| 10/10/2007 |
| Job on line for detective who lied in police report |
| William Kaempffer , Register Staff |
| NEW HAVEN — The Police Department wants to fire a city detective who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor civil rights violation last week as part of an ongoing federal corruption probe of the department. Detective Jose Silva, 36, will be summoned before the Board of Police Commissioners Monday evening and be given the opportunity to make his case why he shouldn’t be terminated, as police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. has recommended. The board, community members appointed by the mayor to oversee the department, ultimately will determine Silva’s fate. Chairman Richard Epstein said the board would come in with a collectively open mind. "Clearly what we’ve seen in public is quite an indictment, but we want to see it presented to us," he said. "That’s the way it works." The announcement came Tuesday morning after the board, chief and Lt. Joanne Peterson, the head of internal affairs, met behind closed doors for close to an hour. The commission meeting lasted about 70 minutes, all but a few of which were conducted in closed session. Sgt. Louis Cavaliere, the president of police union, said a union attorney would represent Silva Monday. In addition to the termination hearing, the accrediting Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council could start proceedings to revoke his certification. POST Executive Director Thomas E. Flaherty, a retired Milford police chief, said he could not comment on specific cases and noted a misdemeanor conviction alone would not prompt the revocation process. State law precludes anyone with a Class A or B misdemeanor conviction from becoming a police officer in the first place, but an officer could keep his or her certification if convicted while on the job unless the misconduct meets certain criteria. "Our statutes permit decertification if an officer has engaged in conduct that rises to the level of perjury, false statement or tampering with evidence," said Flaherty. That could be a problem for Silva, who admitted in court to lying in a sworn police report. Silva and former Detective Justen Kasperzyk, 35, both waived indictment last week and pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport. Silva’s conviction stems from a November 2006 drug raid in the Hill. Silva, a co-applicant on the search warrant, knew Kasperzyk had planted drugs in a bedroom of the target apartment. Silva wrote in his report that the drugs were found in the bedroom knowing that was a lie. He pleaded to a misdemeanor count of conspiring to violate the suspect’s civil rights.
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