. Daniel McIntyre brought his daughter to a crash scene to show her the results of reckless driving. He was cleared by an internal investigation that December.
The complaint also enumerated several instances where Supernumerary Officer Eric Daigle appeared to get special attention and raised questions on how Daigle was paid.
Daigle was the focus of the council in December after he was promoted from a part-time officer to the rank of captain without having the position posted so others could apply. The promotion was challenged by the police union after the Board of Finance agreed to additional funding for the $96,000 salary. At a Dec. 8 meeting of the council, however, the funding was rescinded.
The complaint asserts that Daigle was paid from six different accounts; that he was paid for 10 hours for walking a beat, when the union asserts he never walked a beat with the department; and that he was allowed to attend training courses in Nebraska, California, Kentucky, Texas, Florida and New Jersey at a cost of $6,450, but that no other officer benefited from the training.
While Daly remained quiet and stern-faced during the meeting, police commissioners James Verderame and Robert Triano challenged the officers and their concerns. Triano especially seemed upset with the union leadership. While passing up any opportunity to discuss the charges against Daly, Triano did not hold back when Salerno asked about a department restructuring plan — one that allowed for Daigle’s promotion — that no one has seen.
“Since early October 2008 we’ve heard many references to the chief’s restructuring plan, [but] has anyone here seen a written copy of the restructuring plan?” Salerno asked, to which Verderame replied the commission had not seen it.
The union membership could not understand how the promotion of Daigle was allowed, Salerno said, when a written procedure for the plan was not available and an oral description was refused by Daly.
“Somehow, the Board of Finance passed this promotion without the benefit of any protocols and the police commission OK’d it without any record of how they did it,” Salerno said.
In a dismissive tone, Triano insisted that the issue had been discussed at great length within the commission, but that nothing had been put down on paper.
“You and I discussed this,” Triano said, reacting to murmurs from the audience. “I become slightly disgruntled when I hear from the audience they don’t know nothing about this.”
Salerno, arguing against Triano and Verderame, insisted he could not inform the union membership without a written document, because it could have been changed at any time.
Sgt. Benjamin Doerfler, also a member of the union, cited several points of the department’s rules and regulations and asked the commission members if they considered it discriminatory to promote someone without giving anyone else an opportunity to apply for the position.
When Verderame answered they did not, Doerfler asked if the protocols for promotion were written down in a document, or if the board established its own regulations for promotion.
The commission said there was no written document.
“I’m not sure, but what I can say is that all the promotions that have happened so far have been made pretty much the same way,” Triano said. “When you were promoted to sergeant, no asked that question.”
The commission then went into closed-door session, but members of the police union refused to take part in protest against the secrecy.
“The trouble with this department is that everything is behind closed doors,” Salerno said. “We feel there are real problems in the department and want an open discussion on them.”
Remaining in the meeting room, the union membership turned to Barry and D’Angelo to determine where they stood. Barry, citing the town charter, said that neither he nor the council had control over the police chief or the commission.
“Other than making the actual appointment, we have very little to say,” Barry said.
Speaking to the union members, Barry said the importance of working with the police administration to resolve any issues.
“It’s important that the allegations against the chief and the commission be fairly investigated and use proper due diligence to make sure the issue is resolved,” he said.
In response to a question on the commission’s responsibility to respond to the complaint, Barry said there was a chance nothing would be done, but that he hoped it would not come to that.
“I know the officers are professionals, and I have the utmost confidence in them doing their job no matter the dissension in the department,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate thing for morale, but the safety of the community is not an issue.”
D’Angelo also said that the police officers were doing their job at 100 percent performance, but both said the continued dissension was not healthy.
Several other officers, and at least one family member, said the problems within the department would not affect their work within the community.
“We wouldn’t be having these problems if the chief and the commission listened to the officers,” one wife said. “They ignore them and belittle them like they did at this meeting.”
For Salerno, the issue comes down to fairness within the department.
“In addition to promoting people unfairly, we’ve stipulated our concerns about activities by the chief that we feel are wrong,” he said. “If the commission will not act, or investigate our complaint, then we’ll have to take it to the next level.”
Upon the commissioners’ return from closed-door session, they announced to the union that not only would there be an investigation about the complaints against the chief, but that they would be the agency to do it.
This met with heated protests by union members that were dismissed by Verderame, who said, according to Salerno, “The inmates are trying to run the prison.”
The commissioners also voiced displeasure that the council had been notified of the complaint. In response, Salerno said the union had decided to tell the council for just that reason — “the chance a nontrained entity would try to do what might be a criminal investigation.”
The union plans to bring its concerns about the investigation to the council Monday.
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