7th Madison cop faces departmental charges

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 6:57 AM EDT
By Amanda Pinto, Register Staff

MADISON — Administrative charges against the latest town police officer in hot water stem from an incident more than a year ago in which he allegedly failed to investigate a building alarm and lied to his supervisor about why.

That incident — which has yielded six administrative charges against Officer John McDevitt, including neglect of duty, incompetence and making a false official statement — is described in an Internal Affairs report obtained Tuesday by the New Haven Register through the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

The report also notes that McDevitt routinely calls dispatchers, without his supervisor’s knowledge, to complain about being dispatched to calls for service.

McDevitt also “does not have an acceptable record with the Madison Police Department” and has been the subject of numerous Internal Affairs investigations and discipline, including a written reprimand for conduct unbecoming of an officer, a verbal warning for insubordination/neglect of duty, and lack of truthfulness, according to the report.

McDevitt, who worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, becomes the ninth officer publicly implicated in wrongdoing since scandal erupted in the Police Department 2 1/2 years ago, and the seventh to face administrative charges.

Most of those officers worked the midnight shift. Each of the five officers brought before a Board of Police Commissioners hearing in the past 2 1/2 years has been recommended for termination and fired.

The report on McDevitt is the first that does not include a recommendation of discipline. It is also the first Internal Affairs report released since Robert Nolan took charge of the department on an acting basis nearly a year ago.

The report, written by Lt. Allen Gerard, suggests McDevitt should no longer be a town cop.

“McDevitt’s unwillingness to adequately perform his duties and his deceptive conduct are all indicators that he is unwilling or unable to continue as a member of this department,” Gerard wrote in the report.

On Feb. 20, 2008, shortly after 7 p.m., McDevitt was dispatched to check on an alarm at a storage facility in town. The name of the facility is redacted from the report.

According to the report, McDevitt arrived at the scene, but did not get out of his patrol car to investigate the cause of the alarm.

When McDevitt’s supervisor, Lt. Jonathan Dobbin, asked if he had secured the scene, McDevitt reportedly said, in part, “I’m not jumping over fences. We didn’t even check it.”

When Dobbin asked if there was a way around the fence, McDevitt allegedly replied: “Negative. It’s a rusty old chain-link fence. I’m not going to take any chances.”

The report notes the fence was bent over in several spots “to the point where one could easily step over the fence,” and that a dispatcher had informed McDevitt of multiple ways to enter the grounds without jumping the fence, three minutes prior to McDevitt’s statement to Dobbin.

“His actions and conduct clearly illustrate that Patrolman McDevitt knew he had a responsibility to investigate this alarm, but chose to be deceptive and lie to his supervisor in an attempt to avoid accountability,” Gerard wrote.

Instead of staying on the scene and waiting for the building’s keyholder to arrive, McDevitt parked down the road, failing to maintain a visual on the perimeter, the report notes.

“Anyone, including perpetrators, could have come and gone from the facility without Patrolman McDevitt’s knowledge or intervention,” Gerard wrote in the report.

According to the report, McDevitt later explained he made no attempt to check the alarm location because “it’s their gig,” an apparent reference to the agency that maintains the building.

The report notes that McDevitt’s lack of truthfulness is a serious offense — a man recently avoided jail time after the criminal charges against him were reduced because the police officer who arrested him, fired cop Matthew Sterling, was terminated amid several charges, including a lack of truthfulness.

“Patrolman McDevitt’s unacceptable conduct should not be tolerated, coming during a time when it is well known that the Madison Police Department is struggling to regain the confidence and trust of the public,” Gerard wrote in the report.

The investigation into McDevitt was initially launched by Chief Paul Jakubson in March 2008, but Jakubson “abruptly” terminated the report in early April of that year, before it could be completed, according to the report.

When Nolan took charge of the department April 30, 2008, he reopened the investigation. Jakubson is on administrative leave amid a separate investigation of his conduct in running the department. He has not been charged.

Nolan could not be reached for comment. The director and the attorney for UPSEU/COPS — the union which represents Madison police officers — were both out of the office Tuesday.

Board of Police Commissioners Chairman Emile Geisenheimer said he has not yet seen the Internal Affairs report and expects to receive it today. His board will then determine how to proceed.

Amanda Pinto can be reached at apinto@nhregister.com or 789-5734.

Internal Affairs report on Madison Patrolman John McDevitt