By Amanda Pinto, Register Staff
08/19/2008
MADISON — Members of the Police Department’s Explorer Post have not been able to ride in cruisers with officers — a staple of the program — for nearly three months because of a blanket order barring all ride-alongs, acting Police Chief Robert Nolan said Monday.
Nolan said he issued the order after he came to the department in late April to stop members of the Board of Police Commissioners from riding in cars with police officers.
Nolan and commission Chairman Emile Geisenheimer said the decision was made to prevent the perception that commissioners were too friendly with police officers, and to ensure that commissioners’ objectivity was not contaminated during ongoing police hearings.
Five officers have been fired in the last year amid separate accusations, ranging from consorting with prostitutes and theft to failure to supervise, as well as threatening, and workers’ compensation fraud.
Nolan said the Explorers, about a half-dozen young people between the ages of 14 and 21 who have an interest in law enforcement, will likely be back in cruisers within about a week.
“We really didn’t want (the ride-along order) to affect the Explorer group,” Nolan said. “Hopefully, we’re just going to narrow it down to the areas where it needs to be.”
Geisenheimer said commissioners had ridden with officers to get a better understanding of policing in Madison. The ride-along policy, however, had allowed any civilian to ride along with officers if they filled out the proper paperwork, Geisenheimer said.
He said ride-alongs were also stopped because of general liability issues that could arise, even if waivers were signed, if someone that is not a town employee was hurt while traveling with a police officer.
Members of the Explorer post sign waivers and are insured, according to Learning for Life, the organization that runs the post.
Town attorney William Clendenen Jr. was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.
Nolan and Geisenheimer said the ride-along ban was not the result of problems in the Explorer Post. In 2003, one officer in the program quit the department amid accusations he pressured a 17-year-old female member of the Explorer post to have sex with him during ride-alongs in his police cruiser.
Another officer in the program was fired in January for his knowledge that officers where meeting with prostitutes while on duty and for visiting a house of prostitution while off duty. A lieutenant and current supervisor is awaiting a termination hearing on administrative charges of failure to supervise. Nolan said the post’s finances, previously handled in the department, have now been moved to the Finance Department as part of a plan to stop handling finances internally.
The Police Department is the subject of ongoing state and federal investigations, and is being examined by forensic accountants.
Nolan said he is working on getting ride-alongs for the Explorer post cleared.
Officer Rebecca Ricciuti, who advises the Explorer post, said the teens she has been instructing about police work ask about ride-alongs often, and would be excited to begin them again.
“It’s one thing to teach them in a classroom setting, but it’s another thing to teach them out on the road where they can actually see things happen,” she said.
Amanda Pinto can be reached at apinto@nhregister.com or 789-5734.
İNew Haven Register 2008