New Haven Detective scolded

05/14/2006

Detective scolded

By: William Kaempffer , Register Staff

City-issued gun, reported missing, later used in shooting

NEW HAVEN — A police detective has been disciplined after her service pistol, which she reported missing, was later used in a city shooting.

Ballistic tests conducted at the state police forensic laboratory in March concluded that a Police Department Glock 9-mm pistol was used in a nonfatal shooting in a city apartment complex three days after Detective Lynn Meekins reported it missing.

The weapon has been recovered, and 20-year-old Skyler Smith, of Eastern Street, faces charges in its theft.

The city released documents about the lost weapon and subsequent investigation after the Register filed a Freedom of Information request.

According to those documents, Police Chief Francisco Ortiz reprimanded Detective Lynn Meekins, a 10-year veteran, for neglect of duty by not keeping her gun properly stored.

The chief has the authority to issue disciplines ranging from a reprimand to a 15-day suspension. More serious cases are handled by the Board of Police Commissioners.

An internal affairs write-up recommended more serious sanctions — a suspension or even termination.

While Ortiz lauded the work of internal affairs, he said his job is to use a more global perspective in disciplines.

"She's a valued member of the department. She's a veteran. I do believe that the event was out of character," Ortiz said of Meekins. At the same time, he said, "the gun is then used in the commission of a crime in our city. The only light I saw at the end of the tunnel was that nobody was killed and the weapon was recovered."

Ortiz issued the reprimand April 6.

Meekins reported the gun missing Dec. 5, 2005, after she prepared for work on a Monday morning and couldn't find it in the headboard of her bed. She could last account for the weapon on Dec. 2, according to a memorandum she wrote, and provided a basic timeline of her weekend, including a stop for pizza the night of Dec. 2 and a car wash and vacuum Dec. 3.

In a subsequent memo, her immediate supervisor said he was "concerned" that Meekins could not make a better accounting for her city gun and only provided details after "constant prodding."

The head of the internal affairs division on Dec. 8 recommended serious sanctions.

"After reading the police report and her authored memo, it is clear that this officer does not possess the competency to carry a firearm," Lt. Patrick Redding, head of internal affairs division, stated in a Dec. 8 memo to Ortiz.

"Her total disregard or complacency for the security of her weapon flies in the face of her training and her responsibility to the city and the police department. She has discredited herself, as well as the New Haven Police Department."

Last week, Redding said he stood by his writeup, but added that the chief has every right to discipline as he sees fit and he supports Ortiz's decisions.

The same day Redding wrote the memo, the gun was used in a shooting in the Sunset Ridge Apartments.

On Dec. 20, Smith was arrested on a charge of theft of a firearm, and police recovered the gun. He was not charged in connection with the shooting. It wasn't until March that ballistic tests results came back.

Smith's attorney, Hamden-based Jeffrey B. Cohen, said Friday that his client "maintains his innocence."

Cohen declined further comment about the case until he could confer with his client.

Prosecutor Jack Doyle said the charges were pending and the case was in pre-trial status.

While internal affairs called for a harsher penalty against Meekins, Sgt. Louis G. Cavaliere, the union president, maintained she should have faced no discipline.

The department faulted her for failing to "take reasonable precautions to safeguard her weapon," but Cavaliere said only loaded weapons are mentioned in the state statute regarding storage of weapons.

Meekins said the gun was not loaded.