Mayor: East Haven, Connecticut, police chief to retire amid controversy
East Haven, Connecticut, Police Chief Leonard Gallo will retire after the arrests of four police officers for their alleged role in the mistreatment of Latinos, Mayor Joseph Maturo said Monday.
The arrests stemmed from a federal investigation into profiling in the city, with some critics suggesting that Gallo fostered or at least overlooked a culture of ethnic prejudice within his department. The chief's lawyer acknowledged Monday that his client faces a federal lawsuit and could himself be charged, though he said Gallo is innocent, having never profiled or targeted Latinos.
Gallo's retirement is effective February 3, Maturo said, adding that a search for East Haven's next police chief will begin immediately.
"While Chief Gallo's departure comes at a difficult time, it provides a unique opportunity for the department to move forward with new leadership, an opportunity for the town to move forward with the healing that is necessary given recent events, and most importantly, an opportunity for the entire East Haven community to move forward as a unified group to embrace the changes that will follow," the mayor said.
full: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/justice/connecticut-east-haven-police/index.html
Orrex
(63,084 posts)CTyankee
(63,769 posts)people in New Haven) has a high proportion of italian Americans, who of course were discriminated against by the "white bread" elite of a hundred years ago. Even their own churches are giving these bigots a hard time.
They are always railing against Obama in the New Haven Register. I guess they don't even care that they look like a bunch of knuckle dragging racists...
Bozita
(26,955 posts)Yup, that's it.
DCKit
(18,541 posts)There were enough complaints for the Feds to hear about it, but the mayor was ignorant of what was going on?
Sisaruus
(718 posts)The police commission is scheduled to meet and is expected to vote to fire him. If he retires first, he is eligible for the pension plan.
Lurks Often
(5,455 posts)The police chief gets his pension regardless if he resigns or is fired, what is at stake is the accumulated sick and vacation time, between $100,000 to $150,000 according to the Hartford Courant, the town would have to pay him if he resigns. If he is fired, they would not have to pay that, of course if they fire him, they can probably expect a lawsuit.