Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159

From the news

Haitian police officer braves risk to help his homeland

By Noelle Frampton, STAFF WRITER

Published: 11:06 p.m., Sunday, February 7, 2010BRIDGEPORT -- He's a cop because he wants to protect and serve, not because he wants to be a tough guy.

But after eight years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, and 12 in the Bridgeport Police Department, Officer Jean Gaie is tough enough to face one of the most difficult experiences of his life in the service of others.On Saturday, Gaie was scheduled to return to his homeland of Haiti to continue his personal mission of giving humanitarian relief in that earthquake-ravaged nation, work he started last month on a paid leave of absence from the Police Department.

A Haitian native who moved to the U.S. in 1983 when he was 22, Gaie returned on Jan. 31 after spending 13 days in Haiti, where he found his father and other relatives alive, as well as handing out medicine and water to people suffering from extreme pain, dehydration and lung problems exacerbated by heat and dust.

He addressed the City Council last Monday night.

"There is no word to describe what I've seen down there," he told the council, members of which have donated a total of $3,575 from their tax-funded stipends to Save the Children's work in Haiti. The council is also considering a resolution to "adopt" a Haitian city.

"What you guys have seen on TV is nothing," he said. "Without a quick response from the U.S., we probably would have had two million people dead."

As it is, some 212,000 Haitians have been reported dead following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that rocked the island Jan. 12, and that number may grow as more bodies are recovered from the debris.

Later, Gaie said those 13 days he spent in Haiti were the worst of his life. He, like everyone else there, slept outside with the mosquitoes because few surviving structures are safe -- he said people avoid even sidewalks for fear of toppling walls. And yet, he's going back for what he expects will likely be another two-week visit with support from city and police leaders.

"My work is not done," he told the Connecticut Post. "I feel like I belong there now -- my heart is there. I cannot watch these people dying like dogs down there and not help. I put my heart in it and God will cover me."

Gaie will act as a detective of sorts: the eyes and ears of the Haiti Relief Resources Office that has been set up in City Hall Annex. He'll seek out areas devastated by the quake where help hasn't yet reached.

"It's important, very important to give us an eye -- a view of what's going on," said Pierre d'Haiti, director of the office, which connects relief agencies and resources with needs in both Haiti and the local Haitian population. "We really thank Officer Jean Gaie for being able to step up. There are still places that are under rubble. The more we wait to help, the worse it's getting."

Gaie will help to direct relief efforts and connect them with people on the ground there, and if the agencies can't do what he says is necessary, the office -- which has worked to unify Haitian organizations and churches in the area -- will raise money to do it, d'Haiti said.

"It's risky down there, it's not a joke," he said. "The jail is empty -- all of the criminals are on the street ... raping women and children. You don't know who is who, so therefore you have to be on your best guard. Whenever I face a dangerous situation, I keep repeating what I learned from training: `I will survive.' Am I scared? No, because I'm a cop. The job can turn ugly. You might go to a call and not come back. All you can do is hope for the best, expect the worst."

Gaie spent most of his time in his family's hometown, Leogane, handing out over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol and Motrin to help people manage pain, headaches and related, widespread depression, as well as 200 masks donated by nurse friends in the U.S.

While there, he awoke as his outdoor cot skidded across the ground and people screamed to Jesus for help. It was a 6.1-magnitude aftershock. "I felt like I was going inside the ground," he said. "It was scary."

The father of five said he watched a woman give birth by C-section with no anesthesia and saw too many bleeding children with leg amputations.

"Doctors and nurses down there, God bless them, I don't know how they manage," Gaie said. "You cannot spend more than two weeks down there; you'll be burned out. You see too much in one day. Nothing is beautiful. The only picture down there is ugliness. Children suffering -- I hate it. Sometimes you feel like crying. You feel angry, you feel upset ... I will do as much as I can."

After all, he said, he carries with him the pledge to "protect and serve" his community, placing himself at risk in both Bridgeport and Haiti.

"Being a cop is not about arresting people," he said. "They look up to you as a leader. They hold you to a higher standard. They expect solutions from you."

Elite Bridgeport police unit trains to be top-notch

By Noelle Frampton, STAFF WRITER

Published: 06:13 p.m., Friday, February 5, 2010BRIDGEPORT -- The prospect of relaxing at home can be attractive, but the members of an elite unit of city police officers know they have to hit the gym -- a lot.

Or, in the case of one K-9 officer in his 40s, newly-promotedSgt. Joseph Morales, run seven miles every other day.

Physical fitness is one of the ramped-up requirements for membership in the Emergency Services Unit, Bridgeport's relatively new version of a SWAT team. Any officer with a few years' experience under his or her belt can aspire to join the unit, based on physical agility, marksmanship and an interview without regard for rank or age"You become a cop and that's like the best thing in the world, and then you realize you can take another step," Norton said. "For me, it's actually more humbling because you realize how much people look up to you. You're the last line ¦ when a police officer needs help.

Gale, with about 10 years on the department, and Figueroa said the unit offers them a chance to do something different and be recognized for their abilities. Both patrol officers said that when they made the unit, they mix with others of that rank, as well as lieutenants and sergeants who come from various shifts in the department and are all on the same level in the unit.

"We saw a chance to be on a top unit without it being seniority-based," Gale said. "(We) have the qualities they're looking for -- not just time on the job. We don't worry about who has which stripes or bars. We're in it together; we're covering each other's backs."

Konoval said he likes the unit's camaraderie: "You're here as a team. Not separate from the department, you're part of the department."Until about a year ago, the city had to rely on State Police to help out in crisis times -- when there have been hostage situations, people barricaded in homes with weapons, high-risk warrants to be served, entries to be forced, and so on.

But that just wasn't right for the state's largest city, said members of the unit.

"We want to be able to rely on ourselves," said newly promoted Sgt. John Gale, one of the newest team members.

Capt. James Viadero, unit commander, said all of the state's larger cities have their own teams, including Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury and others, all of which have smaller populations than Bridgeport. About 2Â½ years ago, Bridgeport decided it was time it had one, too.

"It's been a strong commitment by the city," Viadero said. "A city this size needs a unit like this. You hope you never have to use it ... but it's there. It's good to know. It is a good insurance policy."

It took more than a year for the first members to complete their training. Eventually, department leaders saw that 15 members wasn't enough, he said. Now, even in the midst of a budget crunch, eight new officers are being trained to expand the unit to 23.

Viadero said the ESU is funded through the Police Department's budget, but much of its top-notch, cutting-edge equipment -- like an armored vehicle and military-style assault rifles -- was purchased with grants and asset forfeiture money.

The new members include Detectives James Borrico and Dennis Martinez, and Officers Richard Cretella, Al Figueroa, Abe Konoval, Edward Martocchio, Manuel Santo and Gale.

"It was a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be," said Figueroa, who's been on the department for 17 years and was attracted to the unit's high-risk missions. "You know what? I really like this -- the sense of excitement, the pride."

Members of the ESU devote extra effort, undergoing more than 2,000 hours of training in tactics, weapons, use of force, deployment of gas, hostage rescue techniques and similar activities, Viadero said.

"It's very specialized training," he said. "You have to be at the top of your game physically, mentally -- and proficient in the use of the weapons."

Without an extra stipend, members are also on call 24/7 on top of their regular police duties, and must participate in monthly training.

Unit members said a home-grown team means quicker response times, and the added advantage of its members' familiarity with the city.

Contradicting the common television image of heavily armed SWAT officers bursting into buildings while spewing gunfire, Gale stressed the importance of slow and methodical actions whenever possible in high-risk situations.

"You have to think about what you're doing rather than just rushing it," he said. "When you rush then you skip things and that's how cops get killed. It's a higher level of training."

In 2008, an unarmed Norwalk man was killed when the Southwest Regional Emergency Response Team, a force of 21 officers from six towns in south-central Fairfield County -- Bridgeport is not a member of that team -- tossed a flash grenade and burst into an Easton home. The man was fatally shot by an officer who believed that man was rushing him in an attempt to take away his gun.

The officers involved were later cleared of wrongdoing by then-State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict.

Viadero declined to comment on the Easton incident, which is the subject of ongoing litigation, except to say that the concept of regional emergency response teams is not new to the area. Another group of towns between Bridgeport and New Haven, including Milford, Derby and Orange, have organized a similar team, too, he said.

Under Viadero, Lt. John Cueto runs the ESU. Cueto also works with the department's equestrian unit.

Once Bridgeport officers make the unit, which boasts two K-9 officers and four specialized snipers, they have to maintain a higher level of fitness and are tested every six months to ensure they do.

And making it is hard enough.

To join, the latest group of officers tried out over last summer, undergoing rigorous physical agility and marksmanship tests in which the standards were ramped up a notch from what's required departmentwide.

Forty-five signed up, 22 showed and 15 passed the physical agility test, said members of the unit. Also, in order to make the team, they needed to miss no more than two out of 60 shots with a firearm.

Over the past 18 months since it has been operational, the unit has been called out at least six times, and each mission has been resolved successfully, Viadero said. It has also worked with several federal agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Unit members helped with the federal "Operation Young Gunz" which led to nine Bridgeport arrests on firearms and drug charges in April. Last December, they helped apprehend three armed robbery suspects.

One of the more dramatic incidents involving the unit took place in July 2008 when an armed man held his wife and children hostage, barricading himself in his Hudson Street home for a nearly eight-hour standoff that kept neighbors from their homes while police -- the newly operational ESU was working with State Police at that point -- surrounded the house.

The situation was resolved peacefully. The man released his hostages; then police sneaked into the home and nabbed him after a brief struggle.

Sgt. Erick Norton, a former Marine and team executive officer, said being part of the unit is about being the best, but it isn't about being a big shot.

Bridgeport sergeant promotions a family affair

By Noelle Frampton, STAFF WRITER

Published: 11:15 p.m., Thursday, February 4, 2010BRIDGEPORT -- When they were kids, Louis and Susan Cortello spent a lot of time together, playing baseball and sharing other interests. In short, the siblings had a bit of a rivalry, but also enjoyed a lot of loving support.

That hasn't changed much in adulthood.Nearly 17 years ago, the Cortello brother-and-sister team joined the Bridgeport Police Department on the same day. They each became the parent to a son 10 months apart. Then, they took the sergeant's promotional test together. Susan Cortello ranked sixth on the exam; her brother was seventh. When the test was re-scored after an appeal, he was sixth and she ranked seventh.

And last month, the siblings were promoted to sergeant on the same day, too.

They celebrated with their families Wednesday night after a ceremony honoring them and 18 other newly promoted sergeants in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

"It's very exciting to do things together, to make our achievements together," said Susan Cortello. "We're a very supportive family, so it's nice."

The other new police sergeants include: Jason Amato, Michael Burdo, Angelo Collazo, Mathew Cosgrove, Pasquale Feola, John Gale, James Geremia, Jeffrey Grice, Edward Golding, John Klesyk, Joseph Morales, Ronald Mercado, James Myers, Nancy O'Donnell, Edward Rivera, Bradford Seeley, Philip Sharp and Luigi Tucciarone.

Each has a personal story.

Mercado was No. 1 in the department on the promotional exam. Myers is known for his work as a paranormal investigator. Feola and Morales are K-9 officers still awaiting word on whether they'll be allowed to keep their police dogs in their new assignment.

"We expect great things from you," said acting Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. "Understand that with that gold shield comes the responsibility and accountability of having people under your command. You guys are where the rubber meets the road ... where policy becomes practice. You're the caretakers of the past, the implementers of change and the trailblazers of the future. So I wish you all the best."

The new sergeants have all been assigned to three shifts in patrol, as well as the midnight and evening shifts in the communications and dispatch center.

After 13 years as a detective, Louis Cortello was assigned to the Strategic Enforcement Team.

Policing runs in his family. The family patriarch, Sam Cortello, is a retired Bridgeport detective with 31 years under his belt in the department.

He beamed with pride on Wednesday.

"I'm very excited," he said. "After spending 31 years on the job, they outrank me. Now, I have to salute them.

"They went on together and now they made sergeant together: It's truly amazing. To have one is an honor; I have two for my money."

The moment was sweeter for Sam Cortello by the fact that he, diagnosed with cancer two years ago, survived to stand beside his children that proud evening, in a room packed with the friends and relatives of the 20 promotees.

"I never thought I would see this day," he said.

"He's a fighter -- that's what we are," said his son, adding that he and his sisters were raised in the city's North End and grew up with ideals of community involvement and public service from their parents. "We're very competitive. We always strive for excellence."

The pair's mother, Dee Cortello, said her children followed in their father's footsteps.

Newly promoted Sgt. Collazo, with nearly 10 years on the job, credited the sergeants who had supervised him as a patrol officer with inspiring him to reach for his stripes and teaching him much of what he knows now.

"My sergeants were my mentors, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps and be like them," he said. "It's a great accomplishment. It took hard work to get here and I look forward to going out and serving the city."

Many of those promoted, like Collazo, pored over books, laws, policies and procedures for many hours to study for the exam. While just the top 20 on the list earned their stripes, others may be promoted later.

O'D onnell, a lifelong city resident, was promoted after only about two years on the job, although she spent many years before that as a civilian in the dispatch center, and assigned to her old stomping grounds in the center that manages calls for service.

"It's quite an honor to be given this appointment for being on as a sworn officer for such a short time," she said. "I'm going to serve to the best of my ability."

New SET sergeant is a survivor -- and a servant

By Noelle Frampton, STAFF WRITER

Published: 10:17 p.m., Friday, January 29, 2010BRIDGEPORT -- "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

In Sgt. Charles Johnson's case, the old adage is true.Johnson survived a head-on collision with a desperate, fleeing criminal slightly more than a year ago, and the lessons he learned in the aftermath are informing how he approaches his new job as one of the supervisors of the Police Department's Strategic Enforcement Team.

A Bridgeport native and 17-year veteran of the department, Johnson was named to the team Jan. 18 as part of department-wide re-assignments, along with newly promoted Sgt. Louis Cortello and the new commander, Lt. Thomas Lula.

The 16 SET officers focus on quality-of-life issues in the city's neighborhoods and have cell phones they make directly available to the public.

Johnson suffered his serious injuries on the midnight shift Nov. 11, 2008, as he was driving -- lights and siren activated -- to the aid of a fellow officer who was pursuing a runaway driver.

Then, the suspect turned south in the northbound lane of Main Street near the Route 8/25 overpass.

"All of a sudden, here he comes right at me," Johnson recalled. "Airbags went off. My jaw was broken in two places. My ankle was broken. It could've been a lot worse."

They collided with such force that the Crown Victoria cruiser's heavy-duty frame bent at its midpoint. The car was totaled.

Capt. A.J. Perez, who oversees both the Tactical Narcotics Team and SET, recalled that "shocking" night, when he got the news of Johnson's accident. He sped to the hospital to check on the officer.

He couldn't believe that Johnson's injuries weren't worse, judging by the severity of the crash.

"We're very lucky that, that day, he didn't die," Perez said. "I think if it had been a bigger person, they would have died."

Because of the crash, Johnson brings to his new position a deepened appreciation for his job and community, as well as a heightened sense of safety.

"I've got one of the best jobs in the world, so I always want to do it to the best of my ability," he said. "Every day is different; you have the chance to help people so much. I love it. The city gets a bad rap, but there are a lot of good people out there and they're just trying to work hard and make it."

Johnson, who decided he wanted to be a cop in second grade and never wavered from that plan, hopes to increase the team's community involvement and root out neighborhood problems.

As a passionate new recruit, he routinely found himself chasing criminals on foot across the back yards and fences of Bridgeport. He loved the thrill of the chase and, when he came back to work about three months after the crash, "I still had the desire to be out, driving the car, chasing down criminals."

Although Feb. 5 will mark the year anniversary of Johnson's return to work, his ankle injury makes some of those early exploits impossible.

He's still out and about, to be sure, but can't run like he used to. Yet as a supervisor, he realizes foot pursuits aren't his role anymore: He's there to teach others the best and safest ways to do things.

Physically chasing down criminals "is not all there is," he said. "I've come up with the adage, `Work smarter, not harder:' If you can find a smarter, safer way to do it, go with that."

Perez and acting Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. said Johnson is a dedicated worker who always strives to do a good job.

"He never forgot where he came from," Perez said. "He wants to give back to the community. He's a very good person -- a dedicated father. He's not afraid to speak his mind and tell you what needs to be said, respectfully. He's nothing but a gentleman."

Perez also praised Cortello and Lula, who along with Johnson replaced Lt. Stephen Shuck and Sgt. John Evans, who moved to TNT.

"We're fortunate to have these guys," he said, adding that Lula brings "a wealth of experience and knowledge" from 26 years with the department and Cortello from years in the Detective Bureau.

After taking "a hard look" at the unit's work, administrators decided to refocus it with more emphasis on listening to the concerns and input of the community and business people, he said.

"They're our eyes and ears," Perez said. "It's old-fashioned police work -- and it works."

SET will support patrol and traffic divisions, and "saturate" areas with problem-trends, he said.

Johnson regrets that, before the accident, he'd driven off in a hurry and wasn't wearing his seat belt.

For five weeks at the crash, he underwent physical therapy three times a week and for more than six weeks, his jaw was wired shut and he sipped his dinners through a straw, including liquefied turkey and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving.

"Needless to say, that was the worst Thanksgiving I ever had," he said.

Still, Johnson has found a lot to be thankful for in life, including his family, church, city and fellow police officers, who offered support during his recovery.

He's excited to be back to work and optimistic about the "overall ... very positive direction" the department is headed under Gaudett.

In the end, the man who hit him, Anthony Pooser, was convicted of first-degree assault with a motor vehicle and sentenced last July to 10 years in prison, suspended after seven, according to state judicial records.

Among the lessons Johnson learned from the crash was, "Take nothing for granted.

"And, of course, wear your seat belt."

AFSCME Sends Sympathy to Families of Murdered Police Officers

Four police officers were tragically killed in Lakewood, Washington Sunday morning in a horrific act of violence. Sgt. Mark Renninger, and Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, and Greg Richards were ambushed in a coffee shop by a suspected lone gunman as they were preparing to begin patrol.

“The loss of these brave law enforcement officers is felt deeply by those who knew them, and by their brothers and sisters in blue across the nation,” said James Howell, Assistant Director of AFSCME Law Enforcement and a retired police officer from the City of New Haven, Connecticut. “Their dedication to protecting the Lakewood community is honored by all Americans and will be greatly missed by those they served so bravely and well.”

The officers who died were members of the Lakewood Police Independent Guild. Their brothers and sisters in AFSCME Law Enforcement, and all AFSCME members, send their sympathy to the families and fellow officers of those who died tragically Sunday.

“On behalf of the 100,000 law enforcement personnel and all the members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, I want to extend our deepest sympathy to their families and fellow officers,” Jim Lyman, Chair of the AFSCME Law Enforcement Advisory Board and a retired Albany (NY) police officer . “The loss of these brave officers touches us all.”

The suspect in the killings, Maurice Clemmons, was shot and killed by a police officer early Tuesday while in possession of a handgun belonging to one of the slain officers. Four people have been arrested for allegedly assisting the suspect to elude authorities during the two day manhunt.

As uniformed officers and civilian law enforcement workers in states, counties and cities, at educational institutions and other areas, AFSCME members proudly serve and protect every day. AFSCME Law Enforcement members around the country work hard to keep our families and communities safe – patrolling our streets, securing our airports and enforcing our laws.

Donations to the families of the fallen officers of the Lakewood Police Department can be made by visiting http://www.lpig.us or sending a check to the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, P.O. Box 99579, Lakewood, Washington 98499.

Change at the top in Bridgeport police union

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 11/22/2009 07:23:47 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- New leadership has been elected to most of the top jobs in the city's police union, a year after the prior leadership negotiated a controversial contract with the Finch administration that bypassed raises for two years in exchange for no layoffs.

Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 ousted Officer Frank Cuccaro as president and also replaced the union's vice president and treasurer in balloting earlier this month.

Of 10 leadership posts, seven are filled by new people, although some are longtime officials who've moved to different leadership spots. "I think a lot of it had to do with the contentious contract," said Cuccaro, who lost the presidency to Sgt. Charles Paris, a longtime executive board member.

The final election results were announced Nov. 9 at a general membership meeting of the union.

The new vice president is Officer Bernard Webb. As treasurer, Officer Brad Seely beat longtime incumbent Mike Rynich in a close race and Officer Rich Mercado remains secretary.

Elected to the Executive Board were Sgt. John Whalen, Detectives Chris Borona and Edwin Perez, and Officers Ricardo Lopez, Danny Gomez and Brian Pisanelli.

Borona, Gomez, Lopez and Pisanelli are new, according to Paris. The former vice president did not seek re-election.

Cuccaro said there was a high turnout for the election, with more than 300 of 415 union members voting.

Paris, who spent 12 years on the board, said he is familiar with union business. He won by roughly 50 votes.

"I think the membership was looking for some change all around," he said.

Paris said that, although the membership passed the four-year contract in 2008 with a majority by 15 votes, "as time went on I think they thought we should've or would've gotten a better deal."

The pact gave no raises through June 2010 in exchange for no layoffs, but provides an 11 percent raise by the end of the four years. In the third year of the contract, which starts next July, officers get a 6 percent raise, followed by a 5 percent boost in the fourth and final year.

Cuccaro said it's tough to keep more than 400 people happy, no matter what.

"They were going to lay off 20 officers," he said. "The problem is, the people who weren't getting laid off didn't really care. It's a thankless job and I look forward to getting back on the street and doing some police work."

Last December, when the contract was before the City Council, Cuccaro called it "a hard sell" but "the best we can do given the national financial crisis."

Mayor Bill Finch had asked for concessions from all city unions in the face of a projected $20 million city budget deficit, and Cuccaro said then that the police union "played our part" in helping resolve the deficit.

The police union resisted the mayor's requests with public protests and a no-confidence vote, but the friction subsided with the resignation of Bryan T. Norwood as chief and the appointment of Deputy Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. as acting chief in October 2008.

Gaudett, who as chief is not a union member, endorsed the pact, which saved the city money in the short run.

Cuccaro hopes to continue to have a hand in union matters.

"I'll help out the new board as best I can, because whatever they do will affect all 415 of us," he said.

Paris said the new team is still assessing matters, and is involved in discussions with the city on issues that include the city's reopening of the cost of members' insurance package.

"There's a lot of things still to be determined," he said. "We're working on some things and so far, so good."

Bridgeport's #2 cop worked her way up from the beat

By Daniel Tepfer
Staff writer

Updated: 11/15/2009 12:42:49 AM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- Lynn Kerwin may be too modest for her own good.

When Kerwin joined the Police Department in 1985 there was a big recruitment drive to bring more women onto the city's police force, and if Kerwin had allowed herself to be fast-tracked, she might have been chief already.

Instead, the 51-year-old Kerwin decided to work her way up the ladder starting with street cop, then detective and now finally assistant chief.

"Frankly, I wouldn't trade my experiences in the department for anything," she said as she bade farewell recently to her office in the Detective Bureau. "I've been involved in a lot of big cases and worked with many good people."

You learn quickly that Kerwin doesn't like to dwell on the negatives. The petite blond with TV cop good looks can be quite disarming but just under the surface is a toughness that has served her well over the years.

Not only did she have to overcome obstacles set in her path because she is a woman in a still traditional man's world but she often found herself having to convince people on the street she is a cop.

"I remember riding with my partner Glen Prentiss on the East Side when we went to answer a burglary call," she related. "We jump out of our car and the victim asks Glen, 'why'd you bring this little girl with you?'"

This week Kerwin, who has commanded the Police Department's Detective Bureau for the past eight years, was promoted to assistant police chief making her not

only the highest ranking woman officer in the department's history but only the second official assistant chief. When former chief Bryan Norwood resigned last year Kerwin had been a leading candidate to replace him but the job instead went to Joseph Gaudett. But a recent federal court mandate to eliminate discrimination in the Police Department required the establishment of an assistant chief position. Kerwin now finds herself not only as the department's number two cop but also its top anti-discrimination cop.

"I'm to assist the chief in any matters that pertain to fair and equal treatment of police officers," she said, reading from a prepared statement.

In real speak that means she is in charge of recruitment, hiring and investigating complaints of discrimination in the department that would have previously gone to a special federal master.

"I'm doing a lot of research on how we do hiring and if the testing procedure has a disparaging affect on minorities and women," she explained. "I'm taking it very seriously. There are a lot of people putting their faith into me and I know I'm going to lose a lot of sleep over this." But this was not a token appointment. Kerwin may in fact be the most qualified person in the department to do the job.

For five years Kerwin served as supervisor of the Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs which investigates complaints against police officers. While in that capacity she was also appointed head of the department's Equal Opportunities Program which included investigating complaints of harassment and sexual discrimination in the police department.

"So I really have a good base to work from," she said.

"At every stage of her career, Lynn has earned the respect of her colleagues as well as those of us working in the criminal courts," said State's Attorney John Smriga. "Her integrity and broad range of experience make her an outstanding choice for the position."

Recently retired police lieutenant John Brenner worked with Kerwin both in OIA and later in the Detective Bureau. "I've been to numerous homicide scenes and Lynn would be right there with me," he said. "She didn't have it easy, she worked her way up the ranks and that really earns respect in the law enforcement community. Lynn is top notch."

Chief Gaudett said he is thrilled Kerwin accepted the position. "She is the right person at the right time and I'm looking forward to working with her," he said.

Kerwin was born in the city and graduated from Harding High School in 1976. Her father, a city police officer for more than two decades, tried to dissuade her from following in his footsteps.

"He wanted me to be the first member of the family to go to college and get a good job but I couldn't see myself working nine to five in some windowless office," she said.

Ironically, claims of discrimination in the Police Department caused Kerwin to rethink her objectives.

A federal discrimination lawsuit against the department had halted hiring and Kerwin instead enrolled in the nursing program at Sacred Heart University. "I had this real desire to help people and if I couldn't become a cop I would be a nurse," she said.

However, a few years later, the suit settled, Kerwin was notified she had been accepted into the Bridgeport Police Academy.

"At first I kept it a secret from my father but once he found out he couldn't have been prouder of me," she said.

In July 1990 Kerwin was promoted to detective and a year later she was assigned to the Detective Bureau's major crime unit.

"It was in the Detective Bureau that I really found my calling," she said. "I loved working to put cases together and resolving crimes so that families could get some sense of closure." Then with a laugh she added: "I also found I really liked the hunt."

In August 1993 Kerwin was promoted to sergeant and because of contract requirements she was returned to the patrol division. But later that year she was assigned to the Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs which investigates complaints against police officers.

Two years later she was promoted to lieutenant and was made supervisor of internal affairs. In May 2001 Kerwin was promoted to captain and assigned as supervisor of the Detective Bureau.

Criminals and crimes were changing and Kerwin said she realized that old investigative techniques were no longer working. So reached out to federal agencies, the FBI federal Drug Enforcement Agency and others to work with Bridgeport detectives on major crimes.

U.S. Marshals now routinely work with local police detectives to hunt down and capture wanted felons.

But the biggest effect of this partnership was solving the triple homicide on Charles Street on Aug. 24, 2005.

Three people were found bound, gagged and beaten to death in an apartment. Kerwin said they knew the crime was drug-related but were having trouble pressuring prospective witnesses to give up the killers.

"Federal officers were able to put pressure on the witnesses we couldn't and as a result two brothers were arrested for the crime," she said. "These two men could have wrecked havoc in the city if they had remained free."

Kerwin said she is sad to leave the Detective Bureau but is happy to be leaving it in very capable hands. "Captain James Viadero can more than fill my shoes," she added.

Lynn Kerwin file 1976 graduate of Warren Harding High School Sept. 20, 1985 -- graduated from Bridgeport Police Academy Sept. 21, 1985 -- assigned to Patrol Division as a Police Officer July 1990 -- Promoted to Rank of Detective August 1993 -- Promoted to Sergeant November 1993 -- Assigned to Office of Internal Affairs 1995 -- Promoted to lieutenant October 2000 -- Assigned commander of the Equal Employment and Opportunities program. May 2001 promoted to Detective Bureau Captain Married to Mike Kerwin, Inspector, state Division of Criminal Justice One son - John DeSarli, 27, Audi technician - Greenwich Audi

As stats show drop in crime, some ask is Bridgeport safer?

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 11/14/2009 11:46:03 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- Crime is a mixed bag here these days, federal and local statistics show.

Depending on whom you talk to and which numbers you emphasize, Bridgeport could be one of the most dangerous cities in the state or one of the safest large cities.

While violent crime fell nationwide for the second straight year in 2008, it rose slightly in Bridgeport for the fifth straight year as the city's population fell, federal and local statistics show.

But this year, statistical projections from the Bridgeport Police Department show a striking drop in violent and property crimes, according to William Linsley, who compiles the department's statistics.

In his nine years on the job, Linsley said his main conclusion has been that "nothing ever changes. And this is somewhat my despair."

But on Friday, after multiplying the current crime numbers by roughly 1.33 to develop year-end projections, an excited Linsley reported, "This year's been remarkable. I was surprised; the projections were really pretty darn good. I've really never seen anything like this."

If the projections hold up through the year's end, this will be the city's lowest violent crime year in at least a decade, despite an alarming recent rash of robberies and gang-related shootings.

Linsley predicted there will be 13 murders, 48 rapes, 564 robberies and 679 aggravated assaults by Dec. 31, a total of 1,304. In 1999, Bridgeport had 1,820 such crimes, according to the FBI's annual Crime in the United States report.

As of Oct. 29, serious violent crime was down 8.44 percent compared with last year, Acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett reported.

"Part One Crime," including violence, burglaries, felony larcenies and auto thefts, was down nearly 14 percent from what is was at the same point last year.

'Significant progress' seen

"We seem to be making some pretty significant progress," Mayor Bill Finch said. "The chief has done a masterful job keeping the funds we're spending focused on eliminating crime." Even so, "we're not satisfied," the mayor said, adding that the city is working with other authorities to stem the tide of illegal guns, which are "the largest single contributor to our problems."

In his Sept. 21 State of the City speech, Finch noted that city police had been working in a shoestring budget year to "rein in overtime while paying attention to the basics."

"Crime overall is down," the mayor said, "and we remain one of the safest cities in the state."

Finch said later that he was referring in the speech to overall crime in big cities. Hartford and New Haven both reported significantly more property crimes last year and therefore, more overall crime than Bridgeport, although smaller cities don't come close, according to the FBI numbers.

Bridgeport was No. 1 in serious violent crimes in 2008, and is on track for either second or third place this year, according to FBI and local statistics.

The city finished 2008 with 1,638 crimes including murders, rapes, serious assaults and robberies, according to the FBI. That was 35 more violent crimes than the city reported in 2007 and 129 more than in 2006.

Hartford reported 1,503 violent crimes in 2008 and New Haven 1,637.

Things could be worse.

Despite small yearly increases since 2003, violent crimes here still haven't reached their 2002 level of 1,695. At the end of last month, there had been 13 murders in Bridgeport, more than New Haven's nine but fewer than Hartford's 30, and four fewer than there were at the same point last year.

Last year, Hartford and New Haven surpassed Bridgeport in homicides.

And New Haven has experienced significantly more crime than Bridgeport this year, reporting 1,029 violent crimes in the first six months, to Bridgeport's 692 and Hartford's 580.

Stamford and Waterbury, the fourth- and fifth-largest cities in the state, both reported five homicides last year, and 390 and 384 violent crimes, respectively.

No surprise, smaller towns and cities in the area experienced less violent crime in 2008.

Fairfield, with an estimated population of 57,568, reported 39 serious violent crimes, two of which were murders. In similarly-sized Milford, there were 68 serious violent crimes and no murders, while Stratford saw 144 and two murders. In Trumbull, a bit smaller at 34,807 residents, there were 21 and no murders.

In the second half of this year, Bridgeport, which has been shrinking in recent years to an estimated 136,327 residents, experienced a relatively tame July but a spike in robberies and shootings in the following three months.

There were five homicides, 28 armed assaults and 67 robberies in August alone, preliminary city records indicate. And in September, there were two homicides, 21 armed assaults and 63 robberies -- well above the year's monthly average of 49.5.

While assaults and killings tend to rise in warm weather, robberies typically pick up later in the year, when colder weather warrants heavy coats and hooded sweatshirts in which weapons, real or imaginary, can be hidden, police said.

The spike, which some officers attributed to a tough economy, has been causing some concern among police and overwhelmed detectives.

Some not happy

It is a sore subject among many city patrol officers, who bemoan what they see as "reactive" rather than "proactive" crime-fighting that leaves them barely keeping their heads above water as the calls roll in, arguing that extra patrols would help deter such crimes.

Of course, these officers may benefit from added patrols because they're opportunities for overtime, which Gaudett has been trying to minimize.

He's said the 415-member department is on track to stay within its $5.8 million overtime budget this year, after years of overrunning it.

"It is a balance," Gaudett said. "We've been given a budget, and we need to live within that budget. It's been a tough year with the economy the way it is, with the budget the way it is, but I think the officers have been doing a great job. We're just trying to use the people we have in the most cost-effective way possible." Bridgeport's overall staffing ratio of law enforcement to population is close to the national average of three per 1,000 population, according to the FBI. New England's average is slightly higher.

Finch said "unwarranted" inside overtime spending between $5 million and $7 million per year exceeded what the city could afford when he took office two years ago.

Although the recent spike in robberies is worrisome, robberies were down nearly 10 percent from last year as of late October, he reported.

In the meantime, shootings involving youths 16 to 24 remain cause for concern: "Probably the biggest issue we're facing at the moment," Gaudett said last week, attributing much of the violence to small, neighborhood gangs of youths with guns.

Gaudett said department leaders review its statistics each day and, when trends appear, allocate resources to deal with them, doing whatever possible within budgetary limits.

Crime-solving strength

Crime-fighting in any city involves a balance between the number of detectives, who address crimes after the fact, and the number of uniformed officers on the streets.

The department's Detective Bureau is operating at its authorized strength of 49, with nine provisional detectives in place while the detective promotional list remains tied up in a state Supreme Court battle, according to Gaudett and Detective Keith Bryant, department spokesman.

Two are specifically assigned to robberies. Others are general investigators or assigned to burglaries, financial fraud and other types of crime, Bryant said. They work during the day and evening, but not the midnight shift.

"We're spread thin," Bryant said in September. detectives "are overwhelmed but they still continue to manage. They prioritize everything."

Bridgeport's "clearance" rate of violent crimes -- meaning arrests, suspect deaths or other means of closure -- is significantly lower than a national average of cities its size.

While the FBI's national average clearance rate of violent crimes for cities between 100,000 and 249,999 inhabitants was 42.5 percent in 2008, Bridgeport's clearance rate has hovered between 31 and 35 percent each year for the past three years, with the past year's rate the lowest.

Bridgeport's 2008 clearance rate for homicides is 47.62 percent. Nationally among similarly-sized cities, that rate is 64.6 percent. Of robberies, the city clears 15.5 percent while the nationwide average is more than 26 percent. Property crime clearance was 7.56 percent here and 16.8 percent nationally.

into the future

The mayor and chief plan to emphasize traffic enforcement, with the goal of increasing basic civility in town and beefing up the department's domestic violence unit in the future, Finch said, adding that they also hope to improve morale and public relations in the department.

Both praised the work of the Strategic Enforcement Team, which focuses on basic quality-of-life issues, recently cracking down on underage drinking, and offers members' cell phone numbers to residents to call 24/7.

Finch said he wants a safer city, but the police can't clean it up alone.

"If people want their streets safer, it's very easy for them to help," he said. "We need to have the eyes and ears of the community to participate."

What does the next year hold for Bridgeport?

"Who knows?" Linsley said. "I'm knocking on wood. One thing these stats won't do is tell you why. But there are reasons."

Mayor sets 2010 for police chief search

By Michael P. Mayko
STAFF WRITER

BRIDGEPORT -- It's been more than a year since the city has had a contracted police chief.

Mayor Bill Finch, asked last week about the status of the search for a new chief, said a national search for a permanent replacement will be conducted next year.

But until then, the mayor said he is satisfied with the job that acting Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. has done.

"It's not like we're wanting for good management," Finch said. "Chief Gaudett has reined in excessive overtime, is re-establishing positive morale and is helping us get out from under the Bridgeport Guardians' consent decree (the 30-year-old federal court oversight of the treatment of minority officers). Overall, he has done a fine job. The people of Bridgeport have been well-served by acting Chief Gaudett. I don't see where there is an urgent need to find a permanent chief."

Finch said there are more pressing concerns in the Police Department, including promotions, composing a police officer exam and recruiting candidates to take a test that is designed to fill 20 new positions. The salaries for the new spots will be funded for the next three years by $4.8 million in federal stiumulus money.

But before the city can deal with those issues, it must handle others in the Civil Service Department, he said. There, Ralph Jacobs, the personnel director, was terminated under a cloud of controversy in August and replaced on an interim basis by David Dunn, the city's senior labor relations

officer.

Given those factors, Finch said no date for a nationwide police chief search has been set. When one is planned, Finch said he hopes Gaudett will apply.

Gaudett, a 27-year veteran of the city's police force, said he "absolutely" would apply for the permanent position. His late father served 23 years as a police officer before retiring as a sergeant in 1980. In 1969, he pinned the sergeant's badge on his father.

"The Bridgeport Police Department was always part of my life," the acting chief said.

City Councilman Andre F. Baker Jr., a member of the Public Safety Committee, and Officer Frank Cuccaro,the union president, said a search is long overdue.

"It is a problem and we need to fill that spot," Baker said. "We can't have someone acting forever."

"The acting chief has been very slow in making a decision in the department because obviously, he would like to get the job when it is permanent," Cuccaro said. "The overall morale in the department is deplorable right now.

"A lot of things are on hold right now and it is in the city's best interest to start the search process. It is holding up promotions in the whole department," the union leader added.

Asked if he is disappointed the search to fill the position permanently has taken so long to get under way, Gaudett replied: "I'm not at all upset. This is my career."

So what happens if he is not chosen?

Gaudett said he could return to his post as a deputy chief, but, "I haven't thought about that yet."

The acting chief said he had no control over city policies involving the appointment of an acting deputy chief to fill the spot he vacated when he became acting chief.

There has been some griping within the union and among senior department officers interested in the position.

Unlike previous chiefs, Gaudett has been accessible and attends neighborhood meetings. On Thursday night, he calmed a sometimes angry session of the North End Association, whose members are upset with partying and vandalism by Sacred Heart University students living in rented houses on their streets.

Gaudett advised the neighbors to report incidents to his Strategic Enforcement Team and handed out Sgt. John Evans' cell phone number: 203-449-0488.

Gaudett has been acting chief since Oct. 15, 2008. Six days earlier, Bryan T. Norwood, a Bridgeport native who served as New Haven's deputy police chief before being appointed to the top spot here, resigned to take a similar position in Richmond, Va. Norwood served a little more than two years as Bridgepoprt's chief. His annual salary was $102,793.

Prior to Norwood's appointment, Deputy Chief Anthony Armeno served 16 months as acting chief.

Finch said he has been advised that there is no time limit in the City Charter on how long an acting police chief can serve.

"The chief would be held accountable for his actions whether he has a contract or not," he said.

Staff writer Daniel Tepfer contributed to this report.

Bridgeport police chief timeline Jan. 22, 2005: Wilbur Chapman resigns as chief; Deputy Chief Anthony Armeno appointed chief on interim basis. March 21, 2006: Bryan T. Norwood, a native of Bridgeport and deputy police chief in New Haven, is named chief following a nationwide search. April 24, 2006: Norwood sworn in as chief. Oct. 9, 2008: Norwood resigns as chief to take the chief's position in Richmond, Va. Oct. 15, 2008: Deputy Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. named acting chief.

Article taken from POLICEPAY.NET, Originally published in the New Haven Independent

www.policepay.blogspot.com/

New Haven, Police Union Strike Tentative Pact

by Melissa Bailey
New Haven Independent

It took lunch at Lorenzo’s — and a personal intervention from Mayor John DeStefano — to finally settle a police union contract.

The police union reached a tentative agreement with the city on a three-year contract that includes pension and wage givebacks, city and union officials announced Thursday. The last contract expired on July 1, 2008.

The tentative agreement needs majority approval by the police union’s 465 members at a vote on Wednesday, said AFSCME Local 530 President Sgt. Louis Cavaliere. He said the union made concessions under the threat of binding arbitration, which in a recession may have had a negative outcome.

“This may not be the greatest contract in the world,” he said, “but it’s enough to vote ‘yes’ and not go through the dangers of arbitration.”

If approved, the pact will bring some peace and some changes the city was seeking. It has also created a division between younger and older members of the police force.

Older members would benefit under the deal because it boosts the retirement age from 65 to 67. Younger members would lose a program that would let them retire after 15 years.

Overall, the city is pleased with a shift toward defined-contribution pensions and a cheaper health care plan that would drive down long-term costs, said DeStefano.

The pact comes after many months of talks that at some points appeared to be deadlocked.

A turning point came a couple months ago at Lorenzo’s Ristorante Italiano in West Haven, the town where Cavaliere lives. At the time, negotiations had stretched out for a year past the contract’s expiration. DeStefano decided to take action: He arranged the lunch at the Italian eatery and, for the first time, he personally sat down at the negotiating table.

DeStefano said he doesn’t make a practice of taking part in negotiations. “But when it’s necessary,” he said, “I do.”

He joined Cavaliere, city labor relations director Craig Manemeit, Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Redding and members of the police union executive board. At the meeting, the group settled on “some of the primary issues” of the contract, DeStefano said. He declined to give specifics.

DeStefano downplayed the event. Manemeit did 95 percent of the contract negotiating overall, he said.

The two sides have agreed on nearly all the issues they sought to discuss. One, the use of extra-duty “hold-downs,” where a single cop can claim a steady extra-duty shift at a bar or business, remains unresolved. That issue alone will be settled by binding arbitration, DeStefano said.

The mayor said he’s pleased about two big moves that will drive down costs in the long run. According to the new pact, cops hired after Oct. 1, 2009, must join a hybrid pension plan. They would get a defined-benefit pension based on their salary, excluding any overtime or extra-duty work. Pension contributions for overtime and extra-duty work would go into a defined contribution plan, a 401(k).

This reflects the city’s desire to gradually shift workers to defined contribution plans, which are used the private sector. Under a defined benefit plan, when the pension fund plummets due to the stock market, the city is left on the hook for pension payouts, even though the money is no longer there.

New hires will also have to join a new health care plan that’s cheaper for the city.

The changes in health care and pension plans set the standard for other contract negotiations, the mayor said. He expects to seek similar reforms in a new round of AFSCME contract negotiations that begin this fall.

Other highlights of the police pact:

• Wages: no wage increase in the first year (FY09), a 3 percent pay hike in the current year retroactive to July; and another 3 percent hike in FY11. Extra-duty pay boosted from time and a quarter to time and a half.

• “Bad boy” clause. Cops convicted on corruption charges may have their pension benefits stripped. The city couldn’t do that before.

• The police and fire communications center, where 911 calls are received, will be staffed by civilian instead of sworn personnel.

• A 50 percent cut to cops’ longevity payments — bonuses for length of service.

• Cuts to cops’ clothing allowance. New uniforms every other year, not every year.

• Traffic unit. Motorcycle squad can work the 3-11 p.m. shift, enabling the city to double its traffic enforcement squad.

Old vs. Young

Some proposed changes are pitting younger cops against the veteran officers on the union executive board.

Older cops would gain from a bump in the retirement age from 65 to 67; that benefits one executive union member, Frank Lombardi, who’s 64 and doesn’t want to retire, Cavaliere said.

Some younger members are miffed about giving up a program that lets them retire with a pension after only 15 years. As of now, cops who have 15 years on the job can cash in 150 unused sick days for five extra years in pension calculations. That lets them retire with a 20-year pension and health care benefits after only 15 years on the force. Under the proposed contract, cops would have to work for 20 years before cashing in sick days for pension benefits.

Paul Bass downplayed the issue.

“There’s probably 100 people who say they’re mad because they want to leave in 15 years,” he said. But history shows only three cops take that buyout program every year. “They’re giving up nothing,” he said.

Cavaliere, who has over 40 years on the force, said he wasn’t willing to risk the contract so that people can ship off to a second career after only 15 years.

“I’m not going to go to arb[itration] because a few people a year want to leave at 15,” he said.
“The young people, I try to explain to them, you may get something from an arbitrator that may be to your detriment,” Cavaliere explained. New Haven is ranked third-to-last in the state in terms of ability to pay, which is a major factor in binding arbitration, he said. That means odds are not in the union’s favor if the contract goes that route.

Cavaliere was asked to respond to a complaint that the decisions favor the more veteran officers, and that younger cops didn’t have a say.

He said contract negotiations are decided by the union’s seven-person executive board, veteran members who are elected by the rank and file. “If they want to be on the board, they can run,” he said.

Cavaliere said in his four decades on the force, this is the first time he’s had to go to the negotiating table in a recession. He said the biggest coup was maintaining the pension plan for the current officers on the force.

“It’s not one of the contracts we bring back and start high-fiving, so to speak,” he said. But “I protected people who are here now the best I could.”

Bridgeport cops join ranks of police tested for drug use

Union contract allows for practice to begin

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 08/01/2009 08:35:38 PM EDT

For the first time, the Bridgeport Police Department has started random drug testing of officers.

The testing began last month, and it's a policy that acting Chief Joseph Gaudett said he has advocated for a long time. Now that he is in charge, the drug tests have finally become department policy.

"That was one of the things that we thought was really important," Gaudett said. "We're trying to show that we're drug free and we're all complying. We're walking the walk." Every month, 10 percent of the city police force -- 42 officers -- will be randomly picked from a department-wide pool for urine testing by Gregory & Howe, a Shelton-based drug screening company, he said.

Gaudett hopes the monthly testing, which will continue indefinitely, will erase any possible perception of drug abuse by city police officers.

At $65 per test, paid out of the department's budget, the screening could actually save money in the long run in health-care costs for officers with drug-related health complications by acting as a deterrent, he said.

"Our population isn't really so much different than the general population," he said of the police force. "Infrequently, we've had people in programs; we've had people resign [due to drug abuse]. I have no idea what the numbers are going to look like, but I don't suspect they're going to be zeros. I don't think anybody should be surprised. On the other hand, I don't think it should be tolerated, either."

Gaudett said the testing was implemented after a 30-day advance notice to the police union, Local 1159. Any officer with a first-time positive test result will be subject to internal discipline, referred to the Employee Assistance Program and required to undergo treatment and more testing. The officer will not be fired, according to an agreement with the union. But those who test positive a second time will be fired automatically.

When the testing went department-wide on July 6, "Guess who was the first one tested?" the interim chief asked with a chuckle. "Strictly random. I was laughing."

Union President Frank Cuccaro said the local's contract with Bridgeport has allowed drug testing for roughly a decade.

Cuccaro declined to give his opinion on the drug testing.

"All I'm going to say is that it's the city's right to do that," he said. "It's something that the city could've done for many years and for some reason they never did. They just never exercised that right until now."

Sgt. William Ron Bailey, commander of the department's narcotics and vice unit, called the screening "a good thing as far as I'm concerned." The testing will help "to make sure that the community knows that we're an open book," he said. "There's a lot of people who think that we use drugs. I say that I've never done that in my life, never. They're welcome to test me anytime they want."

Bailey said his only concern with the testing program is the possibility of mistakes leading to false results.

Jeffrey Matchett, a retired Milford police sergeant and executive director of the Connecticut Council of Police AFSCME Council 15, said there are no state regulations on drug testing of police officers so each department sets its own policy.

"It's fairly typical that a department would have a type of drug policy implemented," said Matchett, who's union represents more than 60 departments in the state. "I've never seen a local union put up any resistance to such a policy. I mean, officers don't want to be working next to someone who's abusing substances. It's only beneficial to the officers and the department."

Among area police departments, some of the drug-testing policies are like Fairfield's, which require that an officer be suspected of substance abuse before tests are administered.

In Shelton, random drug testing -- "like the lottery" -- has been in place for years, said Detective Ben Trabka, the police spokesman.

Trabka said he knows of no one who objects to the policy. "When you're on the police job you realize you're under the microscope sometimes," he said.

In Fairfield, the goal behind the contractual testing policy is to help officers with drug problems overcome them and get back to work while protecting others, according to Chief David Peck.

According to the Fairfield union contract, the drug policy, which dates to 1990, both town and union recognized "that the illegal use and abuse of drugs has become a serious problem in our society and in all professional fields, and "¦ can adversely affect the performance of police officers and threaten their image and public confidence and safety."

Bridgeport gets stimulus money to hire 20 cops

By STAFF REPORTS

Updated: 07/29/2009 10:03:09 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- The city has received more than $4.8 million in federal stimulus money to hire or retain 20 more police officers.

Bridgeport now has about 475 officers, including detectives, on its police force.

Hartford and New Haven also will have more officers under the so-called COPS, or Community-Oriented Policing Services, program. Hartford will get 23 new officers and New Haven will get 22. In all, $13.72 million was allocated to the state, with Bridgeport getting $4.8 million; Hartford, $4.26 million, and New Haven, $4.66 million.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, and Mayor Bill Finch, in a joint statement, said the money is beign provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Officials said the grants will provide 100 percent of the salary and benefits for entry-level officer positions over three years. The three Police Departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year.

"The program gives local governments a much-needed boost in their efforts to keep our communities safe and encourage development to turn our economy around and create jobs," Himes said in a statement.

"This funding will help us recruit, train and hire 20 new officers, which will enable us to expand our city's community policing efforts," said Finch.

Cop back on duty after 'miracle' recovery

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER

BRIDGEPORT -- Last year was like a nightmare for city Police Officer Jorge Larregui Jr.

Now, his life has become more like a miracle.

On Jan. 19, 2008, two weeks after Larregui had surgery for a broken right leg and nearly three weeks after his 15-year-old nephew was killed in a car accident, Larregui was cleaning his backup weapon, a Glock 9mm, at home. Mistakenly thinking the chamber was empty, he accidentally shot himself in the left thigh while trying to empty the gun. The bullet severed his femoral artery.

Fortunately, his wife and oldest son were home and called for help.

"I bled out," he said, explaining that his blood was thinned by prescription painkillers because of the recent leg surgery. "I was gushing out of both sides. I thought I was dreaming. I'm literally yelling to myself, 'George, wake up!' Then all of a sudden, I see the paramedics on top of me."

Larregui, now 39, was flown to Hartford Hospital, stopped breathing and was resuscitated three times, underwent numerous blood transfusions and more than 25 surgeries to save his leg and his life. He was in such bad shape that a priest gave him his last rites.

Fellow Bridgeport police officers visited his bedside and prepared to say goodbye. Later, when it was clear he wouldn't die, it still seemed unlikely he'd ever return to active duty.

But Larregui, a nine-year member of the department whose father is a retired police officer in Puerto Rico and whose mother

was a corrections officer, had always dreamed of being a cop and wasn't about to give up so easily: "I am not retiring," he said to himself. "I am going to be a police officer again. I am going to walk the beat again."

His brown eyes opened wide for emphasis, Larregui said he held onto that goal even in the most critical moments of his struggle to live. And, although he had to learn to walk all over again and used a colostomy bag for months, he achieved his goal to return to work last month.

"He's a walking miracle," said fellow Officer Angela Grasti. "God has a purpose for him."

A lieutenant visited Larregui with retirement paperwork while he was in recovery, but soon realized it was moot.

"When you're on this job, you learn to fight and not give up," the healed officer said. "You learn survival skills, basically. I fought hard to be where I'm at right now."

Larregui can now walk and run again, but retains nasty scars that underscore his ordeal. Returning to light duty in the department's property room exactly 11 months after his accident, he went on full duty in January but remained at that post until June, when he hit the streets again. He proudly works the evening shift, assigned to areas in and near the Hollow neighborhood.

"It's like, 'Why me?' " he said of the ordeal.

"Everybody tells me I'm here for a reason ... God's gift. I always believed in God. I think I wouldn't be here if I didn't. This is where I'm supposed to be -- definitely."

Larregui expressed gratitude to his fellow officers for their solid support during his treatment, including two benefits they organized to raise money for his family.

Last December, Larregui received the 2008 Officer of the Year award for his "courageous battle" from the department's Hispanic Society.

He wears a gold necklace bearing the words, "St. Michael Protect Us," and believes St. Michael, the patron saint of police officers, has been watching out for him. He also wears a tiny angel pin on his shoulder.

"A lot of officers didn't think that he was going to come back," said Sgt. Eddie Correa.

"I'm just surprised at his dramatic turnaround. It's a beautiful thing."

Bridgeport promotes six cops

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER

BRIDGEPORT -- Acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. told the six police officers sworn in to higher ranks on Wednesday that they should consider themselves "mini-chiefs" in their areas of influence.

"We should move away from the idea that only the people at the top should do the thinking," he said, during the ceremony in City Council chambers in City Hall. "It is time to accept personal responsibility for the condition of our officers, the crime in our neighborhoods and our relationships with the community. These are extraordinary times and they require extraordinary leadership. There is still much more to do."

Gaudett challenged city policemen and women to employ creative problem solving and to be motivated by what is best for the police department, rather than what is best for themselves.

The six promotees included two promoted to captain from lieutenant and four promoted to lieutenant from sergeant to fill positions left vacant by retirements.

They are among the department's eight captains and 21 lieutenants, leaving five unfilled positions still at captain, 14 vacancies at sergeant and 12 at detective, said Sgt. John Cueto. All of those promoted took the promotional test in 2007, he said, adding that the captains promotional list expires in November, while the lieutenant's list expires in March. There are 420 total department members.

Newly sworn Capt. James Viadero, a 24-year veteran of the force, was the most senior officer to be moted. Generally beloved in the department, he was greeted with cheers and enthusiastic applause when he received his pin.

"I'm just very proud to have gone this far and I'm just very proud to work with the people I work with on a day-to-day basis," he said after the ceremony. "I consider them some of the best police officers in the state."

Viadero served in the patrol division until 1990, when he was assigned as a supervisor to the Selective Enforcement Team. As sergeant and lieutenant, he has served in patrol, Training Division and the Detective Bureau. The department's former spokesman, he is a member of its Underwater Search and Rescue Unit.

Also promoted to captain was Robert Sapiro, an 18-year veteran, who has spent most of his career in patrol, most recently as a lieutenant on the day shift, but also worked as a lieutenant in the Office of Internal Affairs and spent three years as a detective.

Christine Burns, Albert Karpus, Steve Lougal and William Mayer were promoted to lieutenant.

Burns has spent 12 years on the force, the bulk of that in patrol -- most recently as a supervisor on the midnight shift -- with some time working in communications. Karpus, with 18 years under his belt, has worked in patrol and as a detective, plus more than three years in internal affairs.

Lougal has spent his 12 years in the department in patrol. A member of the Underwater Search and Rescue Unit, he was recently certified to use the department's newly acquired ATVs. Mayer, with 22 years on the force, also worked in patrol, plus the Detective Bureau's Identification Unit and internal affairs.

Mayor Bill Finch, who administered each promotee's oath, congratulated them for rising to the top "with the cards you were dealt," and thanked them for enduring sometimes disturbing and painful experiences to maintain law and order.

No settling for Betsy Edwards

By Aaron Leo
Staff writer

Updated: 04/18/2009 11:52:58 PM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

Associate City Attorney Betsy Edwards poses in front of the United States Federal Court House in...

BRIDGEPORT -- Betsy Edwards loves a good trial.

After graduating from law school in 2004 when she was 25, she worked for firms that dealt with medical and insurance lawsuits for four years, but decided she wanted a change. Now, she defends city police under her responsibilities for the Office of the City Attorney.

Her first day was last Sept. 2, and she can still remember it. "I walked in and they told me, 'You've got jury selection on a police civil rights case tomorrow,'" she said. "I walked into a caseload of fifteen active cases."

Since then, the 29-year-old lawyer has won two trials, one for the Board of Education and one for the Police Department. She's also dealing with lawsuits from the families of people who died in fires in the city and one suit filed for a drowning in Seaside Park.

Later this year, she will have the "special opportunity" make an oral argument in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court in New York City, for a First Amendment-rights case involving an animal rights activist arrested in 2006 outside of the Arena at Harbor Yard. The circuit court is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Most lawyers never get a chance to be that close. I feel lucky," she said.

Edwards is used to working more than 40 hours a week, which trials require. She beat out nearly 20 applicants for the job because of her trial experience for the $99,901 a year job.

Bridgeport has "such a

wide variety of cases and challenges which you just don't see much in private practice," Edwards said. "It was definitely something I put a lot of thought into. This is an opportunity for me to do something where I can make a difference. I thought I could do something good," she added.

According to acting Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr., she has done well. "I find her bright, outgoing, competent, professional. I seek her guidance on a regular basis," he said.

Lawsuits against police are especially compelling, Edwards said, "because there's a heightened sensitivity to the fact that these are allegations against a person's character."

So Edwards put her all into learning about her new clients. In keeping with her background in acting, she did first-hand research and rode with police on a few shifts. Trials allow her to use another acting talent: improvisation. "I like that they force you to react quickly and think on your feet," she said.

In particular, trials against police present a challenge. "Your job is to communicate with people who don't know the facts, to make the average person understand what the police face every day," she said.

"I was hired because there was a lot of police work to be done," she added. "The city attorneys wanted someone to try cases."

Deputy City Attorney Arthur Laske III, praised Edwards' trial experience. He conducted the interviews.

"She has the drive and commitment and interest to be a trial lawyer," he said. "In our view, if you can try cases you can do anything."

"We try cases especially when it comes to police work," he added.

One upcoming case Edwards is relishing is the appeal by the circus protestor. It was a constitutional law class that sparked her interest in the first place, late in her college career.

She said her professor in the class discouraged the class from becoming lawyers and told them they wouldn't get constitutional law cases. Now, because of the upcoming appellate court argument, she wants to tell him, "I am actually doing what you said we weren't going to do."

Outside of work, Edwards loves cooking, reading and the Boston Red Sox. She has tickets for 12 games this season, 10 as a gift from her husband, Paul Edwards, an attorney in New Haven. They married last July.

So far, she is happy with her life and her job.

"It's a great opportunity. I didn't think I would ever get the chance to do this kind of work. I feel really lucky that I landed here," she said.

City mourns longtime official David Hall

By Aaron Leo
Staff writer

Updated: 03/23/2009 11:42:12 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- David Hall Sr., one of the state's most decorated military veterans and a member of the Board of Police Commissioners for a decade, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 69.

Hall, who grew up in the Marina Village public housing complex in the city's South End, was diagnosed in 2006 with stomach cancer, which later spread to his lungs, said Teresa Hall, his daughter. About 200 people attended a celebration last November honoring Hall for his years of military and community service.

Hall underwent treatment and his illness went into remission, during which he attended police board meetings. He was appointed board president last year, but his condition declined after that. He died Saturday at Bridgeport Hospital.

"He fought all the way to the end," his daughter said.

Hall's life of service started with enlisting in the U.S. Army as early as he could, where he spent 22 years, 17 of them as a Green Beret. He served two tours in Vietnam and was awarded more than a dozen honors, such as the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Vietnamese Honor Medal and five air medals, according to friends and city and state officials.

Hall also worked for Dow Corning Corp. as global corporate director of occupational health and safety, while volunteering on community councils and community center boards, and on the Democratic Town Committee.

"We're glad for the legacy he left through community service," Teresa Hall

said. "He was a giver and he always gave back," especially to his home city.

"His spirit is still here, as far as I'm concerned," she added.

Hall advised many city officials, including Joseph Gaudett Jr., who was named acting police chief last year, and Theresa Brown, the police board's vice president.

"Professionally, I knew him to be a tremendous advocate for the police commission and the community at large," Brown said. "And personally, he was an invaluable mentor and friend to me. I will miss him, his charisma, his enthusiasm, his dedication and his wise counsel very much."

Mayor Bill Finch, who called Hall "a commanding figure" of "tremendous discipline," visited Hall last week.

"He had the strength to lift his head and say, 'No sweat, mayor,' " Finch said. "He was a very brave and gallant soldier to the end."

Hall also helped Finch deal with the Police Department when he had to cut overtime in half in the face of a multimillion-dollar city budget deficit.

Officer Frank Cuccaro, president of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, said Hall was a "very honorable man."

Hall is also survived by his wife of 46 years, BeBe Hall, and his three other children, David Hall Jr., Roland Hall and Renee Hall.

Viewing hours will be from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the United Congregational Church, 877 Park Ave., with a service to follow. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, the family said

Union chief: Allegations against cop 'outrageous"

By Michael P. Mayko
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 03/16/2009 06:50:34 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT--The president of the police union said allegations in a federal lawsuit accusing a K-9 officer of allowing his dog to bite a surrendered prisoner as being "outrageous...frivolous and untrue."

Frank Cuccaro, the union president, described Mark Martocchio as being "put in a difficult and dangerous position by Bryan Cascio, a persistent and convicted felon," and handling it with "the utmost professionalism."

Cascio and his lawyer, Charles Kurmay Jr. of Stratford filed the lawsuit alleging excessive force Thursday in the federal courthouse here.

They said that Cascio led police on a Feb. 24, 2008 motor vehicle chase that ended in the McDonald's parking lot off exit 22 on the southbound side of I-95.

However, in the suit, they said that Cascio decided against running from the vehicle when he heard Martocchio warn him that the dog, named Lugo, would be released.

Cascio, in the suit, said he surrendered and was sitting on the ground when the dog attacked him tearing flesh, a vein and nerves under his left arm.

"When the facts of this matter are explored in any depth," Cuccaro said, "the blatant falsity of the plaintiff's claims will be evident."

Associate City Attorney Arthur Laske III also expressed confidence that the case would either be dismissed by the judge or won during a jury trial.

Kurmay agreed that whether excessive force was used and whether the officer has an unblemished record are issues a jury will

decide.

"The union leaders who vehemently protest the bringing of all such claims should realize that this is the third such lawsuit that has been brought against this particular officer for the claimed use of excessive force," Kurmay said.

Kurmay said he has a pending suit in federal court against Martocchio on behalf of Abdus Shahid Muhammed following a 2004 motor vehicle stop.

The lawyer said officers blinded Muhammed's left eye and broke facial bones. Police maintain Muhammed jumped from a moving car and struck his face against a curb.

Both of Kurmay's cases are pending before Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton.

Judge lifts Bridgeport Police oversight

By Michael P. Mayko
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 03/13/2009 09:20:52 PM EDT

NEW HAVEN -- A federal judge penned the beginning of the end of more than 25 years of court oversight of the Bridgeport Police Department when she granted it autonomy for the next 18 months.

In a five-page order released publicly Friday, U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton ended a required rotation of police officers through the city's geographic areas every 12 months, returned authority to hear and rule on complaints of racial discrimination and harassment to the chief, returned the appeal process to the Board of Police Commissioners and allowed the city to hire an assistant chief.

The judge also gave the police chief the power to appoint half the staff of all specialized units -- such as K-9, Mounted Patrol, Tactical Narcotics Team, Emergency Services and Scuba -- on qualifications beyond seniority

But out of caution, Arterton ordered Bridgeport and the Bridgeport Guardians, a group of black police officers, to jointly file a report on June 12 summarizing the progress of her order.

Additionally, the judge told both sides that on Sept. 1, 2010, she will review the steps taken to determine if the 1983 order designed to eliminate widespread discrimination in the department should be vacated.

"The Guardians believe this is a good first step toward determining if the Bridgeport police department can govern itself and treat its black police officers fairly," said Antonio Ponvert III, a lawyer with Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, a

Bridgeport law firm that brought the discrimination case back in 1978.

But Ponvert warned "this does not end judicial oversight but, in fact, puts the department under even more scrutiny."

He said any missteps between now and Sept. 1, 2010 would put the order back into "full force," resulting in "many, many more years of litigation."

But Mayor Bill Finch vowed the city "will continue our efforts to make sure all Bridgeport police officers are treated fairly and evenly."

For now, Arterton removed several of the requirement the late U.S. District Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly put in place following a 1981 trial. Daly determined black officers in Bridgeport were disciplined more harshly, assigned to crime-ridden areas and rarely promoted or placed in specialized units.

Ted Meekins, a retired police officer and now president of the East End Community Council, was a plaintiff in that case. He experienced harsh suspensions, many of which he felt were in retaliation for helping bring the suit.

"It's unfortunate, but we did what we had to do," he said Friday. "I hope the city and its police department have learned from this experience. Today, we've got more black, Hispanic and female officers, and I think we've all grown and learned from this."

In the last decade, Finch points out the city hired two black police chiefs and promoted a Hispanic officer to acting chief.

"Judge Arterton has given us the opportunity to show we can handle our own business," said Sgt. William Ronald Bailey, the Guardians' president who also brought discrimination complaints. "Acting Chief (Joseph L.) Gaudette has met with us and knows what needs to be done."

The required annual rotation of police officers impacted the ability of officers to forge relationships in neighborhoods they worked, according to Gaudette and Associate City Attorney Arthur Laske III.

"The required rotation goes against every rule of community policing," said Laske. "The department can now deploy its officers as needed."

For the past 25 years, the court vested William Clendenen, a New Haven lawyer, with the authority to investigate, hear and rule on complaints involving racial discrimination and harassment lodged by black officers. While Clendenen will retain control of the roughly dozen pending cases, Arterton returned authority of any future cases to Gaudette and the Police Commission for at least the next 18 months.

This, according to Finch, will enable the city to save the money its been paying Clendenen for his work.

Under Arterton's ruling the city must pay $300,000 within 90 days to Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder. Previously, the firm said it will use the money to recruit, train, mentor and tutor black officers.

Arterton also ordered Bridgeport to allocate $300,000 in six annual installments of $50,000 to recruit minority and females police officers.

"This represents a new day for the city and its police department," Laske said. "It will create a better environment for police officers to work and should improve the quality of the police department."

In a separate 25-page ruling, Arterton declined to allow eight Bridgeport Police officers seeking promotion to detective and a white civilian seeking an entry level position to intervene in the matter. All opposed the interim order

Under scrutiny, police records room reopens

By Keila Torres
STAFF WRITER

Updated: 03/12/2009 11:35:40 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- Police officers are working overtime to make up for deep staff reductions in the Police Department's records room.

In January, during the last round of citywide layoffs, four typist positions were eliminated in the records division and five other workers were "bumped" from their jobs by employees with more seniority, eliminating the entire nine-person records staff.

The only staff members left were Sgt. James Kirkland, who is in charge of the records room, and Officer Jonna Mack, who were left to train the five new people who took jobs in the records division as a result of the bumping process.

Because of the shake-up, the records room's hours of operation were cut to Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 4 p.m. It was closed all day Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Kirkland and Mack also began logging a combined 48 hours of overtime a week, or about $2,443, according to Police Chief Joseph Gaudett.

At the end of February, however, Andrew Nunn, the city's chief administrative officer, sent an e-mail to department heads informing them that all departments must remain open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, unless authorized to do otherwise by the mayor.

"Recent budget cuts have led to departments requesting a reduction of public hours due to workload and staff reductions. Please be advised that the mayor has not authorized this," Nunn wrote.

As of Monday, however, the police records room was

still open to the public only three days a week.

Asked on Wednesday why his department did not revert back to the standard hours until Tuesday, the day after a Connecticut Post reporter inquired about the reduction in hours, Gaudett said, "I was not included in that group. I basically didn't receive the memo."

The records room is now open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. According to Elaine Ficarra, the spokeswoman for Mayor Bill Finch, "Light-duty officers will be assigned regular hours in the records room to help manage the window and fulfill the public's requests."

Gaudett confirmed that the two officers assigned to the records room will not be logging overtime. He also said he may assign another officer to the division in the "near future" to restore the half-day schedule on Saturdays, when the office had been open from 9 a.m. to noon.

"The new folks are getting up to speed slowly. Thank God for Kirkland and Mack, and their willingness to making sure the work gets done," Gaudett said.

2 new Bridgeport K-9s walk the beat

By Aaron Leo
Staff writer

Updated: 03/07/2009 11:38:09 PM EST

Click photo to enlarge

Officer Pasquale Feola, left, with Caro, and Officer Daniel... (Brian A. Pounds/Staff photographer)

BRIDGEPORT -- Though the city's fiscal crisis has triggered dozens of layoffs, one specialized police unit has slipped the budgetary collar and is expanding.

Police dogs Caro and Cooper hit the streets in December, boosting the ranks of the K-9 Corps to seven German shepherds. Just last year, however, the unit was on the list of other police divisions that faced disbanding because of the city's budget woes.

The new additions mean extra officers with senses beyond human range. Since January, the K-9 unit has assisted in 11 incidents from drug arrests to burglary and robbery suspects.

"A police canine's enhanced senses along with their speed and agility make them an invaluable tool for fighting crime in our community," said police Sgt. Kevin Gilleran, head of the division since January 2008.

Even Mayor Bill Finch, who has had to impose the other layoffs, supports the dogs. The two were free with a grant from Milk Bone and the A&P Super Foodmart, which Finch accepted on behalf of the department last year. The city does pay for all the dogs' food and care, but State Police train the animals and their handlers at no charge, Gilleran added.

The dogs are worth it, said acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. They can search buildings, track people and assist in subduing suspects. They can find people or objects with their keen noses, picking up trails more than 24 hours old from something as small as a shell casing.

"Dogs aren't

cheap, but they're very affectionate. I believe we are the largest single canine unit of all municipal departments. We're very proud of that," he said. "Think of the lives we save."

In one case in January, Luger, another police dog, bit and subdued a driver who police said struck a pedestrian near Bridgeport Hospital, throwing her in the air and breaking both of her legs. The driver, Darren McDermott, 37, of Claudia Drive, Milford, abandoned the car nearby and ran a short distance before the dog caught up with him, police said. His charges, including driving under the influence and second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, are pending in Bridgeport Superior Court.

The dogs' skills and dedication are two reasons Officer Pasquale Feola, Caro's handler, and Officer Daniel Gomez Jr., handler of Cooper, appreciate their canine charges.

"He's been very obedient. He listens to you all the time. That's the best partner you can have," Gomez said.

Both officers also care for their dogs outside work. That helps because they live with their partners, who serve double-duty as protectors and playmates.

Both officers said their families play with the dogs, who don't mind at all.

But when the dogs are on the job, they're serious. They respond to commands immediately, and can sense when it's time to work.

Feola demonstrated with Caro one recent day. The dog lounged at his master's feet most of the time.

But bring out the collar and Caro is ready to go.

When Feola held up the collar, the 2-year-old, 95-pound shepherd bolted up and placed his front paws on the officer's chest, slipping his head through. Then, at Feola's command, the dog lay back down. "If I get into work mode, he gets into work mode," Feola said.

A young dog like Cooper has a service life of five to seven years if he doesn't get injured, and all the dogs in the unit are young, Gilleran said.

But keeping the canines can be difficult. After passing a boot-camp style four months of training with the state police, they have to train eight hours a month and get recertified every six months, Gilleran said.

The recertification is free through the state police and they are paid for their required eight hours of training per month, he added.

The boot camp puts the human-canine team through mental and physical challenges. Dogs have to overcome some instincts like fear of walking on different types of surfaces or into dark places.

The humans also have to learn everything about their dogs.They also had to carry the animals while running and learn to give them cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

"They actually teach you to teach your dog," Feola said. Of 17 human and canine partners, 15 passed the course that Feola and Gomez took.

The other handlers and their dogs include Gilleran and Titus; Mark Martocchio and Luger; Joseph Morales and Riko; Heriberto Rodriguez and Sampson; and Andres Talavera and Recon. One dog and handler is on every eight-hour shift, Gilleran said.

The dogs can also be cross-trained to sniff out drugs. Riko has that skill and Gilleran said he hopes to have two more trained. Riko has worked on four drug cases that resulted in arrests.

"The Bridgeport Police K-9 Corps provides a valuable resource to the community," Gilleran said.

BRIDGEPORT NEWS

Bridgeport's marine cops hone skills despite weather

Written by Chipp Reid

Friday, January 23, 2009

It’s one of the dream jobs in the summer, but in the winter, patrolling the waters of Long Island Sound can be cold, wet and nasty.

For the members of the Bridgeport Police Marine Unit, however, the onset of winter doesn’t signal a time of hibernation.

“Now is when we do a lot of our training,” said Bob Christie, the unit commander. “We use winter to learn new procedures and to become proficient with new equipment. We also still go out and patrol. Patrolling infrastructure and the port area remains one of our primary responsibilities.”

The unit has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in honing both its patrol and interdiction skills, and one of the skills the officers know they must have is the ability to work in all conditions, including biting cold and driving snow.

Four members of the unit went out Jan. 16 in snowy, freezing conditions to conduct a live-fire drill.

The officers must conduct live-fire drills at least four times a year.

“This is really some of the most difficult training we can do,” said Officer Mike Killian. “It’s one thing to take aim at a target in a range or when the water is perfectly still. It’s another to try to hit a target when the boat is bouncing and the target is bouncing, and we’re firing at close range. Just imagine if we had to engage a target at long-range.”

It’s not just conjecture.

The Bridgeport marine unit regularly practices intercepting and boarding vessels with the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Patrol agents from the Department of Homeland Security. Christie said training for any contingency, especially in the traditionally slower winter months, keeps the unit ready for the height of the boating season.

“It’s a perishable skill and like anything requires constant refreshing,” Christie said. “We have the luxury of being a year-round marine unit, so we’re able to train and stay prepared.”

The marine police use weapons ranging from personal sidearms — .40 caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistols — to much heavier ordnance including Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and M14 assault rifles. Conditions Jan. 16 were far from perfect as the officers left the dock in Bridgeport Harbor. Visibility was at a bare minimum while the blowing snow and sea spray froze instantly on deck.

“It’s all a matter of balance and timing,” and Officer Ed Martocchio. “It’s a skill level like anything else.”

Martocchio and Officer Vin Lariccia emptied several clips of ammunition engaging a target roughly 50 yards from the boat. The officers waited for the patrol boat to hit the top of a swell before firing, usually striking the target. Still, it was far from easy to score hits.

“We have to train in all environments,” Lariccia said. “The bad guys don’t stop operating just because it’s cold or it’s snowing out.”

Bridgeport has the only year-round marine unit from New Haven to Norwalk. Although the officers primarily patrol Bridgeport Harbor and infrastructure such as bridges and power stations around Bridgeport, the unit is on call 24 hours a day to help other communities.

In December, the officers responded to a call from the Coast Guard in New Haven when it appeared a Russian sailor jumped from his ship in an attempt to illegally enter the United States. Although the Coast Guard dealt with the situation by the time Christie arrived, the lieutenant said it was proof of the unit’s value.

“Whatever the scenario, we try to prepare, and we are the only ones out there other than the Coast Guard,” Christie said. “It’s an easy job to do in August when it’s 85 and sunny. Everyone wants this detail, but even when it’s snowing and single digits out, we’re still out here.”

Bridgeport union agrees to furloughs, wage freeze
By Linda Conner Lambeck
STAFF WRITER
Updated: 01/27/2009 10:58:34 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- A city union representing school and municipal employees has ratified a new four-year contract that freezes wages for two years and requires workers to take a five-day, unpaid furlough.
The agreement reached with Local 1522, Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was announced Tuesday by city officials. The union represents 761 workers.
The deal freezes salary increases for the first two years. In the final two years, salaries increase by 2.5 percent every six months from July 1, 2010, through Jan. 1, 2012. In addition, union members will take five days off without pay between now and the end of the school year in June 2009.
Altogether, the concessions amount to $1.15 million in savings, said city Budget Director Thomas Sherwood. On the school side, Sherwood said there should be $613,000 in savings when salaries paid by grants are factored out.
Robert Henry, chief of staff for the school system, challenged that figure, saying the savings is closer to $500,000.
A tentative agreement was reached Jan. 16 between the city and union leaders, and the contract was ratified late last week. It next goes to the City Council for review.
Anna Montalvo, president of Local 1522, did not return repeated phone calls for comment.
Although 642 of the union's employees work for the school system as classroom and library aides, special education van drivers and clerical workers, the contract
Advertisement

is negotiated by the city. On the city side, the union represents about 119 sanitation, parks, road and recycling workers. On average, Local 1522 workers make about $33,000 a year.

Roughly one-third of Local 1522 employees are paid from state and federal grants. The city cannot recoup savings realized by the zero-salary increase and furloughs for those employees. Sherwood suggested the Board of Education still might be able to keep those dollars and spend them on other school expenses.
As part of the deal, there would be no layoffs of collective-bargaining unit employees through June 30, 2010.
Adam Wood, chief of staff for Mayor Bill Finch, called the negotiations long but fair to the workers. He said that when raises do kick in, so does a health benefit reopener that could affect employee premium costs.
Henry said the no-layoff clause potentially hampers the flexibility of the school board in making budget decisions best for the students. The board is facing the strong possibility of zero-budget increases from the city and state in the next fiscal year.
Sherwood said that if the AFSCME workers aren't getting raises and aren't adding to the cost, "why should you have to cut them?"
Already, 61 school employees, including Supt. of Schools John Ramos and his top administrators, have agreed to take furloughs of up to five days once the board approves a giveback package. Other school employees who have agreed to take furloughs include 21 tradespeople, seven department coordinators and 26 unaffiliated workers.
Henry told the board Monday that the Bridgeport Education Association, which represents city teachers, has decided not to negotiate any concessions. A five-day furlough among teachers could have reaped $4.4 million in savings, according to school officials.
Sherwood said teachers still have an option to come back to the table and bargain.
Also, no concessions have come from the Bridgeport Council of Administrators and Supervisors, which represents school principals and other middle managers.
So far, the school system has identified $2 million in potential savings toward a city request that it not spend $7 million of the $215 million budget it was given for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Mayor Bill Finch is seeking the $7 million to help plug a projected $20 million deficit in the city budget this fiscal year.

New police squad hits the streets
By Aaron Leo
Staff writer
Updated: 01/13/2009 04:25:20 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- A revamped Neighborhood Enforcement Team is back on the streets.
The goal of the Strategic Enforcement Team, or SET, is similar to NET, which targeted quality-of-life issues one neighborhood at a time. This time, four officers from the 12-officer team will be assigned to three sectors encompassing the city, said Detective Keith Bryant, the police spokesman.
"They'll be covering the entire city while they're on," Bryant said.
NET lasted nearly two years, focusing on things like breaks-ins and illegal drug sales in a particular neighborhood, as well as speeding or liquor sales to minors. The squad also organized informational sessions with liquor store and bar owners and area colleges in an effort to head off problems with underage drinking. The squad also was generally accompanied by a probation officer to crack down on offenders who had violated their probation.
NET officers, in an effort to foster trust with people in their neighborhood beats, handed out their cell phone so residents could contact them any time.
The new team has two officers who had served with NET: Jessi Pizarro and Arthur Calvao. The officer in charge of SET is Lt. Stephen Shuck, and Sgt. John Evans is supervisor. Officers Gilberto Del Valle, Ramon Garcia, Edward Golding, Luis Gutierrez, Joseph Liskiewicz, Benjamin Mauro, Gabriel Meszaros and Gerardo Ortiz make up the rest of the team.
Establishment of NET during the administration of Chief Bryan
Advertisement

Norwood had touched off controversy within the Police Department. The police union objected to Norwood's selection of officers for the squad without regard to seniority prerogatives as defined in the union's contract.

Meanwhile, the Detective Bureau has increased its ranks, bringing it to its full complement of 35. Nine officers were recently named provisional detectives: David Garcia, Todd Hoben, Martin Heanue, John Burke, William Reilly, Mark Graham, Mark Belinkie, James Borrico and James Kennedy Jr.
Provisional is a temporary title, given to the nine because of ongoing litigation over the hiring list based on the Sept. 9, 2006, exam. The grading system was changed and the list reformed twice, but a Superior Court judge threw out the two later lists. He ruled the third list had an adverse impact on African-American candidates and violated federal law.

Bridgeport police contract wins final OK

By Bill Cummings
Staff writer

Updated: 01/07/2009 12:02:59 AM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- A new police contract that defers raises for two years and contributes $824,000 toward reducing this year's $20 million deficit has won final approval from the City Council.

While the wage pact for the Police Department's 434 officers passed unanimously Monday night, several council members worried the city will face millions in expenses in year three and four of the contract.

The police union narrowly approved the contract last month.

The contract, which avoids threatened police layoffs, calls for no raises in the first two years and 6 and 5 percent raises in the last two years. Those raises add up to $2.5 million over the two-year period.

"I can't vote for a contract that's going to increase taxes without knowing where the money is coming from," said council member James Holloway, D-139, who later voted for the pact. "This is going to kick in and the city is going to have to find the money."

Mayor Bill Finch conceded the pact represents "a bit of a risk, considering the current climate. But I believe we have to preserve public safety. No one knows what's around the corner. But it's a reasoned man's approach to do this."

"Taxpayers fear what year three will bring," added council member Bob Walsh, D-132. "They don't see a plan for how we get to year three and four. I, too, fear what the future will hold."

Finch said his plan is simple. "If it means cutting other parts of the budget to maintain police and fire,

I will present a budget that does that," the mayor said.

"We are skating on thin ice and fighting hard not to lose financial control to the state," Finch added, referring to possible imposition of a state financial review board if the city does not end the fiscal year in the black.

The Finch administration has sought to convince municipal unions to give back $4.5 million in scheduled raises or other benefits this year to help close the deficit, and the mayor is about halfway toward meeting his goal. Negotiations are under way with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the city's biggest union, which is being asked for $1.2 million in givebacks.

The city has found about $5.2 million in other savings this fiscal year, and asked the Board of Education to return $7 million. If school officials do not meet that request, the city may be forced to make another round of layoffs.

'No-raise' police pact nears approval

By Aaron Leo
Staff writer

Updated: 12/31/2008 04:38:56 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- A police union contract, giving officers no raises through June 2010, is almost official after passing the City Council's Contract Committee Tuesday night.

The proposed four-year pact, which Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 members approved by 15 votes, may save the city $800,000 in the current fiscal year. In the third year of the contract, officers would get a 6 percent raise, followed by a 5 percent boost in the fourth and final year.

The contract now goes to the full council for review.

"I think this is the best we can do given the national financial crisis," said Officer Frank Cuccaro, union president, who attended the meeting in City Hall.

The pact would also prevent the layoffs of nine rookies. Widespread layoffs are one cost-saving measure Mayor Bill Finch implemented since learning of a looming $20 million city budget deficit.

The mayor also has asked for concessions from all city unions, and Cuccaro said the police union "played our part" in helping resolve the deficit.

The result of not negotiating could have been worse, as 51 members of the National Association of Government Employees were issued layoff notices earlier this week after making no concessions.

The police union did battle the mayor's requests with public protests and a no-confidence vote, but the friction subsided with the resignation of Chief Bryan T. Norwood and the appointment of Deputy Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. as acting chief in

October.

Gaudett, who as chief is not part of the union, endorsed the pact.

"I think this gives an opportunity to move forward. We were stuck for a long time," he said.

The pact saves the city money in the short run, but the future is uncertain, said Tom Sherwood, who runs the Office of Policy and Management.

"Today, it's the best we can do. All we can do is hope that the region, the country changes," he said.

Department morale, in the face of no raises, concerned committee member Carlos Silva, D-136.

But Cuccaro replied it is the best deal on the table for now. "It's obvious that the men and women want the money now. It was a hard sell. It was very contentious. Hopefully by next month we'll boost everybody's morale," he said.

Asked if the lack of raises might force out some of the 80 officers eligible for retirement in January, Cuccaro said retirement pay for a city patrol officer, $27,500 a year, is too low to live on in Connecticut.

"Trust me, nobody's leaving. I would say don't count on a mass exodus," he said.

Meanwhile, one city union, the Bridgeport Fire Fighters Association Local 834, has a contract until June 30, 2009. Union President Robert Whitbread has been following negotiations with others.

BridgeportNews.com

EXPANDED STORY: Police union narrowly approves new labor contract

Monday, December 01, 2008

Mayor Bill Finch is hoping the police union’s approval of a new four-year contract will encourage other municipal employee unions to also settle their contracts.

“We appreciate the leadership the police union gave us,” Finch said.

Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 members voted to approve the contract by the narrow margin of 156-141 on Monday night.

The proposed contract still must be approved by the City Council, which appears likely. It would be retroactive to July 1 of this year, when the city’s 2008-09 fiscal year began.

The police contract calls for zero-percent raises for the next two years, followed by 5.7% in year three and 4.8% in year four. The raises in years three and four would be implemented in half-year intervals: At 3% each in July and January of 2010-11, and 2.5% each in July and January of 2011-12.

Also, officers’ take-home vehicles would be eliminated at the discretion of the police chief, and holiday and vacation time payments would not be paid in the current fiscal year but paid in the future.

In addition, the planned layoffs of nine police officers would be rescinded. No changes would be made in police officers’ health-care benefits, but this issue would be up for discussion in two years in a so-called “re-opener,” according to the proposed contract.

Finch’s stated goals in contract negotiations with the police unions and other unions has been to get zero-percent pay raises, higher employee health-care premium and service co-payments, and a reduction in take-home vehicles.

He appears to have met two of those goals, with no givebacks on health-care benefits from the police at this time. However, the pay raises work out to an average of more than 2.5% annually over four years, which has generated some limited criticism from other public officials.

Still, Finch said the contract will save the city considerable money in the short term to help close the potential $20 million budget gap in the current budget.

He said the police contract could save the city about $1 million in 2008-09, on top of the zero-percent pay raises, mostly by putting off holiday and vacation time payments and eliminating many take-home cars.

He also predicted savings would be found by allowing police administrators to implement better management practices that would lower overtime costs and lead to other efficiencies.

“We have to get through this year,” Finch said Monday night. “That’s the focus. Nothing about the city’s finances is easy. Plus, public safety is a priority. You don’t have anything if you’re not safe.”

Finch is seeking concessions from all city unions. Seven other union contracts have lapsed and are in negotiations. The mayor also is asking unions with existing contracts to make givebacks, such as the firefighters union.

The Board of Education also is working with its employee unions to try to find labor contract savings.

Bridgeport cop contract passes by 15 votes
Bridgeport cops agree to forgo raises for 2 years
By AARON LEO
Staff writer
Updated: 12/02/2008 12:38:15 AM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 narrowly ratified a four-year contract Monday that gives no raises for the first two years, but rescinds laying off nine officers.
The vote was 156-141 out of 423 union members eligible to cast ballots.
The voting took place at the Miamogue Yacht Club on Seaview Avenue during the day and evening.
"We made out OK considering the national economic crisis," said Officer Frank Cuccaro, union president.
The pact, which must now go before the City Council for approval, is expected to save the city $800,000 in the current fiscal year, Elaine Ficarra, spokeswoman for Mayor Bill Finch, said in an e-mailed statement Monday night.
She said the deal includes no raises for the next two years, followed by 5.7 percent raises in year three and 4.8 percent in year four. The raises in years three and four will be implemented in half-year intervals. Also, take-home vehicles are to be eliminated at the discretion of the police chief, and holiday and vacation time payments will not be paid in the current fiscal year, she said.
Cuccaro disagreed with the figures on the raises for years three and four. He said they were 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.
"This contract is a good thing for the city and for the police union, and will provide the city with significant savings during the next two fiscal years. Their action is a terrific example of how the unions can work together with the city to effect
Advertisement

budget savings, especially in the turbulent economic times we are facing," Finch said in the statement.

The previous contract expired last July 1, the beginning of the current fiscal year. Most contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year.
Bridgeport is facing a $20 million budget deficit, and Finch has asked for union givebacks totaling $8.9 million to help plug the hole. He had called for laying off 10 high-ranking officers, one of whom later retired.
But the remaining nine could have "bumped" lower-ranking officers, trickling down to the newest officers, a class of recruits sworn in two months ago.
The savings from the elimination of take-home cars, Finch has said, are expected to total anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how many miles the officers drove the city vehicles for personal use. Savings may also come from acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr.'s new personnel deployment plan aimed at reducing overtime, Ficarra said.

Bridgeport cop also on the paranormal beat
By AARON LEO
Staff writer
Updated: 11/29/2008 10:23:37 PM EST

Watch Officer Myers' slideshow
Click photo to enlarge
James Myers, left, stands with pyschic researchers Lorraine Warren and Tony Spera.
«
1
2
3
»
After patrolling Bridgeport for 11 years, Police Officer James Myers has found another calling: the spiritual realm.
Break-ins at the downtown complex of the shuttered Savoy Hotel and the Poli Palace/Majestic theaters got him inside the rundown buildings, where he took photos, an old hobby for the 38-year-old father of three.
But these photos were different from other abandoned buildings he's shot.
"Things started to show up on my camera," he said.
Not just anything: orbs, which indicate the presence of spiritual energy. And lots them.
Then a chance meeting in Bridgeport Hospital with famed psychic and Monroe resident Lorraine Warren set him on the path to becoming a paranormal researcher. While working there, he heard Warren, 81, was a patient and approached her. She knew his name before he introduced himself.
As Myers recalled: "She said, 'Jimmy, how are you?'"
Since then, in his spare time, Myers has been assisting Warren and her son-in-law, Tony Spera, with investigations for the A&E network's show "Paranormal State." He helps interview people and collect data with recording equipment.
"They are pretty much calling me their psychic photographer," Myers said. "[Warren] says I draw the energy."
He's not sure of that, but supernatural things seem to like his camera. While taking Warren and Tony and Judy Spera on a tour of the theater complex on Sept. 7, he took photos covered with orbs. They also appeared
Advertisement

in photos he took of the Colonial Theater on Boston Avenue, where the Warrens had dates.

Sept. 7 is the birthday of Warren's late husband, Ed Warren, the famed demonologist. He died on Aug. 29, 2006, and worked at the Poli as a teenager where they sometimes saw movies, Warren said.
Myers assembled his photos into a slide show dedicated to the Warrens, and Lorraine Warren is showing it during her lectures all over the United States. He goes by the handle 826 Paranormal and says he is "looking at the unknown through a cop's eyes."
He said considers himself "open-minded but skeptical."
"I go in with the same attitude as at work. It's just doing another form of investigation," Myers said.
It's also a hobby and stress reliever that has proven a little creepy sometimes. While he's never seen anything with his naked eyes, he's definitely felt things.
"The only time I ever felt something [in the Poli] was in the Savoy at the main desk," he said. "It felt very, very cold, like an ice chill down my back."
Warren said she thinks there may have been two homicides there in the 1940s. The team checked for drafts but found nothing.
Before he met Warren, he took photos at the former Norwich Psychiatric Hospital, where he experienced the most disturbing thing to date."It felt like ice water being poured down the back of my shirt," he said.
He also got blurred photographs at a house in Monroe he believed to be haunted. That house has since burned down.
But, he added, "I've been disappointed on many cases."
Warren, who said she can see auras and can learn about a person from them, felt something special for Myers immediately upon their meeting.
"I was very impressed by him. He seemed very sincere. I could see a man who had a really deep interest," she said. His job as a police officer makes him disciplined, a requirement for any paranormal researcher, according to Warren.
Myers is also wary, but not scared, in paranormal situations.
"He's a guy that isn't afraid," she said, adding, "You've got to be leery. It's stupid not to be leery" in haunted areas.
And the Savoy complex is still occupied. Warren said she had a vision of the past during a tour: a couple watching a movie in the Poli, as if time had stopped for them.
In Myers' photos of her sitting in the theaters, Warren is surrounded by orbs. They float about the ceiling. They represent people attached to the building, some possibly actors who gave up family and personal lives to perform there, she said.
Still, Myers' big test came Mischief Night, Oct. 30, when he and a Stamford police officer, who has been helping the Warrens for years, stayed overnight in the Occult Museum in the ghost hunters' Monroe home. People who try to stay there overnight have fled in fear, Warren said. It contains artifacts from their investigations, some famous for reportedly leading to the death of anyone who touched them.
Myers didn't touch, but looking through a video camera, he saw a moving orb. "It looked like there was a ping-pong ball bouncing around my camera," Myers said.
Working with Lorraine and the Speras, visions like that could become a regular sight for the officer. But he maintains a professional attitude in his work.
"He's taking photos, he's taking recordings, he's gaining knowledge," Warren said. "He's a good listener. He doesn't go foolhardy into anything. He's not in everybody's face."
"All in all, he's really proven himself to us," she said.

Bridgeport has tentative deal with cop union
Bridgeport contract avoids layoffs, restricts use of city vehicles
By MARIAN GAIL BROWN
Staff writer
Updated: 11/23/2008 10:58:04 PM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- City police would forgo raises for two years and lose city vehicles for personal use, but nine jobs slated to get the axe would be saved under a tentative pact between the mayor and police union.
Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 and the city announced Saturday that they have reached a conditional agreement on a new four-year contract that may save the city $800,000 in the current fiscal year. In the third year of the contract, cops would get a 6 percent raise, followed by a 5 percent boost in the fourth and final year of the deal.
"It's a little higher" than the department's usual raises, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch acknowledged Sunday. "Our primary focus is avoiding state financial takeover, and with a little bit of luck in year three [of the contract] we're hoping to see some growth in our grand list. There were numerous meetings and lots of phone calls between both sides. Let's just say both sides exhausted each other."
Bridgeport is facing a $20 million deficit and Finch has asked for union givebacks totaling $8.9 million to help plug the hole. Finch has also threatened layoffs and wants to sell some city-owned property.
The police union still has to ratify the contract. Union officials have scheduled a meeting to discuss the proposed deal followed by a vote next Monday, the same day Finch wants the City Council to send the deal to its Contracts Committee for review.
Frank Cuccaro, president of Local 1159, called
Advertisement
the zero percent raises for the first two years, followed by the raises in the third and fourth year, "fair raises."

About the package as a whole, "given the economic conditions in our country," Cuccaro said, "I think it's a fair deal."
Cuccaro said union officials would have ample opportunity to educate officers about the contract provisions during lineups and roll calls, as well as at the union's upcoming meeting.
The proposed contract will restore the jobs of nine officers laid off in October and return the force to 423 officers. In addition to the zero percent raises in the first two years of the deal, the contract would cut vacation time payments for the remainder of this fiscal year, and officers would not be allowed to take home police cars unless authorized by the chief. The savings from that policy change, Finch said, is expected to save the city anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how many miles the officers drove the city vehicles for personal use.
"Unfortunately, nobody has been managing or keeping track of how often city vehicles are out for personal use. There are some positions, such as police chief and fire chief and their deputies who need to have around-the-clock access to their cars. But most positions don't require that," Finch said. "So, we are going to take a harder look at who is using [city vehicles] for personal use" and curtail that to save money.

SET supplants NET for Bpt. cops
By AARON LEO
Staff writer
Updated: 11/20/2008 10:31:07 AM EST

BRIDGEPORT -- The police Neighborhood Enforcement Team is getting a new name, new faces and more officers, but acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. says its mission to target quality-of-life issues will not change.
Gaudett announced this week that he plans to organize a unit called the Strategic Enforcement Team that will "capitalize on the success of NET in making a positive impact on the city's neighborhoods."
"The bar has been set and it's a pretty high bar in terms of performance of the [Neighborhood Enforcement] team," the acting chief said.
The squad, started in February 2007 by then-Chief Bryan T. Norwood, focused on one neighborhood at a time, without having to respond to the range of calls that patrol officers are dispatched to investigate. NET dealt with everything from gangs to loitering to underage drinking, and recovered weapons, seized drugs and arrested probation violators. Both Mayor Bill Finch and the public cited the team for cleaning up problems in the neighborhoods. Norwood resigned in October after a 2 1/2 years to head the police force in Richmond, Va.
There were about a dozen NET officers before they were all reassigned to the Patrol Division last week. But they can bid to get assigned to the new SET, with a deadline of Monday, said Elaine Ficarra, spokeswoman for Finch.
Gaudett said SET will have 12 officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant. It will "assist the Patrol Division in the reduction of crime and improve
Advertisement

the quality-of-life of city residents through the use of short-term crime suppression in targeted areas," he said.

It could be in more places at the same time, according the chief.
The new squad, however, will also comply with the union contract, in which assignments to specialized units are based on seniority. The union argued Norwood had violated that proviso in handpicking NET members without regard to seniority, and a state labor arbitrator agreed.
The arbitrator sided with the union, but Norwood and the city appealed the ruling. Norwood had also been seeking right of assignment, or the ability to handpick, members of other the department's other specialized units.
That appeal now has been dropped, and the SET standards will include seniority, physical fitness and disciplinary records, Ficarra said.
Officer Frank Cuccaro, president of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, approved of the new unit.
"I think the SET team will be very successful. Chief Gaudett is moving the department forward in the right direction. We have come a long way in a very short time," he said.
The SET proposal drew comments at the Board of Police Commissioners meeting this week where Gaudett announced the team's creation.
State Rep. Andres Ayala Jr., D-Bridgeport, and landlord Frank Martinez, 73, were among the supporters of the quality-of-life approach taken by NET.
"I had several constituents who had a pleasant experience with the NET team," Ayala said. "The team was probably one of the most effective strategies I've seen."
Martinez, who owns a block in the East Side, said he works with police to keep tenants safe and NET helped clean his buildings of loitering and related issues.
The city has had other specialized police details that dealt with quality-of-life, such as Mayor Joseph Ganim's MOST, or Mayor's Office Special Targets, in the 1990s.

Bridgeport layoffs on hold

Bridgeport job cuts 'on hold' as workers remain employed

By BILL CUMMINGS
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/28/2008 12:25:30 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- Andrew Abate, the city's longtime director of the Water Pollution Control Authority, is still in his office.

So are the 10 police officers Mayor Bill Finch planned to lay off because some -- particularly those in the department's top ranks -- were racking up too much overtime.

In fact, it's hard to find any workers who have actually been laid off because of Finch's recent order that 31 employees be axed from the city's payroll. The list was to include 10 high-ranking police officers, five park police officers, Abate and 15 other City Hall workers.

The layoffs were announced at the end of September, and were scheduled to take effect last Friday. But the only people laid off as of Monday were five members of the city's parks police force. And under union rules, the senior park police officer "bumped" a school police cop and took his job.

The reason for the hold on layoffs appears primarily attributable to union and civil service rules, and the mayor's apparent lack of knowledge about both.

Elaine Ficarra, Finch's spokeswoman, confirmed Monday the 10 police officers targeted for layoff -- the deputy chiefs, sergeants and lieutenants -- still have their jobs.

The administration is now negotiating with the police union, and if sufficient savings are found, the positions may be spared. Officially, the layoffs are "on hold," Ficarra said.

Abate, who also was issued a layoff notice, remains on the job as well.

The WPCA is reviewing its operations to see if other savings can be found to allow him to keep his job, Ficarra said.

The administration is also negotiating with all of the city's other unions over the fate of City Hall workers targeted for layoff. If departments can find sufficient savings to offset a layoff, that job may be saved, she said.

"Everyone is in negotiation," said Ficarra, who indicated a potential deal is on the table regarding police department layoffs. "We are hopeful a resolution will soon be reached."

The 31 layoffs Finch announced in September were intended to save $1.9 million, although that figure was later reduced to $1.3 million when the savings were calculated on a fiscal year basis.

The actual number of layoffs dropped to 28 after it was discovered that two part-time election machine mechanics were included, along with one Civil Service Department employee. The Civil Service Commission ruled that its employee, Donna Reisinger, cannot be laid off because the department is exempt from mayoral control.

The commission also ruled the 10 police officers, despite the fact that the police union has no bumping rights in its contract, fall under civil service Rule 13, meaning police union members have bumping rights, after all.

Ralph Jacobs, the city's personnel director, said the Civil Service Commission ruling means each targeted officer can "bump" a less senior officer, in some cases all the way down to a patrol officers working the streets.

"People would still be laid off, but not in the manner that some people originally thought," Jacobs said.

When Finch announced his layoffs, the mayor said police did not have bumping rights and stressed that no patrol officers would be laid off.

Ficarra could not say if Finch now favors laying off patrol officers.

The layoffs were designed to help reduce a looming deficit in the city's $492 million budget for 2008-09, which now hovers around $6 million.

Police Board names officers

By Aaron leo
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/24/2008 11:35:50 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- David Hall Sr. has been elected president of the Board of Police Commissioners and Theresa Brown vice president.

Hall, 69, a U.S. Army veteran, has served on the board since 1999 and served as vice president since 2002. He was acting president since Thomas L. Kanasky Jr. resigned in June.

"Your peer group elects you and that's always a plus," Hall said, adding that his goals would be to create policies to deal with fraud, manipulation and abuse of sick leave and encourage new police supervisors to get more leadership training.

"It's about managing multiple priorities," he said. "The mayor [Bill Finch] is looking for a spirit of cooperation."

Hall said he would continue on the board "as long as I feel I can do it."

Brown, a lawyer in New Haven, joined the board in January 2004.

"I'm honored to have been elected and I look forward to working with Commissioner Hall, for whom I have the greatest respect. I hope to help keep the city of Bridgeport safe and on the move," she said.

The elections were unanimous.

Cop union offers alternatives to layoffs

By AARON LEO
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/14/2008 11:38:10 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- With the approach of Oct. 24, the last day on the job for 15 police officers laid off by Mayor Bill Finch, both the police union president and several members of the Board of Police Commissioners are suggesting alternative ways to close the city budget's ballooning deficit.

"Redeployment would fill holes in certain areas of the Police Department and it would in turn lower overtime costs," said Officer Frank Cuccaro, president of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159.

He proposed that the mayor stop hiring of administrators paid $80,000 a year or more throughout the city, as well as stop using private lawyers to handle some of the city's litigation.

Plus, Cuccaro said, the class of 19 rookies who graduated from the Bridgeport Police Academy last Friday will save the department money, "if they're deployed properly."

The 15 police personnel are among of 31 city workers who Finch announced last month will be laid off. He also cut every municipal department's budget by 10 percent and specifically ordered then-Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood to cut department overtime by half to close the budget gap. Norwood announced last week that he is leaving his job here to become police chief in Richmond, Va.

The Police Department overran its overtime budget by about $1.3 million in the last fiscal year.

Among those people Finch laid off are Deputy Police Chiefs James Honis and Adam Radzimirski, each paid a salary of $97,258, the second and

third highest on the list. Also laid off were four parks police officers, a school police officer, two captains, one lieutenant and five sergeants.

Finch said Monday that he appreciated new ideas, but had no further comment.

"All these items are under consideration and they're all part of the collective bargaining process. I'm hopeful and grateful that people are putting ideas forward," he said.

The City Council also recently took another step designed to rein in the police budget by approving the creation of a new assistant police chief position -- the non-union post will have a salary of from $92,502 to $105,069 a year -- to help the chief control overtime and conduct day-to-day operations. Now, the chief is the only non-union job in the department.

Daniel S. Roach, a member of the police board, said he would try to avoid layoffs by rearranging schedules.

"If it's a question of excessive overtime, I would be willing to work out something with the deputy chiefs on the chopping block. Keep them on, but without overtime," he said. "I'm in favor of keeping tabs on overtime as opposed to layoffs."

"I would never be in favor" of laying off patrol officers, he added.

Layoffs didn't have to be one of Finch's first steps to control spending, said David Hall, the police board's vice president.

"I admire his enthusiasm and his efforts to solve this problem, but I may not admire his management style the same way," Hall said of Finch.

Finch should let the department heads form a savings plan for their own areas. "They know what they can do without," Hall said.

Andrew Nunn, the city's chief financial officer, has insisted that department heads were involved in the cutting process, despite those who claimed they were not.

Ana Cruz, another police board member, called for compromise. Raises should be frozen and highly paid administrators should take pay cuts while the city's finances are scrutinized.

"This calls for the city to form a group to strategize and examine expenditures," she said. "We need our police officers to help protect our city."

Lower salaries "are better than not having a job, period," Cruz said.

Joseph Gaudett Jr. heads a second family

By AARON LEO
Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 10/15/2008 12:11:30 AM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

Newly appointed Acting Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph... (Christian Abraham/Staff photographer)

BRIDGEPORT -- Deputy Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr., a married father of two, is now in charge of a second family: the Bridgeport Police Department.

Gaudett, 47, will be the acting police chief after he's sworn in this morning, replacing Bryan T. Norwood, who is expected to resign this morning, according to police officials and Mayor Bill Finch.

Gaudett's promotion was announced Tuesday night in City Hall at a special meeting of the city's Board of Police Commissioners. A search for a permanent replacement could take six to eight months, Finch said. Norwood was sworn in last week as police chief in Richmond, Va., after serving 2 1/2 years in Bridgeport.

Finch said Tuesday that serving in the interim as chief is just as challenging as being the permanent chief.

"When you're on duty 365 days, 24 hours, seven days [a week], there is no interim," he said.

Under Norwood, the police department reduced crime "dramatically," and Gaudett will carry that on, Finch said.

"He is a tremendous police officer and he will help keep us safe. His family has nearly a century of policework," Finch. His grandfather, father and sister were officers.

The mayor called Gaudett "a bright star, a professional, a policeman's policeman. We're getting a great leader," Finch added.

Gaudett, who started in 1983, thanked his colleagues, family and friends who gathered in the City Council Chambers.

"I appreciate all your support. I promise

I won't let you down," he said.

The announcement ended a week of uncertainty started last Tuesday when Norwood became Richmond's chief.

At first his last day was to be at the end of the month, but officials said Norwood agreed to resign today.

The department and all city departments are suffering from cuts caused by a growing city budget deficit. Finch had ordered Norwood to cut overtime in half after the department overspent that budget by $1.3 million.

In August, the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 voted no confidence in both Finch and Norwood, and Finch laid off 15 officers.

But those gloomy issues seemed forgotten Tuesday night as Gaudett stood with his wife, Diane, to accept the job. They have been married for 22 years and have two daughters, Joceyln, 19, and Camryn, 10.

Camryn jumped into her father's arms for a big hug after her father finished speaking.

In February 2007, when Gaudett was promoted to deputy chief, she pinned his badge on him. On Sept. 9, 1969, an 8-year-old Gaudett pinned a sergeant's badge on his father.

Gaudett was born in Bridgeport, and attended St. Augustine's School. He now resides with his family in Newtown.

Officer Frank Cuccaro, police union president, called Gaudett "a fine choice."

"I look forward to working with him," Cuccaro said.

Gaudett, who was deputy chief of administrative services, has also been working on the radio system for a combination dispatch center for the police and fire departments that is being built on Housatonic Avenue.

"What's better than having the guy who helped design it be the chief now?" Finch said.

The mayor said that despite the city's problems, everything has had a silver lining. He said Gaudett will improve department morale.

A larger ceremony is planned for this week, officials said.

19 rookie cops step up in Bridgeport

By AARON LEO
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/10/2008 11:23:01 PM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

The 33rd Basic Training Session Graduation Ceremonies was held at Bridgeport City Hall Council...

BRIDGEPORT -- Melody Pribesh started what could become a new family tradition Friday night.

The city police sergeant of 11 years pinned a police officer's badge on her son, Donald A. Bensey III, at a ceremony in City Hall where he and 18 others were sworn in, the city's 33rd class to graduate from the Bridgeport Police Academy. Bensey also had the highest academic score in the class.

"I'm very proud of him. He worked hard and he did really well," she said.

Pribesh, who also has three grown daughters, said she might pin badges on two more of her children someday.

"Two of my daughters are hoping," she said.

Meanwhile, 58-year-old Gilberto Feliciano, husband of 12-year veteran Officer Minerva Feliciano, got his police badge, three years after retiring from the U.S. Postal Service.

He completed 35 years at that job, but his heart was elsewhere. "I want to follow in my wife's steps," he said. "I feel great. I feel excited. I'm happy. I finally reached my goal."

"I'm really proud of him," his wife said.

Feliciano said he tested for the New York City police department during his 15th year with the postal service, but decide to stay with the post office. Also, the couple has two grown children, one a veteran and the other currently in the military.

Six of the city rookies live in Bridgeport. Sworn in to Bridgeport's department on Friday were Bensey, John R. Cholakian, Joseph J. Cruz III, Michael R. Davila, Feliciano,

Ralph R. Fensore, Thomas F. Flaherty III, Thomas A. Gallbronner, Jeffrey A. Holtz, Omar Jimenez, Jarah Mathews-Dixon, John Pachera, Roberto Quintanilla Jr., Michael L. Salemme III, Christopher Smith, Matthew T. Szymczak, Angel M. Vazquez Jr., Robert J. Voccola and Alexander M. Wilde.

The rookies will earn about $42,000 a year to start, and join 432 other uniformed officers.

Also, Brandon Kaufman became a Bethel officer; Onoria Errichetti, Easton; Justin G. Bisceglie, Domenic Monteleone and Julio J. Rodriguez, Norwalk; John V. Kekac and Brian P. McPadden, Shelton; Anthony M. Giansanti and Robert M. Muschett, Stratford; and Jeremy P. Meurice, West Haven.

In Bridgeport, the new officers must complete at least 400 hours of field training and they finish their probation four months after that, said Lt. Aida Remele, head of training. The academy lasted 25 weeks.

Chief Bryan T. Norwood was slated to speak, according to the ceremony's program, but he did not attend. He leaves at the end of the month to head the Richmond, Va., police, after 2 1/2 years in Bridgeport. A meeting to select an interim chief, also scheduled for Friday, was pushed back to Tuesday.

But Remele and three deputy police chiefs addressed the graduates, as did Bensey.

Bensey said police work changes daily. "Today, an officer must be sharp and continuously trained. Our education will not end today. It seems the more you learn, the more there is to learn.," he said.

He also thanked Norwood, "who literally ran us to the ground" in the academy, he said.

Assistant police chief job to be filled

By BILL CUMMINGS
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/09/2008 06:25:47 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- City officials are forging ahead with plans to fill the newly created job of assistant police chief despite Chief Bryan T. Norwood's decision to leave at the end of the month to take another job.

The assistant chief job -- a post that will be neither union- nor civil service-affiliated -- was authorized by the City Council by a 12-1 vote at its Monday night meeting. The job is being established with the specific administrative goals of cutting police overtime and overseeing discipline in the department.

An interim police chief is expected to be announced Friday by Mayor Bill Finch to fill in until the job can be filled on a permanent basis. The process will take months, however, as required by the city charter, including a nationally advertised search, civil service testing, background checks and interviews. Finch will make the final decision on a new chief from among three top candidates.

Before Norwood's unexpected decision to leave and take the job as police chief in Richmond, Va., Finch had called for the new assistant chief's job to be established. The council still must approve some details regarding the job, including a proposed salary range of $92,502 to $105,069.

"This is a critical position," Finch said. "The chief is asking for another person who is not a member of a bargaining unit to be his right hand and do the discipline. This is necessary to get overtime under control."

City police last year racked up nearly $9

million in overtime, $1.3 million more than budgeted.

Finch's spokeswoman Elaine Ficarra on Thursday said that Norwood's departure would not have an impact on filling the assistant chief job, although she said officials have not decided whether it will wait until the a new chief is hired.

Finch last month announced that 15 police officers will be laid off -- five parks police officers and 10 high-ranking officers -- some of whom are among the highest-paid officers on the force, thanks mostly to overtime. Overall, the mayor is laying off 31 workers in the latest round of cuts designed to control a growing budget deficit.

City Council member Bob Walsh, D-132, said he doesn't understand why the assistant police chief would not be a civil service employee, even though the chief is.

"This will be the only position in the department that's not civil service. It's been said the chief wants to hire his own person, so it's 'OK' to bypass civil service?" Walsh said, who voted against the resolution to create the job.

City Council President Thomas McCarthy, D-133, said the city's Civil Service Commission voted unanimously to exempt the assistant chief from civil service requirements.

"This has to be unanimous," McCarthy told the council. "It's up to the commission to decide if the job is tested or not. All you are voting on is if you want this position. I'm in favor of this. Part of the role is to get the overtime down."

Article from the BridgeportNews.com

Norwood quits as Bridgeport police chief to take Virginia job

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Police Chief Bryan Norwood

Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood announced Oct. 8 he will resign as Bridgeport’s chief to become chief of the Richmond, Va., Police Department. His last day in the Bridgeport position will be Oct. 31.

Police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Norwood began looking for a new job shortly after the union passed a “no-confidence” vote in the chief and in Mayor Bill Finch, who continues to demand the department cut costs to help the city cope with an economic crisis.

Norwood has been battling the police union on a number of issues, from division appointments to disciplinary actions.

The sources said Norwood was at odds with Finch over budget cuts the mayor wants in overtime. The department was millions of dollars over budget in overtime in the last fiscal year. Finch has announced he would lay off 10 high-ranking officers at the end of the month to help trim costs.

Finch said Norwood had done a lot to improve the Bridgeport Police Department. "He’s done so much with our department to streamline workflow, increase police presence in the neighborhoods and to help diversify the ranks,” Finch said. “In his two-and-a-half years here, he’s instituted many 21st century policing techniques that have resulted in a double-digit drop in violent crimes, and a reduction of drugs and guns on our streets. “

Norwood drew the ire of rank-and-file officers in August when he disbanded the department’s 12-officer Traffic Division as a cost-cutting measure. The outgoing chief also reportedly considered cuts to other specialized squads, including the K-9 Unit, Mounted Unit and the Tactical Narcotics Team, to curb costs.

The chief also has been battling with the police union over how officers are appointed to the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, known as NET, a specialized unit that targets crime in specific locations. The union has insisted the appointments must be made based on seniority while Norwood has wanted the flexibility to hand-pick NET members.

According to a story on the Richmond Times Dispatch Web site, Norwood is to take over a department with 759 officers, 167 civilian employees and an annual budget of $79 million. The Bridgeport Police Department has about 440 officers and an annual budget of about $43 million.

Norwood was the city’s youngest-ever police chief when he took over the Park City department at age 39 in 2006. A Bridgeport native, Norwood became chief in Bridgeport after he served as an assistant chief in New Haven and also spent a year on assignment with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. His father, Al Norwood, was a longtime Bridgeport school administrator and now is retired and lives in Virginia.

Finch said a nationwide search for a new chief would begin immediately. “We would hope to have a new chief in place in several months," he said.

In the meantime, an acting chief will be named to oversee the department. A special meeting of the Police Commission will take place Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. in the Mayor’s City Hall Annex Conference Room to introduce the new acting chief to the commission.

Norwood leaves as Bpt Cop chief(Connecticut Post 10/08/08)

Norwood leaves as Bridgeport cop chief

By DANIEL TEPFER
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 10/08/2008 10:38:37 PM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP Bryan T. Norwood, left, new Richmond, Va., chief of...

BRIDGEPORT -- Bryan T. Norwood, the city's embattled police chief, resigned suddenly after only 2 1/2 years on the job to become chief in Richmond, Va.

Norwood, the target of a no-confidence vote by the local police union this summer, accepted the Richmond job Wednesday after promising Mayor Bill Finch that he would not make a final decision until Friday.

He currently is paid $102,793 under a five-year contract he signed with the city in April 2006, while the range for the Richmond job is expected to be $109,000 to $165,000.

Finch said he didn't learn that Norwood, who was in Richmond for the announcement Wednesday, had taken the chief's job there until he saw the posting online.

Norwood could not be reached for comment.

No one has yet been named to temporarily fill Norwood's post, although Capt. Lynn Kerwin, the head of the department's Detective Bureau, is considered a frontrunner. A permanent chief can be appointed only by the process set forth in the City Charter, which includes a nationwide search and Civil Service tests. The mayor makes the final selection.

"Chief Norwood had delivered a letter to me around 10 a.m. yesterday," Finch said. "It was a formal letter of resignation, and I called him back. I said, 'Are you sure you want to do this?' I told him I know there are some problems here, but that Richmond is not the ideal city either. It has its problems. It was his feeling it was a great opportunity -- bigger city, more

money and it was closer to his mother and father who live in Virginia."

Finch said Norwood agreed to give him until Friday to make a counter offer. "But I guess they wouldn't let him out of Richmond without signing," the mayor added.

But, Finch added, "It's an opportunity to use this vacancy to help the morale in the department that has suffered lately."

He acknowledged that Kerwin would be a top contender to be interim chief, but he wouldn't rule out the four deputy police chiefs, including James Honis and Adam Radzmirski, who are slated to be laid off at the end of the month as a cost-cutting measure.

"Layoffs can be made, layoffs can be rescinded," the mayor said, explaining that changes can be made for the good of the city. "Our first priority is public safety," he added.

Finch said he would also not rule out appointing Deputy Chief Anthony Armeno to temporarily head the department. Armeno was temporary chief in the months before Norwood was named chief here despite protests from women's groups after the Connecticut Post disclosed Armeno had previously been accused of hitting a female officer and dislocating her shoulder.

However, Armeno scored too low on the promotional examination to be considered for permanent appointment as chief.

"It would be improper to say anyone is more or less in the running," Finch said. "We have a good bench of substitute players."

He said a temporary replacement for Norwood, whose last day is officially Oct. 31, would likely be named by the end of the week.

City Council member Andre Baker, D-139, a member of the council's Public Safety Committee, said he was not surprised by Norwood's resignation.

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know this was going to happen. I've talked to him many times and you could hear the discouragement in his voice. He just wanted to get the support he needed," Baker said. "I'm just so scared of the direction we are now going to move in."

Officer Frank Cuccaro, president of the Local 1159, the police union, said, "The department as a whole is looking to move forward and I'd like to say I would hope that the city administration would take into consideration hiring from within for the next chief."

"It's not a total shock," said Daniel Roach, a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. He said he had heard Norwood had been testing for other jobs. "I wish him all the best."

However, he added, any sudden resignation by the department's leader "always comes as a surprise."

Norwood leaves a department mired in controversy, with orders from Finch to slash overtime, and beset by criticism from the rank-and-file for assigning officers to the Neighborhood Enforcement Team and for disbanding other special-duty units. About half of the union's membership in August approved a motion of "no confidence" in Norwood.

Because of the city's budget crisis, Finch has also laid off 15 police officers, effective at the end of the month.

"We're in perfect storm,'' Norwood said of disruptions at the Police Department in an August interview. "We're in a fiscal crisis. We're in a transition from federal oversight. We're in contract negotiations. We're half-way through the contract of a chief who has a different management style.''

Norwood, who grew up in Bridgeport, became the city's youngest chief at 39 years old when he was hired for a five-year contract. His father, Alexander, is a former associate superintendent of schools in Bridgeport. He later moved with his family to Monroe and graduated from Masuk High School.

The assistant chief of New Haven police at the time he was hired for the Bridgeport job, Norwood was chosen by then-Mayor John M. Fabrizi for the job from among three finalists.

In Richmond, according to the Web site of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Norwood will administer a department much larger than Bridgeport's. The capital city of Virginia has a force of about 760 sworn officers and 170 civilian employees with an annual budget of $79 million. Bridgeport has 432 officers and a budget of about $43 million.

Staff writer Aaron Leo contributed to this report

Police protest Finch layoffs
By Bill Cummings
Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 10/07/2008 12:27:18 AM EDT

Click photo to enlarge
A large group of Bridgeport police officers walk out en... (Brian A. Pounds/Staff photographer )
«
1
2
»
BRIDGEPORT -- As police officers protested layoffs in the department, Mayor Bill Finch on Monday used his State of the City address to issue a gloomy assessment of the city's finances and warn that everyone must "do more with less."
"Last December, when I took office, the city was like a runaway bus on a bumpy road. Today, we've got control of the bus, but the road remains very bumpy," Finch declared.
"Many of the decisions we must make will, no doubt be difficult, unpleasant, and at times, unpopular," Finch said during his speech before the City Council.
As the mayor spoke, more than 100 off-duty city police officers ringed the council chambers, standing in mostly silent protest against the 15 police officers -- 10 higher ranked officers and five park policemen -- whom Finch recently laid off.
The group of police officers said little during the mayor's speech, although several did shout out, "Why lay us off."
Finch wasted little time reminding council members and the general public that when he took office, the city faced a nearly $20 million deficit. He said his administration was forced to drain the city's fund balance to close the gap.
That fund balance, or reserve account, stands at a mere $9 million out the current $492 million budget, far less than credit agencies want to see. The city is now running a roughly $6 million deficit, and Finch stressed that he is taking many cost-cutting steps to rein that in.
"To get us
Advertisement
from where we are to where we want our city to be, our guiding philosophy must be to do more with less," Finch said.

Before police marched to the council meeting, officers organized outside City Hall. Frank Cuccaro, the police union president, said it's unfair Finch targeted the department's highest-paid officers, and said the move violates civil service laws.
"This will cost thousands of dollars more in lawsuits in court," Cuccaro said, signaling the union's intention to fight the Finch administration.
In all, 31 city employees were notified two weeks ago that their jobs were being cut. As the 2008-09 budget was put together during the spring, Finch sent out 110 layoff notices, although some of those job losses were restored by the City Council.
Finch said the national economic downturn has caused turmoil in the city's budget as tax revenues dropped and expenses rose. He blamed most of the layoffs on a poor national economy, the rash of home foreclosures and the deficit he inherited from former Mayor John Fabrizi.
"When I took over this office a little less than a year ago, I realized we had been misinformed and misled about the financial situation. We were not in as good shape as we were led to believe, and therefore, I was forced to make hard choices immediately to address a nearly $20 million deficit that I had unexpectedly inherited," Finch said.
About half of that deficit, the mayor said, was caused by reliance on revenue that did not come in as projected, such as $4.5 million from the sale of Steel Point to the city's chosen developers, who hope to one day create a $1.5 billion community of shops, condominiums and other features on the waterfront peninsula.
The mayor didn't mention that his 2008-09 budget contains the same Steel Point revenue, and inclusion of that money is now fueling a new deficit.
And while the mayor didn't specifically address the cops who protested during his speech, he did point out that the city is hiring 35 new firefighters and 50 new police officers.
Still, Finch said the news is "not all gloomy," and cited his efforts to restrain spending and collect back taxes. He touted several economic development projects now under way, such as building more downtown housing.

Police brass among Bpt. layoffs
By BILL CUMMINGS
Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 09/22/2008 05:59:06 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- Mayor Bill Finch said Monday that 31 employees, including 10 ranking police supervisors, will be laid off to help stem a growing budget deficit.
The layoffs will begin within 30 days and are expected to save the city about $1.9 million. The list of employees to be laid off includes 10 police administrators, 20 City Hall workers and one Health Department employee. City officials initially announced that 15 police administrators would be laid off, but later in the day corrected the number to 10.
"I'm not happy about this and I do it with a heavy heart," Finch said. "But this is a serious time. We have to do more with less."
Finch said police layoffs -- the Fire Department will not lose any employees -- do not include rank-and-file officers who patrol city streets. "We have done our level best to make sure this does not impact public safety."
City Council member Robert Curwen, D-138, the co-chairman of the council's Budget and Appropriations Committee, said he supports the work force reductions. "He's doing the right thing."
But Curwen said Finch had promised to include council leaders like himself in discussions over who to layoff and apparently didn't. "This is all news to me. I don't know what to say. There is no communication," he said.
Officer Frank Cuccaro, the president of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, said, "We're very upset at the current chain of events."
Bridgeport is not the only large city in
Advertisement
Connecticut laying off workers. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano last week laid off 35 city workers and Hartford's 2008-09 budget calls for 119 layoffs. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez has hinted that more layoffs may be needed to reduce a growing budget deficit.

Earlier this year, Finch announced plans to lay off 110 workers, although some of those jobs were restored when the 2008-09 budget was adopted. Still, as a result of that round of layoffs, the city now employs 70 fewer people than when Finch first took office, and there are 18 unfilled positions.
About 2,000 people work on the city side of government, and about 2,700 work for the Board of Education.
This year's $492 million municipal budget already is running a deficit of at least $6 million, mostly caused by the likely loss of $4.5 million in anticipated revenue from the sale of Steel Point to developers, a transaction that is not likely this year, and $1.5 million in union concessions called for by Finch, which have not come through.
The city's 2007-08 budget ended the fiscal year with a $20 million deficit, which was mostly covered using reserve funds. The fund balance in the budget now stands at a mere $9 million.
A financial report recently issued to the City Council indicates there was a $1 million deficit in July, the first month of the 2008-09 fiscal year. Those figures do not include the likely $6 million shortfall, so the current deficit probably more like $7 million.
The names of those targeted for layoff were withheld Monday as officials try to notify each employee. The Finch administration promised to release the names as soon as everyone has been told their fate.
The mayor said the tide of red ink is caused in part by home foreclosures sweeping the nation and the city, where 5,200 subprime loans had been issued. The mayor said revenues from home sales and real estate levies are down, as well as fees for a variety of permits.
At the same time, municipal expenses, particularly for energy and health care, are rising, Finch said.
The mayor said a combination of 20 percent spending reductions in all departments, a hiring freeze, employee furloughs and layoffs is expected to save about $3.5 million this fiscal year.
"We are holding the line on spending across all departments," the mayor said.
Other measures designed to save money include a future audit of the city's health insurance plan with the goal of eliminating employees and their families no longer eligible to be part of the plan. The city's Bootfinder program, which identifies motor vehicles on which taxes are owed, will target tax delinquents more aggressively.
The police layoffs target some of the department's highest-paid administrators, a group that collectively receives the largest amount of overtime each year.
The Police Department last year spent $8.8 million in overtime, $1.3 million more than budgeted. Asked why top police administrators account for a disproportionate share of the department's overtime, Finch said, "I never got a satisfactory response to that question."
At the mayor's behest, the department is creating a non-union, assistant chief position. That official, once hired, will handle overtime assignments and other administrative functions.
The mayor renewed his call for city employees to work a week without pay, saying about 50 non-union employees have already signed up, saving about $100,000. Union members have so far refused to participate in the furlough.

Cops, supervisors disagree on morale

By AARON LEO
Staff writer

Article Last Updated: 09/21/2008 11:00:20 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT -- Contract negotiations between the city and the police union have resumed, and Mayor Bill Finch has personally visited officers during roll call to the calm their fears as the city struggles to close a budget gap and refill its coffers.

The mayor's efforts and new round of talks are bringing morale up, said two deputy police chiefs, but one member of the union's executive board disagrees.

"Morale is in the dumper," said Officer Kenneth McKenna, the executive board member of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159. "Guys leave their homes at 3:30 and count the minutes until midnight."

"[Expletive] poor is the best way to describe it," he said.

McKenna's comments followed a statement by Sgt. John Whalen, also a union official, that the city's return to the negotiating table is a positive.

"Things are at least moving forward," Whalen said. The next negotiation meeting is scheduled for Friday.

The assessments of morale came at Tuesday's meeting of the city's Board of Police Commissioners, where officers updated the board on the status of negotiations. The past contract expired on June 30 and the city initially offered no raises in addition to asking for givebacks from all unions.

Finch also ordered department overtime cut in half.

A combination of disagreements between the union and the mayor, as well as Chief Bryan T. Norwood, led to about half of the union members to approve a motion of no confidence in

the two officials in August. Later in the month, some union members and officers from neighboring departments also picketed at a golf tournament hosted by the city and the Connecticut Post.

Deputy Chief Adam Radzimirski, who supervises plainclothes officers, mainly narcotics officers and detectives, said he overheard two officers recently discussing an arrest they made.

"Their hearts are still in the right place," he said.

Deputy Chief James Honis, who supervises uniformed officers, said Finch has been talking "one on one" with officers at roll call, where they start their shifts.

Board Vice President David Hall said the panel was drafting a laudatory letter to officers.

But it's not the lack of a contract that has the rank-and-file down, McKenna said, speaking for himself, rather than the union.

The recent removal of long-standing court order, resulting in Norwood getting more disciplinary power, and a related issue of the chief's hand-picked Neighborhood Enforcement Team are depressing morale, according to McKenna.

In June, a state labor arbitrator ruled against the chief's selection process of the team, but the city is appealing that order with the mayor's backing.

The arbitrator ruled the chief violated the expired contract's seniority-based selection clause. The team performs enforcement, stings and investigations, rather than going from call to call as patrol officers do.

"The NET issue really tears most of the guys up," McKenna said.

City to name assistant police chief
AARON LEO
Article Last Updated: 09/02/2008 12:24:54 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — The city is re-establishing the job of assistant police chief, an administrator whose goal will be to help cut the huge overtime piled up by the department.
"This person is going to be critical to the chief in reining in an out-of-control police overtime budget," Mayor Bill Finch said of the non-union post.
The Police Department overspent its overtime budget by $1.3 million in the last fiscal year, and is poised to burn through its reduced $4.5 million overtime budget for 2008-09 in six or seven months, Finch said. He has ordered Chief Bryan T. Norwood to halve overtime spending.
The assistant chief job would be salaried, not subject to overtime and would likely be filled from within the department's ranks, according to the mayor.
The position doesn't violate the city's contract with the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, said Officer Frank Cuccaro, union president. The pact expired on June 30.
The job was approved in 2002 by the city's Civil Service Commission, and again last month, said Ralph Jacobs, the city's personnel director.
"The chief needed someone who is not affiliated with the union, a direct assistant," Jacobs said.
The chief is now the only member of the department who doesn't belong to the union.
The new job would add to the number of supervisors in the department. There are four deputy chiefs, the next-highest rank, who are paid annual salaries of $85,803 to $94,425.
Two of those chiefs, Joseph Gaudett Jr. and James
Advertisement
Honis, were among the top 10 overtime earners last year, which angered Finch.
He said that he isn't opposed to patrol officers being paid overtime, but doesn't think supervisors should. Also on that overtime list were lieutenants and sergeants.
Cutting overtime is actually the deputy chiefs' jobs, and Norwood should be preventing them from earning overtime, Cuccaro said.
"That's the chief's job, to rein in his people," the union president said.
But Cuccaro also suggested dismantling the Neighborhood Enforcement Team — a point in contention between the union and the chief, who says he has the right to assign officers of his choosing to the unit — to bolster patrol and reduce overtime. That would return about a dozen officers and a sergeant to regular duty.
Norwood handpicked the members of the team, which takes on a range of quality-of-life crime issues rather than handling daily calls. That subjective selection process violated the union contract's seniority clause, a state arbitrator has ruled. The city is appealing that in court, and the squad remains in service.
Finch also said he wants to restructure the Police Department by removing more supervisors from the union and changing seniority-based selection for squads to right of assignment by the chief.
The current setup isn't good for running a "fiscally prudent police department," he said.
Norwood has already disbanded the Traffic Division, which had 12 officers, and other units may also be closed, with the officers being re-assigned to patrol duties. The union has identified the Mounted and K-9 units and the Tactical Narcotics Team as possible targets for future cuts.
The assistant chief's position must now be reviewed by the Miscellaneous Matters Committee of the City Council.
"The concept of the job is as far as it's gone," Jacobs said.
The last assistant chief in the department was Karen Krasicky, who retired in 2005 to lead the Plymouth Police Department. The assistant chief before her was the late Robert Mangano.

Bridgeport cop board chair calling it quits
AARON LEO
Article Last Updated: 08/25/2008 12:06:45 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — After more than two decades as an elections moderator for the city and four years as chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners, Thomas L. Kanasky had enough.
The mudslinging and partisan bickering all too common to Bridgeport politics had taken a toll on Kanasky, 61, and he walked away from civic service, convinced it just wasn't worth the aggravation.
"I'm not lending my credibility to the city ever again," Kanasky said one recent afternoon, sitting in his downtown law office on Fairfield Avenue. Still, he added, "I'm very satisfied with my four years on the [police] board."
With his term on the board set to expire and a replacement nominated, Kanasky resigned his chairmanship in June — around the same time he stepped down as head moderator amid lingering allegations of election fraud in the Democratic mayoral primary.
For some of Kanasky's colleagues, his exit from the political scene was a big loss for the city.
He has "an impeccable reputation," said Santa Ayala, the city's Democratic registrar of voters. "I think it's a great loss. You have an honest, capable individual."
David Hall, vice president of the police board, also praised his former colleague and vowed to continue his reform efforts aimed at giving the board more control over disciplinary cases.
In his resignation letter to the board, Kanasky accused the department's leadership and the city of ignoring the history of minority officers' federal discrimination
Advertisement

lawsuits against the department and the resulting remedy orders.
A Democrat since he first registered to vote at 18, Kanasky said he's always been independent in judgment and the city knew that before then-Mayor John M. Fabrizi appointed him to the board. He turned Republican in 2006 because, he says, the Democrats had gone too far left for him.
"I got tired of Democratic politics, not just in the city," he said. "The Democratic Party just doesn't want conservative people. I always felt they needed a conservative lean."
Finch, who defeated state Rep. Chris Caruso, D-Bridgeport, in last year's contested primary, said he's known and respected Kanasky for years, and credited him for his board service. But Finch said he sought a police board that would support Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood and wanted "a fresh set of eyes on the Police Department."
Kanasky took exception to the mayor's use of the word "support." "There's a difference between supporting and obeying," he said. "Somebody's got to point out to me where I didn't support the chief."
His comments appeared to be a veiled reference to the case of Officer Douglas Bepko, who was fired by the board last year after a domestic violence incident. Norwood had wanted Bepko fired immediately, but the board held hearings and fired him several months later. Norwood, displeased, stopped talking to the board for several months, but eventually reconciled. The chief has said he looks forward to working with the board — which has several new members — but hasn't commented directly on the former chairman.
Hall sided with Kanasky on the Bepko issue, saying it also illustrates Kanasky's independent stance. The board acts as a liaison between the public and the department, but is independent of both.
Firing Bepko too quickly would have been a mistake, Hall said. "As an attorney, he knows the consequence of that action," he said.
Kanasky said he was also frustrated by lack of communication with the mayor, which hurt his efforts to get department policy enforced. The silence, he added, has continued to this day.
"The mayor and I have never talked about the police commission or anything," the former chairman said.
For example, he said, he tried to get the city and the department to adhere to the proper procedure for appointing officers to the Office of Internal Affairs. He was also trying to get the board to hear more discipline cases, because some serious ones were handled quietly in-house by Norwood, he said.
"The department is still pick and choose" in terms of discipline, Kanasky said. "I thought there should have been referrals to the board. There are cases we knew about that we thought should have been referred to the board."
The last straw for Kanasky, however, was the Democratic primary. After Caruso lost, he accused Kanasky of not being certified to run elections because of inadequate training on the electronic voting machines.
But now, Kanasky said, he doesn't have to worry about that.
He appears to have plenty to keep him busy, judging by the full boxes stacked in his law office and the filing cabinets against the wall. He's been practicing since 1980.
That career and his efforts to get a monument built for Bridgeport's World War II veterans, living and dead, are the only things on his mind these days. Kanasky, is a Vietnam veteran and a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
"I want to get this monument built and maybe retire from public life," he said.

Cop units cut to save on OT
AARON LEO
Article Last Updated: 08/24/2008 12:17:31 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood has disbanded the department's 12-officer Traffic Division and other specialized squads, including the K-9 Unit, Mounted Unit and the Tactical Narcotics Team, may be next on the chopping blcok.
"It is my understanding that other specialized units are going to be disbanded this week," said Officer Frank Cuccaro, the president of the local police union.
Norwood on Friday said the changes are designed "to maximize the resources in patrol in order to minimize overtime expenditures. I'm trying to look at any way to reduce overtime."
Mayor Bill Finch recently ordered Norwood to cut his department's overtime in half after its overtime exceeded the amount budgeted last year by $1.3 million.
Cuccaro had a different view of why the units are being disbanded.
"I feel this is classic union busting," he said. "I feel the disbanding of these units has largely to do with recent events sponsored by the union." He was referring to the union's Aug. 15 protest targeting Finch and Norwood at the Mayor's Cup charity golf tournament, as well as union members' 187-27 vote in favor of a no-confidence motion in the chief. The union's contract expired June 30, and the city has offered no raises while requesting furloughs and givebacks in the stalled negotiations on a new pact.
Cuccaro said the chief can disband a specialized unit, but must restore its original membership if he puts it back together, under the contract.
Among
Advertisement
its duties, the Traffic Division investigated hit-and-run crashes and serious accidents, and conducted speed-enforcement operations.
"They put out an abundant amount of parking tags, which generates revenue for the city, Cuccaro said.
Police and city officials were hesitant to comment on the turn of events, but said public safety is a high priority.
City Councilwoman Michelle Lyons, D-134, the co-chairwoman of the council's Public Safety and Transportation Committee, wants to speak to the chief about the changes.
"I want to see what the final outcome is on this," she said. "The chief made this decision. I want to find out why he made this decision."
Cuccaro first brought up the Traffic Division issue at last week's meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, prompting Vice President David Hall to express concern.
"We don't want to manage the department, but we want to have a clear understanding of what's going on," Hall said Friday.
He added that he doubts the chief would make cuts "just to get back at somebody."
The chief must be working with somebody, such as the mayor, in making such changes, Hall said.
"Every one of them will be missed," he said of the affected units.
Another concern is what would happen to the police dogs and horses, which are trained and cared for by the city, if those units are disbanded.

Teed-off cops picket mayor's golf tourney
BILL CUMMINGS
Article Last Updated: 08/16/2008 12:29:32 AM EDT

Click photo to enlarge
Bridgeport Police office, Lidio Pereira, leads a chant on... (B.K. Angeletti / Staff photographer )
«
1
2
3
»
BRIDGEPORT — Police officers picketed the "Mayor's Cup" charity golf tournament Friday to call attention to their contract dispute with Mayor Bill Finch.
About 75 officers, some from as far away as New London, demonstrated in a circle at the Park Avenue entrance to Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course as Finch arrived for the event. They later marched past the clubhouse as the tourney got under way.
Some held signs with slogans including, "Grinch: Leave Our Contract Alone" and "Finch is a Zero." Officers said Finch is unfairly demanding officers accept no raises for two years, work one week for free and cut overtime in half as a way to help close a looming gap in the new fiscal year's budget.
"We are just showing our disdain for the city administration," said Frank Cuccaro, president of Local 1159, which represents the city's patrol officers. Union members recently approved a motion of no confidence in Finch and Chief Bryan Norwood.
"The administration is failing to negotiate in good faith. They want us to work for free for a week and they walked away from the table," Cuccaro said.
"We keep the city safe and expect fair wages."
For his part, Finch took the protest in stride, arriving at the golf tournament via the Stratfield Road entrance in Fairfield, where none of the police pickets were stationed.
"It's part of the job," Finch said as he walked toward the clubhouse to check in for the charity event, which was sponsored by the Connecticut Post and the city.
Advertisement
The proceeds benefit the Newspaper in Education program, which uses newspapers to encourage children to read.
The police union donated $400 to the cause.
Finch defended his contract demands, which he said includes cutting police overtime in half, from more than $8 million last year to about $4.5 million this year.
"The city is in a financial crisis and we have to make cuts. There are measures we have to take to keep the city financially sound," he said.
Meanwhile, police working the picket line were clearly unhappy with the mayor.
Officer Todd Sherbud marched with a sign proclaiming, "I should have voted for Caruso," referring to Finch's opponent, state Rep. Christopher Caruso, in the Democratic primary for mayor last fall.
Asked if he really voted for Finch, Sherbud said he did, but would not again, "if I knew what I know now."
James Howell, who represents the statewide police union, said Bridgeport is the only community offering no pay raises to its police officers.
"These guys put their lives on the line every day. They are just looking for a fair and decent wage. They are on the lowest-paid department," Howell said.
Cuccaro acknowledged negotiations between the union and the city are at an impasse and said the deadlocked talks will likely have to be resolved in arbitration, where officers are likely to win some type of a raise.
"We are looking for what we deserve. We want at least 3 percent," Cuccaro said.
Norwood arrived at the golf course with Finch. Both planned to play in the tournament, even though neither are avid golfers. Finch, in fact, said he had never played a round before.
The chief said the Police Department could reach Finch's goal of cutting overtime in half and still keep an adequate deployment of officers on the street. "The mayor said there are cuts that must be made. We will keep enough officers on the street to maintain public safety."
The union contends reducing overtime will make it impossible to maintain the current staffing level of 21 officers per shift.
"The mayor wants to lower it by 60 percent. That will kill public safety," Cuccaro said.
Police overtime has drawn attention lately, partly because the department exceeded its budgeted overtime by $1.3 million last year. Bridgeport pays the most overtime of the state's largest cities, and the issue has sparked controversy because high-ranking officers are paid a large share of the overtime.
Finch said the practice of high-ranking officers being paid a disproportionate share of overtime will stop. He said savings from ending that practice will help the department cut overall overtime and maintain a sufficient number of officers on the street.

Norwood: 'Perfect storm' plagues police

AARON LEO

Article Last Updated: 08/13/2008 10:40:40 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — The Police Department has been caught in a "perfect storm" of fiscal, management and legal problems, but the department must, and will, continue to protect and serve, Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood said Wednesday.

The chief's comments came after nearly half of the members of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 voted "no confidence" in him and Mayor Bill Finch on Monday.

Norwood, speaking in his Congress Street office Wednesday afternoon, said he understands the union's frustration, but he's operating on a city order to cut spending across the board.

"We're in perfect storm," he said. "We're in a fiscal crisis. We're in a transition from federal oversight. We're in contract negotiations. We're halfway through the contract of a chief who has a different management style."

That style is the basis of one union grievance over staffing of the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, a group of about a dozen officers chosen and commanded by Norwood to handle quality-of-life issues.

In June, however, the union won a court order for NET members to be chosen by seniority, as are other squads such as the patrol, K-9 and communications divisions and the Tactical Narcotics Team. The city is appealing that order.

But having seniority and being qualified "may not be synonymous," Norwood said. In the New Haven Police Department, where Norwood last worked, the chief has the right of assignment.

"This is a $43 million business," he said of the department's operations.

"At some point you have to let the president or CEO run the business."

He does appreciate the officers, crediting them with a reduction in crime.

"You have some of the best police officers here in the city. They provide a service like no other: NET, the Mounted Unit, K-9, the Emergency Services Unit, Harbor Patrol. We have the [all-terrain vehicles]. All those add up," Norwood said.

"Crime is down. Our shootings are down significantly," he added.

Keeping up the number of officers is the problem. Under his watch, the city is training its third class of officers in two years. But it's not keeping pace with officers leaving.

"We've lost a total of 58 officers in 24 months," with 48 new hires at the same time, he said.

Of the 48, 19 are training in the Police Academy and could start field training in the community in October if they all pass. On top of that, Norwood said, he's cutting spending on programs, details and training that lead to overtime, on orders by the city Office of Policy and Management to trim overtime by 50 percent. The department logged $1.3 million over its overtime budget in the past fiscal year.

Still, the combination of problems doesn't relieve officers of their duty, Norwood said. He and all of the 442 sworn officers took the same oath to protect and serve.

"That's what I expect the union members to continue to do in light of these difficult circumstances," he said.

Times are tough compared to when Norwood, the youngest chief in city's history, was appointed in 2006. The department didn't have much technology but quickly acquired new cruisers, Segways and a mobile command unit, among other things.

But Norwood said he knew the city's shaky financial history when he signed on. "At some level, we're always prepared for fiscal difficulties," he said.

In the end, the answers really lie between the city and the union. Seniority is one issue, among a host of them: increasing health-care premiums, a lack of raises, furloughs and the city requesting union concessions. The city is trying to reap savings to replenish its fund balance, which is used in rating the city's credit.

"I would hope that the city and the union could come to some agreement in an expedited manner. The city deserves the best protection I can provide and we can provide," Norwood said.

Cops vote 'no confidence' in chief, mayor
AARON LEO
Article Last Updated: 08/13/2008 12:52:18 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — Nearly half the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159 has voted "no confidence" in Chief Bryan T. Norwood and Mayor Bill Finch.
The ballots, tallied Monday night, show 187 police officers voted no confidence in the administration while 27 voted against the no-confidence motion. Ballots were mailed to the union members two weeks ago.
The vote is symbolic and has no practical impact on the chief, who is chosen by the mayor. Norwood was sworn in April 2006, and has a five-year contract.
But the vote indicates deep discontent with the ranks of city police, said Officer Frank Cuccaro, the union president.
"It shows that the Police Department as a whole doesn't support the actions of the chief or the mayor regarding the contract and the way the mayor's trying to change the workings of the department," Cuccaro said.
The chief declined Tuesday to make immediate comments on the no-confidence vote, but indicated he would discuss his views today.
The police union of 442 sworn officers has been working without a contract since June 30, and the cash-strapped city hasn't offered raises, in addition to demanding givebacks from all municipal unions.
The no-confidence vote follows criticism by Finch last week that the Police Department exceeded its inside overtime budget by $1.3 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year, contributing to a $19 million deficit in the overall budget last year.
Finch also criticized the ballooning overtime because some of the top
Advertisement
earners are deputy chiefs and other police supervisors. Police of all ranks can be members of the union, except the chief.
Finch wants overtime reined in, but Cuccaro said less overtime would jeopardize public safety by leaving shifts with fewer officers.
On average, 21 officers per shift provide coverage for the city's three patrol sectors, a deployment that can rise as high as 30 officers per shift, he said.
"It's going to hurt the response time," Cuccaro said. He added that officers earn the city $10 an hour for overtime road jobs, bringing the city $1 million in compensations from contractors.
Finch said he would "do what's in the best interest of the citizens of Bridgeport and public safety."
"I will not play politics with public safety," the mayor said.
He also supports Norwood, who has added 46 officers to the department and expanded its crime-fighting technology.
"I have great confidence in Bryan Norwood. One has to look no further than how Bridgeport compares with other major cities in our state to see how successful Chief Norwood has been," Finch said.
The last vote of no confidence in a city police chief was taken in 2004 against Norwood's predecessor, Wilbur Chapman, which failed.
Meanwhile, Cuccaro has pledged the union will picket Finch and Norwood at the first Mayor's Cup Golf Tournament, co-sponsored by the Connecticut Post, on Friday at the Fairchild Wheeler Golf Club. He has invited members of other municipal unions with complaints against the administration to join the demonstration.

Police to protest at Mayor's Cup

AARON LEO

Article Last Updated: 08/10/2008 01:16:43 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — City police officers plan to hit the Fairchild Wheeler Golf Club for the first-Mayor's Cup tourney on Friday, but they won't be bringing their golf bags.

Instead, they'll be carrying signs protesting the lack of a union contract and other issues, said Officer Frank Cuccaro, president of the Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159. The union's contract with the city expired June 30.

"We would like to invite members from all unions in general that are in the same predicament we are," Cuccaro said. The rally in support of the unions is slated to begin at 10 a.m.

Mayor Bill Finch has asked for union members to give back one week of vacation and has threatened layoffs otherwise, saying the concessions are necessary in a tight budget year with a multi-million dollar deficit looming for the city budget.

Finch said he doubts the officers would follow through with their threat of a protest. "I don't believe that they'll be picketing a charity," he said. The tournament, co-sponsored by the Connecticut Post, benefits the Newspapers in Education program and local charities.

The city recently hired Ryan & Ryan of New Haven, which specializes in labor law, to assist with negotiations on contracts with the eight municipal unions and to squeeze at least $1.5 million in savings from workers.

Cuccaro said two major problems between the police union and the city are how personnel assignments are made to the Neighborhood Enforcement Team issue and "the way contract

negotiations are going."

According to the union's Web site, the city has declared an impasse in negotiations after offering no raises. In addition, the city has asked for concessions on medical benefits for active members and retirees, sick and overtime benefits, further "civilianization" of jobs, and to give the chief the right of assignment to all police units, the site says. A new dispatch center slated to open next year will be staffed entirely bycivilians.

The right of assignment relates to Neighborhood Enforcement Team, a group of about a dozen officers chosen and commanded by Norwood for a variety of tasks, from gang investigations to quality-of-life issues such as drugs, loitering and under-age drinking. The unit does not respond from call to call, as the Patrol Division does.

In June, however, the union won a court order for NET members to be chosen by seniority as are other assignments. The chief is appealing that.

Cuccaro said seniority is important to the contract. All other teams are chosen by seniority.

"He wants the right to assign everyone in the department. He's basically trying to do away with seniority," the union president said.

Regarding salary increase proposals, Finch said, "We're not sure if we can afford zeros."

"I can't even guarantee we'll avoid layoffs," he added.

Another cost-cutting measure is furloughs, which Finch has said could shave $3 million. He's asking the city's other roughly 4,700 employees to agree to take week-long furloughs, including those he does not directly manage, such as teachers and workers at the Bridgeport Port Authority and the Water Pollution Control Authority.

Cuccaro opposes that move.

"It's ridiculous for him to ask for that," he said. "If the police took a week furlough, it would cost the city in overtime."

Money would be better spent dropping the Neighborhood Enforcement Team appeal and reducing the number of city take-home cars, he said.

Finch urged the unions to resume negotiations as they did in 1992 when the city last faced tough economic times.

Court to end oversight of police

MICHAEL P. MAYKO

Article Last Updated: 08/06/2008 10:27:13 PM EDT

NEW HAVEN — The power to administer, assign and discipline his officers will be returning to Bridgeport's police chief for the first time in 25 years this fall.

"I've expressed the view on many occasions that there is a time to conclude court jurisdiction of a governing entity," U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton said during a nearly four-hour-long hearing.

So after tweaking a proposed order and agreeing to oversee a 17-month implementation, Arterton indicated that the 25-year control the federal court and its special master, William Clendenen, have exerted over the way the department has handled its black officers may soon be over.

The judge said the way the city implements and handles the changes will "put the court in a position to make a decision that the remedy order be vacated, needs modification or be left alone."

That will happen during a December 2009 hearing.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the city and the Bridgeport Guardians, an organization representing black officers, formalized a proposed order that could bring an end to the 25-year-old case. Following a weeklong trial a quarter century ago, the late U.S. District Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly found widespread racial discrimination within the Bridgeport police department. The judge's finding was based on the fact that of the 33 black officers in the department in 1982, all but one was assigned to patrol the most crime-ridden areas of the city. The other was assigned to the record room. None had

supervisory positions.

The proposed order, which could end the case "is an opportunity for the city to get its act together," said Ted Meekins, a retired black police officer and a plaintiff in the original proceedings. "The union has the opportunity to make things happen or hold up the process. All the Guardians have wanted for the past 30 years is a more level playing field."

The union, represented by Harry Elliott, voiced some concerns over the proposed order during Wednesday's hearing.

On Wednesday, Arterton learned the city now has 68 black officers, which constitutes 16.27 percent of its 418-member police department in a city where a third of its residents are black. The department also has 113 Hispanic officers and 52 female officers.

Broken down further, the department has a black chief. None of the four deputy chiefs are black. It has two black captains out of nine and two black lieutenants out of 21. It has 10 black sergeants out of 65 and five black detectives out of 41.

Arterton said the nearly doubling of black officers shows "progress," but the department's record in promoting blacks "is at best mixed — not what one might hope would be the result of 25 years of court intervention."

After hearing opposition from Elliott, the union's lawyer, to some aspects of the proposed order, Arterton called a brief recess. During the break, Antonio Ponvert, the Guardians' lawyer; City Attorney Mark Anastasi; Deputy City Attorney Arthur Laske III and William Wenzel, a private lawyer hired by the city, huddled and agreed to some changes. Arterton asked that a final version be submitted to her by Aug. 20. She indicated an intention to put the proposal in place by the second week of September.

"This is tremendous news for the city of Bridgeport," said Mayor Bill Finch. "The impact of this will be that we will be able to control our own police department — a move that will help us fight crime more effectively while simultaneously saving the money the city has been paying the special master since 1983."

It is believed that Clendenen received tens of thousands of dollars for conducting several hundred proceedings over the past quarter century.

Earlier Elliott expressed concern that the city would use some of the leverage it gained in assignments to diminish the union's bargaining tactics.

As it now stands the proposed order will allow:

l Bridgeport to suspend the use of hiring recruits in the order they place on the hiring list.

l The city will allocate $300,000 in increments of $50,000 over six years beginning in 2010 to help recruit minority candidates.

l The lawfirm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, which represented the Guardians since the suit was filed in 1978, will forego more than $1 million in legal fees and court costs. Instead they will accept payment of $300,000 and then use that money to create and administer a program that will recruit, mentor, tutor and train black officers.

l The chief will have the authority to choose 50 percent of the officers to serve in the nearly dozen specialized units like K-9, Scuba, Emergency Response, Tactical Narcotics Team and Marine. The other 50 percent will be chosen based on seniority and qualifications.

l The chief will have the authority to assign officers to geographical areas within the guidelines of the collective bargaining agreement with the union and concerns raised by the Guardians.

l Handling complaints of racial discrimination will be taken away from Clendenen, a New Haven lawyer appointed in 1982 to hear such matters, and given to the chief.

l The city will write a non-discrimination policy for the police department that must be approved by the judge.

"We're trying to move forward and working with the chief to do so," said Sgt. William Bailey, president of the Guardians. "My main concern is that 50 percent of the current number of black officers will be eligible to retire in the next few years. We need to do a more effective job of recruiting more minority officers."

The proposal stems from months of closed-door meetings between the two sides, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons mediated.

"Based on the proceedings today, the city is confident the court will be issuing an order that reflects the significant progress the Bridgeport Police Department has made in recent years particularly under the leadership of Police Chief Norwood," said City Attorney Mark Anastasi. "We look forward to the court returning full operational control to the department in the foreseeable future."

To cover budget gap, city seeks concessions

BILL CUMMINGS

Article Last Updated: 08/04/2008 05:04:42 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — The city has hired a New Haven law firm to help negotiate new union contracts and squeeze at least $1.5 million in savings from municipal workers.

Ryan and Ryan, which specializes in labor law, was hired to assist the city as it negotiates contracts with its eight municipal unions. The law firm is being paid $175 an hour for its work.

We have all the unions going at once and they are assisting in all negotiations," said Andrew Nunn, the city's chief administrative officer.

Ryan and Ryan has offices in New Haven and New London, and has represented more than 150 clients in the private and public sector, according to the firm's Web page.Nunn acknowledged the $492 million city and school budget recently adopted by the City Council includes a $1.5 million gap that city officials assume will be covered through union concessions or givebacks. If those savings fail to materialize, there would be an immediate deficit, he said.

The city first plans to offer employees voluntary unpaid furloughs, which essentially means vacation without pay. About 1,500 people work on the city side of government.

Adam Wood, Mayor Bill Finch's chief of staff, said he hopes a sufficient number of workers will take advantage of the furlough program, which can be offered without union negotiations or changes in current contracts, to offset the need for other measures, such as benefit reductions and layoffs."Everyone is going to need to sacrifice and tighten their belts a little,"

Wood said.

Nunn said if nearly all city employees take an unpaid week's vacation, the savings would be sufficient to cover the $1.5 million gap in the budget.

Wood said the request for furloughs also applies to non-union employees, including the mayor.

"Absolutely. The mayor has made that statement. It would apply to everyone," Wood said.

Police officer always provides extra help

AARON LEO

Article Last Updated: 06/29/2008 12:13:20 AM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

Bridgeport Police Department Crime Prevention Officer... (Tracy Deer-Mirek/Staff photographer)

BRIDGEPORT — City police officer Nick Ortiz got the Liberty Bell Award from the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association for community service in setting up block watches as a crime prevention officer in the Community Services Division.

But it was his extracurricular community service really caught the association's eye.

For Ortiz, outside community service is all in a day's work. His real reward is being able to help people, which he's done all of his life.

Ortiz mentors city students, helps with Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood's taekwondo classes for troubled youth and flips burgers and hot dogs for the annual St. Anthony festival, held at St. Margaret's Shrine.

"I'm willing to help anyone, anywhere, anytime," Ortiz, 48, a 23-year-officer, said as he took a break from serving food at the festival at the Park Avenue shrine on June 13. The shrine used to house a statue of St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of police officers.

Ortiz was nominated by attorney Douglas Mahoney, who was the president of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association at the time. Mahoney said he was researching a nominee when he saw Ortiz's volunteer activities.

"Officer Ortiz's name jumped to the top of the list," he said. "I was just so struck by what he was doing."

Then he met Ortiz, whom he'd seen walking near police headquarters almost every day. Mahoney's Lyon Terrace office faces headquarters.

"I recognized him immediately," Mahoney said.

Ortiz, who grew up in the

city's East Side and visited the shrine on holidays as a child, said he's always wanted to help the community. He was inspired to become an officer after seeing a statue, in the shrine, where a tall St. Michael the Archangel stands over a police officer.

For the St. Anthony procession that follows the festival, he donned his uniform while off-duty and directed traffic, as he's done for the four years he has been with the festival.

Nick Mastroianni, an organizer with the festival since it was started 30 years ago, said he always needs people to pitch in at a moment's notice.

"The help is indescribable," he said. "It relieves you of all the pressure. We're grateful to have a person like him."

Another festival volunteer has also experienced Ortiz's help.

Cliff Roberts, president of the Germania Schwaben Society here, said Ortiz helped gather bicycles for children, which were presented around the holidays last year. Roberts hopes to repeat the program.

Ortiz is also trying to come up with fundraising ideas to replace the St. Michael statue, which went missing years ago.

He joined the department in 1985 after graduating from Warren Harding High School. He became a DARE officer, which got him into Community Services.

Today, with two years to go, he's not sure whether he'll retire.

"If I still see I can help, maybe I'll stick around for a while," he said.

One person who would like to see him stay is Brent DiGiorgio, spokesman for People's United Bank, headquartered downtown.

Ortiz linked DiGiorgio with the community, such as by helping him with the bank's Heroes Honoring Heroes program, which recognizes a police officer and a youth for helping the local community.

"He's been an enormous help to me," DiGiorgio said.

The spokesman credited Ortiz's upbringing with his service ethic.

Ortiz grew up in the notorious Father Panik Village, which had its share of violence and drugs and social problems.

"He has seen others suffer and in his life and, consequently, always wanted to give back to his community. His heart and his head are always in the right place," DiGiorgio said.

LETTER TO THE CONNECTICUT POST PUBLISHED ON 06/18/08

Finch wants Bridgeport to up its savings
BILL CUMMINGS
Article Last Updated: 06/18/2008 01:24:37 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — Mayor Bill Finch, concerned about the impact of the city budget's shrinking fund balance on its credit rating, is implementing a new policy designed to shore up the account.
Finch on Tuesday announced the fund balance will now be at least 8 percent of the annual budget, which this year is $492 million, requiring about $40 million for the fund.
The mayor admitted reaching the goal will be difficult and could cause budget cuts similar to layoffs and spending cuts that drew nearly 1,000 protesters to City Council meetings while the budget was being set this spring.
"The city is in a financial crisis and this is another step we are taking. In the recent past we spent down the fund balance, and we spent it down in good times," Finch said.
The fund balance is the city's savings account, meaning money in the budget that is not allocated for specific use. The funds are supposed to be reserved for emergencies and unforeseen problems.
Credit-rating companies prefer a healthy fund balance or reserve account. If those credit firms reduce the city's bond rating, it will cost more to borrow money, and that can affect taxes.
Under the 2008-09 budget, which begins July 1, the city will have $15 million in the fund balance, or about 3 percent of the operating budget. That projection is a best-case estimate that assumes Finch will secure an additional $1.5 million in savings from municipal unions as contracts are negotiated in the coming year. By comparison,
Advertisement
the city's fund balance in 2000 was more than $50 million.
Finch warned there would be more layoffs if unions refuse to give back vacation time and other benefits.
Michael Lupkus, the city's deputy finance director, said the policy should allay immediate concerns credit-rating companies are likely to have over the diminished fund balance.
The new policy sets a goal of placing $2.5 million a year in the fund balance. During the 2009 fiscal year, about $1 million would be added, officials said. The City Council is now considering a resolution to make Finch's plan the city's official policy.
City Council President Thomas McCarthy, along with council members Robert Curwen and Leticia Colon, who jointly chair the council's Budget and Appropriations Committee, said they support the policy designed to bolster the fund balance.
"We are willing to take tough medicine. It won't be easy for citizens to take," McCarthy warned.
This year's budget battle illustrated how tight city finances have become. The move to privatize the school-based health clinics, for example, saved $1.5 million by taking dozens of nurses and other workers off the city payroll.
But $1.5 million, just to use that figure as an example, is $1 million less than the city's goal of placing $2.5 million in the fund balance by the end of 2010.
One factor that could ease future pain, and offset the need for more layoffs in coming years, is if the city gains additional revenue from economic development projects, such as Steel Point.
Bill Cummings, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6230.

Print Email Return to Top

Arbitrator: NET staffing improper
AARON LEO Staff writer
Article Launched: 06/12/2008 01:35:57 PM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — A state labor arbitrator has ordered that the police Neighborhood Enforcement Team be staffed in compliance with seniority rules spelled out in the city's contract with the police union.
The ruling, however, is being appealed by the city, and pending the exhaustion of that process, the team will continue to function as constituted, according to John Bohannon, the lawyer hired by the city to handle the case.
"NET will continue performing its duties," said Bohannon, a former assistant city attorney. The state arbitrator, Joseph M. Celentano, heard arguments May 12 in City Hall and the ruling was issued June 5.
The Bridgeport Police Union Local 1159, in its complaint, contended that Chief Bryan T. Norwood violated the contract by personally selecting members of the 11-officer squad without regard to their seniority or promotional status.
The team tackles quality-of-life issues in target neighborhoods, such as loitering, illegal drugs and guns, break-ins and underage drinking.
The chief should have chosen the NET officers based on seniority, the union complaint states. However, union leaders add they do not want to see the squad disbanded.
Officer Frank Cuccaro, the union president, said the ruling called for the department to "rebid the positions and go by seniority."
The city must abide by the contract, he has said.
Mayor Bill Finch supports the team and the way its members were selected. "The NET team is essential to the public safety
Advertisement
of this city and we have seen great success with them under the direction" of the chief, he said.
"I support the NET team and the chief's method for staffing it one hundred percent and I will fight tirelessly to keep the team intact here in Bridgeport."
The team recently arrested a man who had escaped for the third time in six years from the Connecticut Valley Hospital, the state's mental hospital.
NET officers were alerted to look for the man, Roy Sastrom, 44, who was considered armed and dangerous for allegedly using a handgun to rob a bank in Chelmsford, Mass., after his escape.
Bohannon said that's just one of the team's recent accomplishments.
"It's an intelligence-gathering team" that also works on gangs and parole enforcement, he said.
The chief picked the team in consultation with two deputy chiefs. The unit hit the streets in February 2007, and is made up of a sergeant and 10 officers.
Each officer has different police-work specialties.
"It works because the people were hand-picked for their particular abilities," Bohannon said.
"This touches on the chief's ability to manage the department effectively," he said of the decision to challenge the arbitrator's ruling.
The union filed the grievance on behalf of an officer who applied to be a NET member, but failed to be selected, he said.
Sgt. Paul Grech, the head of the team, declined to comment on the ruling.
But, he said, Officer Chris Martin was recently added, bringing its membership to 11.
Meanwhile, the team was slated to receive an award Thursday from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for its enforcement of laws on underage drinking, Grech said.
In several sting operations, the team has nabbed numerous college students using false identification to illegally buy alcohol. The unit has also underscored the enforcement campaign by organizing forums on underage drinking with area college officials, and bar and package store owners.

Print Email Return to Top