Board delays decision on pension for fired cop

10/19/2007

William Kaempffer , Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — The Police and Fire Pension Board has held off on making a decision on whether to grant a salary cap waiver for a fired police detective who is facing a possible federal prison term. In a unanimous vote Thursday morning, the pension fund trustees tabled the request by former Detective Justen Kasperzyk for the waiver, and requested a legal interpretation of language in the police contract from the city labor attorney.

Fire Department Lt. James Kottage, fire union vice president and chairman of the pension board, asked whether the pension board has the "sole discretion to make the decision."

"We want an interpretation and we want it answered," he said when contacted by phone following the meeting. "Whatever the decision we go with, we don’t want it questioned. The intention is to make the right decision."

The contract grants "sole discretion" to the board and the interpretation was requested from an attorney, said city Labor Director Emmet Hibson Jr., who already made clear the city’s position: That the request should be denied and that the board has the discretion to do it.

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. Thursday agreed that the board should reject the waiver.

"This is a discretionary decision that shouldn’t be granted. Mr. Kasperzyk shouldn’t be entitled to this waiver," DeStefano said.

But trustee Frank Lombardi, a city police officer and police union vice president, questioned whether that discretion was limited when the individual has met all requirements for the waiver, which Kasperzyk has.

The board already has concluded that Kasperzyk’s disability is service-related.

Kasperzyk, 35, a 12-year veteran, was arrested in March by the FBI as part of a corruption probe into the department’s narcotics squad, and applied for a disability pension days later for a documented back injury. The Board of Police Commissioners fired him in April and his pension was approved months later in September. He and a second detective pleaded guilty in October and are facing possible prison sentences.

A third officer arrested in the corruption probe, former Lt. William White, a 39-year veteran and former head of the narcotics unit, still faces pending charges.

The salary cap would only come into play if Kasperzyk’s total combined income from future employment and his $41,000-a-year pension exceeded the base salary of a detective, which right now is just shy of $61,000. If his earnings exceeded that threshold, his pension would be reduced dollar-for-dollar unless he obtains the waiver.