http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.cops2dec12,0,63360.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
December 12, 2004
NORWALK -- Police Chief Harry Rilling acknowledged last week that
the eight city policemen arrested or in serious departmental
trouble in the past 17 months is an "unusual situation."
"This period of time, where we've experienced these
problems, has been unusual for us and I can't recall anything I
would compare this to," Rilling said Friday, while sitting
in the office he's occupied since 1995.
However, during a discussion with reporters, Rilling said there
is no pattern to the incidents and they do not indicate a
systemic problem. He expressed confidence in his department and
the community's ability to keep the "inappropriate acts of a
few people" from tainting its view of the rest of Norwalk's
173 sworn officers and their work.
Rilling also criticized local media for continually "rehashing"
and "sensationalizing" several officers' recent
problems, a practice he called "irresponsible."
"We're feeling the pain. This is the healing time for us,
and we'll get through this because we're a strong department,"
he said. "And my officers don't deserve to be painted with
one broad stroke of the brush."
Most recently, a patrolman was charged Dec. 2 with tampering with
evidence and hindering prosecution after allegedly failing to
come forward when he learned about a former police car the
department was seeking in an officer-impersonation probe. Police
said they learned the car was registered to the patrolman and
being driven by his son, who was arrested and charged with posing
as an officer.
Other incidents dating to July 2003 involve an officer who
chraged with embezzlement before he retired from the department
and a patrolman who pleaded guilty to bribe-taking and resigned.
Rilling said one officer's arrest is too many and each case, no
matter the severity, represents a violation of public trust
because police are "bound to obey the laws they're sworn to
enforce."
However, he said several arrests in the last year and a half were
less serious than others. Four cases stemmed from alleged
domestic incidents; charges were eventually dropped in three
instances, while a judge granted accelerated rehabilitation in
the other.
The variety and lack of connections between the recent cases make
drawing any one conclusion impossible, Rilling said.
Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at Manhattan's John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, agreed with Rilling's assessment in a separate
interview. There is no "striking pattern" to Norwalk's
cases, said O'Donnell, who teaches police management and
administration.
Speaking in general terms, he said a shift has occurred in recent
years in which many incidents that departments would previously
handle internally now result in arrests.
Rilling said police often "err on the side of caution"
and, to avoid the appearance of preferential treatment, arrest a
fellow officer in a situation in which an ordinary citizen might
not be charged. The Norwalk Police Department addresses internal
problems "swiftly and decisively" and has a "very
effective disciplinary process in place," he said.
In some cases, the Norwalk police took the initiative in
arresting one of their own, even though the incidents had not
been officially reported to police, Rilling said.
"When we have a problem, we take care of it," he said.
O'Donnell said it is better for a department to confront problems
head-on than to "hunker down" and operate "in
denial," and Norwalk's recent arrests could reflect
positively on departmental oversight.
However, he said the episodes also could point up flaws in
recruitment or supervision. Problems of the sort Norwalk has
faced could raise questions about whether the department's
personnel evaluations are "robust" and "honest,"
and whether internal problems are rooted out aggressively or
addressed passively, the professor said.
Rilling said his supervisors understand their obligation to
address problems they observe among subordinates and aren't
reluctant to do so. Officers want to see a colleague who does
something wrong "disciplined appropriately," he said.
However, seeing a co-worker arrested or brought up on
departmental charges is also demoralizing for other officers,
Rilling said. It is "painful" for him when someone in a
position of public trust violates that trust, he said.
"The worst thing in a chief's career would be to lose an
officer in the line of duty," Rilling said. "But to
have a situation like we've seen, where officers have committed
these indiscretions, that's certainly right up there."
The hurt would be compounded if anyone labeled the entire
department negatively because of the "indiscretions of a
very few," Rilling said. But he believes that doesn't happen
in Norwalk and has faith the community recognizes the "hard
work and dedication" of his officers, he said.
"I don't think it reflects negatively on the department in
general," Frank Morgan, chairman of Norwalk's Board of
Police Commissioners, said of the recent problems.
Morgan said he does not excuse any officer who is arrested but
understands the job is difficult and believes Rilling has dealt
well with internal problems.
Rilling said he has expressed his support and confidence to many
officers recently and plans to visit line-up meetings to
reiterate the message and say thanks for a job well done. He has
similarly addressed officers after colleagues found themselves in
serious trouble on prior occasions, he said.
This time, however, the chief said he wants to communicate
support to his officers largely because of what he called a
"media blitz," in which reports on the latest arrest
also mentioned problems other officers faced in recent months.
"In police departments, we are held to a higher degree of
accountability, and everything that happens in a police
department tends to reflect on everyone, when in reality, if you
look at the number of officers . . . who are responsible for the
inappropriate behavior . . . that's 4.6 percent of my department,"
Rilling said. "It's an insult to the . . . 95.4 percent of
the officers who are out there every single day, working and
making this a safe community."
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.