Friday, October 17, 2008 6:26 AM EDT
By William Kaempffer, Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — City labor officials and the police union have reached a settlement that would allow an embattled 17-year detective to retire even though he faces criminal charges for allegedly misusing a police computer database.
Detective Michael Hunter, who is on administrative leave, had been scheduled to appear this week before the Board of Police Commissioners for a disciplinary hearing during which the city was expected to push for his termination. It was canceled, a city official said, as the two sides negotiated a potential agreement that would render it moot. City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said Thursday that nothing has been finalized, so she wouldn’t disclose the terms.
Sgt. Louis G. Cavaliere, the police union president, however, confirmed a settlement was in place, though not formally signed, and said he believed it was in the best interests of both the city and Hunter.
“I think this is a good deal. I’m happy that he is at least going to get a pension,” Cavaliere said. “You don’t want to throw away 17 years that you’ve been paying into (it).”
Without the agreement, Hunter wouldn’t qualify for retirement. To be eligible for an age annuity pension, officers need 20 years of service, although ones with as few as 15 years can qualify by trading in unused sick days, which they accumulate through their careers, in exchange for up to five years in pension calculations. Hunter didn’t have enough banked sick time to “buy back” three years.
The key component of the agreement is that Hunter, 46, would serve a one-year, unpaid suspension, during which he would remain a city employee and thereby accumulate 15 sick days and another year of service.
When that suspension is complete, Hunter has agreed to retire. Cavaliere said.
Hunter was placed on leave last month and arrested two weeks later by Internal Affairs for allegedly using a state database to run a criminal background check on two brothers, one of whom Hunter believed was in a relationship with the mother of Hunter’s child.
Under state law, misuse of the database is a felony, and in recent years has led to numerous prosecutions of officers at the state and federal levels.
Hunter’s retirement agreement would not affect his criminal case. State police maintain the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing database, and State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said there are specific rules in place about its usage, and improved technology, including time and date stamps and password sign-in are safeguards against abuse.
“If you really think about it, there are hundreds of law enforcement officers that use the COLLECT system appropriately. It’s very rare than anyone violates the policy.”
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