CT lawmakers want to block hiring of fired officers
Connecticut lawmakers have introduced a bill that would block police departments from hiring officers who were previously fired for serious misconduct or who left another law enforcement agency while under investigation.
The legislation would address loopholes highlighted by a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation last year into police misconduct and punishment called “Policing the Police.”
“We are trying to make sure people are not getting a job of public trust when they should not have a job of public trust,” said state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague and co-chairwoman of the public safety committee.
The proposal would prohibit the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which grants licenses to officers statewide, from certifying an officer dismissed for “malfeasance” or who resigned or retired while under investigation for misconduct.
Last year’s Hearst Connecticut Media investigation found examples in which a police department fired an officer for serious offenses only to see that same officer hired by another department.
For example, Officer Dan Loris was hired by Fairfield police in 2021 after being fired the year before by the Shelton Police Department for ethics and sexual harassment violations and misconduct while on duty.
Hearst also obtained records showing that 34 local officers retired or resigned while internal affairs investigations into their conduct were underway between 2015 and 2020. Those departures often ended the probe and allowed officers to avoid a determination or punishment.
The investigation by Hearst Connecticut uncovered one other way officers can return to the force despite prior misconduct.
Following criminal convictions on domestic violence-related charges in 2013, Paul Cari was stripped of his law enforcement authority at the Bridgeport Police Department. But in 2020, Cari received a pardon for his convictions, allowing him to regain certification as an officer, despite objections from the POST Council. Cari, who could not be reached for comment, is now patrolling the city’s streets.
While the early version of bill does not prohibit certifying an officer who received a pardon, Osten said the legislation may be updated to include that prohibition.
“This may deal with some of those kind of issues,” Osten said. “That is not something that we would want to see.”
State Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury and House co-chairwoman of the public safety committee, said the proposed bill closes loopholes in a sweeping Police Accountability Act passed in 2020. Horn said at least one local department found the prior legislation to be “ambiguous.”
“We are trying to close this door,” she said, noting the legislation has the backing of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, which oversees the State Police.
After the Hearst Connecticut series was published, a number of lawmakers expressed interest in additional reforms to increase police accountability and transparency.
Police union head Troy Raccuia said he opposes the proposal now before the committee.
“The General Assembly has already enacted multiple measures related to police accountability and transparency,” said Raccuia, director of collective bargaining for AFSCME Council 4, which represents police officers.
“POST has been given more power to decertify officers, barring them from employment in law enforcement,” Raccuia said. “Qualified immunity protections have been curtailed only for police officers. A permanent special prosecutor is in place to prosecute only police officers. Body cameras are used extensively.”
Raccuia added, “Legislators need to examine how these measures are impacting the ability of officers to do their jobs and hampering recruitment and retention. At what point do we reach overkill in monitoring, disciplining, or calling into question the overall character of police officers?”
Complete investigation
Horn and Osten said the bill is designed to prod police departments to finish internal affairs investigations even if the officer resigns or retires.
“In our conversations, we found that there is a diversity, some finish and some don’t,” Horn said, referring to whether police departments complete IA investigations.
Horn said the bill, for now, does not require Connecticut departments to complete IA investigations after an officer leaves the department. But, she said, an upcoming public hearing will help determine if that clause should be added.
The public safety committee on Friday scheduled a March 3 public hearing on the bill.
“If someone resigns in midst of an investigation, that investigation should be finished so it exists in some official forum,” Horn said. “The idea is to stop this from happening.”
Hearst found that most departments closed their investigations after an accused officer left the department — which meant no conclusion was reached — but there were exceptions.
Ridgefield police completed an IA probe into former Lt. Craig Worster in 2015, upholding various sexual harassment allegations, but no formal action was taken against the officer since he had previously retired.
Worster was later hired as chief of a small police department in Millinocket, Maine. Soon after taking that job, he was accused of similar misconduct and fired.
“Fullfilled requirements”
Loris, the officer fired by Shelton and later hired by Fairfield, received certification from the POST Council despite the changes the state enacted under the 2020 police reform legislation.
Fairfield Police Chief Robert Kalamaras told Hearst last year he stood by the decision to hire Loris, who joined a lawsuit against Shelton contesting his and other terminations.
“He has fulfilled all of the state requirements necessary to assume the duties and responsibilities of a police officer and I fully support the decision of the previous chief,” Kalamaras told Hearst, pointing out he did not personally hire the officer.
The allegations against Loris stemmed from photos posted on social media of officers changing their clothes in a parking lot to protest Shelton’s closing of bathrooms used by officers.
Loris could not be reached for comment.
Horn said the legislation being proposed now was tucked into a larger package of reforms that passed the House last year but failed to make it through the Senate. She said separating the bill from other issues should lead to passage this year.
“Once we have a hearing, we will know more clearly,” Horn said, referring to support for the bill. “No one has objected to me.”
bcummings@ctpost.com
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