Ortiz poised to do his own corruption look-see

By William Kaempffer, Register Staff
11/12/2007

NEW HAVEN — When a federal probe into police department corruption is completed, the internal affairs investigation will begin and police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. will take a tough stance with the rule-breakers.

"I certainly will go after anyone who had any involvement in this (conduct), including anyone who knew about this behavior and didn't report it.... I vow to terminate anyone who violated department rules and regulations internally," Ortiz said.

It's a strong message Ortiz has consistently expressed since the FBI raided police headquarters on March 13 and arrested two narcotics officers. But, to date, the department has held off a launching any major internal affairs inquiries of its own.

"Clearly, we've been told also that we had to hold off" until the federal probe is concluded, Ortiz said. "We have an open Internal Values & Ethics investigation into this entire matter. All that is going to continue."

At police headquarters, no one knows — or they at least aren't saying — whether the federal probe will lead to more arrests at the department. The five people arrested in March — two narcotics officers and three bail bondsmen — all have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing in January. A third police officer waived indictment in October and pleaded guilty. Allegations include theft, bribery and, in one instance, evidence planting and a falsified police report.

The federal investigation is active.

Officers continue to be receive mandated notification that conversations in which they were a part were captured in federal wiretaps, although it's unclear whether those conversations happened before or after the investigation was made public in March with the arrest of former Lt. William "Billy" White and Detective Justen Kasperzyk.

"It's still ongoing," said Tom Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office. As authorities have done throughout, Carson declined to say whether additional arrests are forthcoming.

The uncertainty, both with the federal probe and pending internal investigation, has taken its toll on morale, said Police union President Sgt. Louis G. Cavaliere.

"I just wish it was all over, the rumors, the dribs and drabs, who's next, if anyone is next. The sentiment around the building is let's get this over with. It's tough on the morale, knowing that any day something could break," he said.

He said he was concerned officers who face even minor violations stemming from the IA case, when it kicks in gear, might lose their jobs as the department makes examples of them to send a public message.

"I feel that the (police) commission, with all the exposure we've had since March and the black eye we've had since March, they're not going to be light-handed with anyone who appears before them," he said.

Richard Epstein, chairman of the mayor-appointed commission, said any case would be adjudicated on its own merits.

"Each officer, should there be an officer, is entitled to their day in court, so to speak," he said. "As a policy of the commission and the department and the officers on the department, I think we all feel we can't tolerate corruption and I think 99.9 percent of our officers feel the same way."

At headquarters at 1 Union Ave., there has been a reluctance to launch an all-out internal probe while the federal case is ongoing. That's in part because local authorities don't want to interfere with that probe. At the same time, the FBI still has custody of many of the records it seized from police headquarters, documents that would be essential to build internal cases.

Even if the federal probe ends with no more arrests, Ortiz said, "I don't want anyone getting comfortable thinking, 'the probe is over and I survived it.'"

While stressing the misconduct is not indicative of good work the men and women of the department do every day, it didn't escape notice that the FBI affidavit made public after the March arrests described White, Kasperzyk "and others" participating in the schemes, he said.

"Well, lets get to the others," Ortiz said.

At the department, there's had been sometimes contradictory information about the existence of another secret federal probe not directly related to the narcotics squad.

For months, there have been whispers about a probe into alleged fraud involving no-show police extra-duty jobs where police who were supposed to provide security at an apartment complex were getting paid for shifts they didn't work. One site mentioned was at Brook Hollow on Eastern Street staffed largely by detectives.

Cavaliere said while a city official told him there was no investigation, "we learned through sources that there was a subpoena (for extra duty records) and there is an outside agency investigating these federal housing jobs." He said he learned about the subpoena early this year.

"I don't really even know who it centers on and what jobs are federally funded, but somebody's looking and it's not our department," he said.

Carson said it's the government's policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations. Kristine Foye, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Boston, said no formal audits were being conducted in New Haven.