Posted by Shore Publishing on Sep 25 2008, 01:36 PM
By Meredith Crawford, Courier Associate Editor:
The focus was back on the East Haven Police Department this week as Chief Leonard Gallo faced disciplinary charges yesterday [Wednesday] for removing disciplinary actions from three officers’ personnel files, a move the Democratic administration says violates state laws pertaining to records retention. Gallo’s lawyer–to whom the chief deferred all comment–claims, however, that the hearing is part of Mayor April Capone Almon’s plan to reconstitute the department in Democrats’ favor.
Capone Almon declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but did respond to accusations of political bias.
“I have a responsibility to see that Connecticut general statutes are followed and if there is a concern raised, as there was in this case, all employees are entitled to and given due process to determine the extent and/or the validity of our concerns,” said Capone Almon. “That is my job and there’s nothing political about it.”
Deputy Director of Town Affairs Paul Hongo said late last week that he and Capone Almon had researched and gathered information on the situation in preparation for the hearing. Hongo, whose professional background is in labor relations, said Gallo would face a hearing on Sept. 24. The mayor was to act as the hearing officer during the private meeting.
“We’ve done our investigation…and looked into the matter as much as we can,” said Hongo. “What we typically do [in disciplinary hearings] is present the employee with the information we have…We go over it…and what the penalty could be based on what our findings illustrate…[We’ll] give him the opportunity at that point to make a counterargument or provide additional facts that we might not know about.”
According to Hongo, after this exchange, the hearing will be suspended in order for the mayor to determine Gallo’s punishment, if any is deemed warranted.
Termination, Hongo said, would represent be an “extreme” outcome of the hearing. Gallo could also face fines and up to one year of imprisonment for each occurrence if it is determined that he violated the state record retention schedule.
Kolb vehemently maintains that his client did nothing out of the ordinary by removing disciplinary actions from the files.
“This is a routine practice in all town departments to remove these questions,” said Kolb. “It’s a very big question as to whether or not these [files even] constitute a public record...They’re not subject to full disclosure to the public…They’re [the administration] carrying this to the next level–the state [statute] level.”
Hongo agreed with Kolb that it is common practice for department heads and their employees to make informal arrangements for disciplinary actions to be removed from personnel files pending specified periods of good behavior.
“It’s not unusual to comply with whatever is agreed upon between the two parties,” said Hongo, adding that when disciplinary actions are removed, they should not be destroyed outright.
“That never gets destroyed per se–it just goes into a jacket,” said Hongo.
Kolb argued that the administration’s convening a disciplinary hearing against Gallo is “most definitely” politically motivated.
“Why single the chief out? I think it’s a great overreaction on behalf of this administration,” said Kolb. “Do you slap somebody on the wrist…or do you hop up and say, ‘You’re going to [be incarcerated]?’”
Hongo insisted that the administration is respecting Gallo’s due process.
“He deserves a fair hearing,” said Hongo.
Gallo’s disciplinary hearing stems from evidence revealed last month in a police union grievance filed before the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) on behalf of Sgt. Paul Liquori. In a 3-to-2 vote across party lines, the BOPC sustained a motion alleging that Police Chief Leonard Gallo had discriminated against Liquori. According to the grievance, Gallo removed disciplinary actions from the files of at least three police officers, a move some are saying was intended to gain the favor of these alleged supporters of Capone Almon. Gallo did not, however, remove disciplinary actions from Liquori’s file.