Police promote four following six-year hiring freeze

Written by Maggie Caldwell
Friday, 19 March 2010

Greenwich Police have announced the promotion of four officers today, the first such advancements in rank following a six year freeze related to a lawsuit filed against the town and the department.

First Selectman Peter Tesei announced that Tim Berry, Jim Heavey, Mark Kordick and Mark Marino all received promotions.Their official titles have not yet been made public.

Until the beginning of this year, the town had been embroiled in a lawsuit filed by Lt. Gary Honulik in 2004 who charged that a former chief of police and the town wrongly passed him over for advancement. A state court ruled in favor of Lt. Honulik in 2007. However, that ruling was later overturned when the town appealed to the Supreme Court.

The court ruled that the town has the power to promote anyone qualified for a position, regardless of where he might rank on a promotion list because of test scores. The court also ruled that no constitutionally protected property interest was violated by not promoting Lt. Honulik, saying the discretion lies with the town to be able to make the final call on the matter.

While the lawsuit was ongoing, the department instituted a freeze on promotions. Until this afternoon, the police department had no deputy chief and no captains, only a chief.

Mr. Tesei said the promotion of the four officers was a step forward for the department.

“We were fortunate to have eight very qualified candidates who all possess various degrees of experience and skills,” he said. “It was an extremely difficult decision. I certainly want to commend all those who were involved in the process. We hope that they all continue to contribute to the organization and will have the opportunity for further advancement in the future.

“We are pleased to move the department forward and commend those who were selected and look forward to their further developing the department,” he added.