By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
January 2, 2008
A Greenwich police captain said he has cleared four police officers accused of targeting a town legislator's floral and gift shop to curb the owner's criticism of police coverage in Byram on his web site and the radio.
Other issues in the complaint of Brian Harrod, 46, alleging a lack of field supervision of officers by Police Chief David Ridberg, are unresolved and how to handle them is still to be determined, Pacewicz said.
"I'm confident the officers did nothing wrong," Police Captain Michael Pacewicz said.
Harrod, a District 4/Byram Representative Town Meeting delegate, filed a second formal complaint yesterday against Pacewicz complaining the officer never called or questioned him about the incident, raising doubt about the fairness of the investigation.
"He never even called," Harrod said. "How does he uphold this without even interviewing the complainant? Maybe police aren't independent enough to handle this type of complaint."
Pacewicz said he didn't consider talking to Harrod necessary because he determined Harrod's formal one-page complaint did not include details of the incident and focused on issues about Ridberg's leadership.
Harrod, who made a formal complaint Friday morning, has said he believes police deliberately timed the visit to coincide with the beginning of "Greenwich Matters," a WGCH call-in show hosted by Sam Romeo that airs between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday nights.
Hours before the show, Harrod had posted a lengthy criticism of police coverage in Byram on his blog, greenwichroundup.blogspot.com, and said that he would call the show that night to voice his complaints, he said.
Pacewicz said the four officers involved told him they were unaware of Harrod's blog and other officers interviewed also said the same.
"Nobody I spoke to at the Greenwich Police Department acknowledged they knew it existed," Pacewicz said.
Harrod said a Web-tracking service linked to his blog shows Greenwich town employees make up a high percentage of his readers.
Pacewicz and Harrod agreed that police were near his store at the time because Harrod had made a complaint about an illegally parked car on North Water Street.
A police officer entered Harrod's store at 161 North Water St. to investigate whether Harrod had the required permits to hold a going out of business sale, Pacewicz said.
The officer, who patrols Byram regularly, was concerned the signs were being used illegally to drum up business, Pacewicz said.
A second officer was summoned to the store by the first as backup because Harrod was upset, Pacewicz said.
A third officer stopped by briefly to see if his help was needed, Pacewicz said, and a sergeant was called because Harrod had requested it.
"It is not uncommon for an officer to come to a scene when backup is called to see what is going on," Pacewicz said. "Harrod called for the supervisor to come to the scene."
The sergeant told the first officer not to issue Harrod a ticket, but to refer the case to state consumer protection authorities for possible action, Pacewicz said.
"In our profession there are many ways to skin a cat and many ways to get a final outcome," Pacewicz said. "The sergeant thought it best to consult with consumer protection to determine the applicable state charges."
Also, Pacewicz said there was no reason to believe that an officer made a comment to Harrod indicating the visit was linked to the parking problem Harrod reported.
According to Harrod, one of the officers told him that "he was the pot calling the kettle black," to report illegal parking while displaying illegal signs.
"If an officer had made that comment it would have been inappropriate but it probably wouldn't violate a policy," Pacewicz said. "We're all human and make statements and it is very hard to avoid all those pitfalls in the job."
Ridberg did not return calls for comment yesterday.
In his blog, Harrod criticizes Ridberg, police, and other town agencies for a lack of services in Byram.
On Thursday afternoon before "Greenwich Matters" Harrod wrote he planned to call the show that evening to complain about police.
"Tonight, I am going to call Sam Romeo again and complain about the poorly managed police officers who are responsible for patrolling Byram," Harrod wrote.
On his blog, Harrod wrote that patrol officers in Byram are not around enough to deter vandalism and other crime.
"Windows get smashed, tires get slashed, mirrors get knocked off cars, while the Byram police officer just sits on US1 looking for broken taillights on cars," Harrod wrote.
In the same post he called Ridberg "thin-skinned" for using WGCH to respond to public comments by attorney Lindy Urso, who has publicly stated that police have focused on a theory that Andrew M. Kissel hired his own assassin.
"Why does the Greenwich Police Department have all of these unsolved murders," Harrod wrote. "Maybe, because the other police departments do not have a thin skinned Police Chief that goes on the radio and attacks critics and those trying to help."
Harrod blames Ridberg for a lack of supervision and training which allowed officers to target him, according to the complaint.
"The Greenwich Chief of Police has timed illegal and unwarranted raids É to prevent me from discussing his performance on a WGCH radio program," the complaint said.
Pacewicz said over the past several years, Harrod has made six other formal complaints naming 11 officers, with all the complaints either being dismissed or withdrawn.
Harrod confirmed the earlier complaints, and said one included a complaint about whether Pacewicz had done a thorough investigation of his claims.
"I have received a lot of pressure because of it," Harrod said. "If you file one complaint about a Greenwich police officer you get years and years of grief from it."
"Maybe we should look at all the complaints that have been listed," Harrod said. "Maybe they have all been unfounded because we don't talk to the victims."
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