Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 4, 2007 12:54:19 GMT -5
The New York State Police recently investigated, at Connecticut's request, the internal affairs division of the state Department of Public Safety and uncovered egregious police misconduct. There are, I submit, a pair of reasons for the systemic flaws in our state police and most other law enforcement agencies.
A primary fault is a rule among officers (nationwide) that police do not arrest other police, except when an officer's misconduct causes injuries to innocent civilians.
A police officer's retirement letter will always include a request to retain his badge, and the request will generally be granted. It is customary for an active or retired police officer to display his badge when stopped for a violation. The badge is a fraternal icon that signals the holder expects preferential treatment. And dispensers of favored treatment guarantee for themselves similar treatment when the situation is reversed.
A second serious flaw lies in the state's labor law. Every substantive disciplinary decision by a police chief is automatically appealed to the state's labor Board of Mediation and Arbitration. In virtually every appeal, the chief's decision is reversed, modified or substantially reduced by the board. The effect is to greatly weaken the chief's authority to administer a professional department, and to surrender the chief's authority to the state labor board. So long as the labor board retains this statutory power, it will remain the surrogate chief of police in Connecticut.
This usurpation of police power demoralizes internal affairs divisions, whether at the state or local level. Investigators, case reviewers, chiefs and commissioners are acutely aware that their efforts are essentially in vain when the sanctions become serious enough to trigger an appeal to the state labor board.
During my tenure as commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, I demoted a sergeant to private and suspended him for a period of time because he left his duty station to have sex with a private citizen. The union appealed my decision to the labor board, where it was heard with all the trappings of a trial instead of an administrative hearing.
To my chagrin, the miscreant was reinstated to his former rank and returned to duty at the conclusion of his suspension. There are similar instances of police malefactors whose appeals result in either no punishment or substantially reduced sanctions.
The mission of internal affairs divisions is to police intradepartmental malfeasance, whether initiated by citizen or department complaint. Fraternization between internal affairs and other officers should be prohibited, and internal affairs employees, like the commissioner's confidential staff, should be exempt from union membership. Internal affairs needs to be insulated from the blandishments of police department politics and fraternizing. And those assigned to internal affairs should anticipate an extended tour of duty.
Critical to closing this unseemly chapter is a re-education of the values that gird our society. The subject of equal justice should be drilled into new recruits, coupled with annual in-service training for all sworn personnel. Covert field tests can assess whether the re-education has been successful; those failing can be sanctioned and subject to additional testing.
Discipline guidelines for specific infractions should be codified. Violators would know in advance the consequences of their infractions and should have the assurance that all guilty parties will be treated equally under the law.
The culture of preferential treatment for fellow police officers will be a hard nut to crack, but the campaign must get underway. The commission's leadership under Bob Farr and Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle augurs well for a rededication and return to the rule of law and equal justice for all of our citizens.
www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-spada0102.artjan02,0,3817407.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped
A primary fault is a rule among officers (nationwide) that police do not arrest other police, except when an officer's misconduct causes injuries to innocent civilians.
A police officer's retirement letter will always include a request to retain his badge, and the request will generally be granted. It is customary for an active or retired police officer to display his badge when stopped for a violation. The badge is a fraternal icon that signals the holder expects preferential treatment. And dispensers of favored treatment guarantee for themselves similar treatment when the situation is reversed.
A second serious flaw lies in the state's labor law. Every substantive disciplinary decision by a police chief is automatically appealed to the state's labor Board of Mediation and Arbitration. In virtually every appeal, the chief's decision is reversed, modified or substantially reduced by the board. The effect is to greatly weaken the chief's authority to administer a professional department, and to surrender the chief's authority to the state labor board. So long as the labor board retains this statutory power, it will remain the surrogate chief of police in Connecticut.
This usurpation of police power demoralizes internal affairs divisions, whether at the state or local level. Investigators, case reviewers, chiefs and commissioners are acutely aware that their efforts are essentially in vain when the sanctions become serious enough to trigger an appeal to the state labor board.
During my tenure as commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, I demoted a sergeant to private and suspended him for a period of time because he left his duty station to have sex with a private citizen. The union appealed my decision to the labor board, where it was heard with all the trappings of a trial instead of an administrative hearing.
To my chagrin, the miscreant was reinstated to his former rank and returned to duty at the conclusion of his suspension. There are similar instances of police malefactors whose appeals result in either no punishment or substantially reduced sanctions.
The mission of internal affairs divisions is to police intradepartmental malfeasance, whether initiated by citizen or department complaint. Fraternization between internal affairs and other officers should be prohibited, and internal affairs employees, like the commissioner's confidential staff, should be exempt from union membership. Internal affairs needs to be insulated from the blandishments of police department politics and fraternizing. And those assigned to internal affairs should anticipate an extended tour of duty.
Critical to closing this unseemly chapter is a re-education of the values that gird our society. The subject of equal justice should be drilled into new recruits, coupled with annual in-service training for all sworn personnel. Covert field tests can assess whether the re-education has been successful; those failing can be sanctioned and subject to additional testing.
Discipline guidelines for specific infractions should be codified. Violators would know in advance the consequences of their infractions and should have the assurance that all guilty parties will be treated equally under the law.
The culture of preferential treatment for fellow police officers will be a hard nut to crack, but the campaign must get underway. The commission's leadership under Bob Farr and Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle augurs well for a rededication and return to the rule of law and equal justice for all of our citizens.
www.courant.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-spada0102.artjan02,0,3817407.story?coll=hc-headlines-oped