By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
January 2, 2008
A Greenwich police captain said he has cleared four police
officers accused of targeting a town legislator's floral and gift
shop to curb the owner's criticism of police coverage in Byram on
his web site and the radio.
Other issues in the complaint of Brian Harrod, 46, alleging a
lack of field supervision of officers by Police Chief David
Ridberg, are unresolved and how to handle them is still to be
determined, Pacewicz said.
"I'm confident the officers did nothing wrong," Police
Captain Michael Pacewicz said.
Harrod, a District 4/Byram Representative Town Meeting delegate,
filed a second formal complaint yesterday against Pacewicz
complaining the officer never called or questioned him about the
incident, raising doubt about the fairness of the investigation.
"He never even called," Harrod said. "How does he
uphold this without even interviewing the complainant? Maybe
police aren't independent enough to handle this type of
complaint."
Pacewicz said he didn't consider talking to Harrod necessary
because he determined Harrod's formal one-page complaint did not
include details of the incident and focused on issues about
Ridberg's leadership.
Harrod, who made a formal complaint Friday morning, has said he
believes police deliberately timed the visit to coincide with the
beginning of "Greenwich Matters," a WGCH call-in show
hosted by Sam Romeo that airs between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday
nights.
Hours before the show, Harrod had posted a lengthy criticism of
police coverage in Byram on his blog,
greenwichroundup.blogspot.com, and said that he would call the
show that night to voice his complaints, he said.
Pacewicz said the four officers involved told him they were
unaware of Harrod's blog and other officers interviewed also said
the same.
"Nobody I spoke to at the Greenwich Police Department
acknowledged they knew it existed," Pacewicz said.
Harrod said a Web-tracking service linked to his blog shows
Greenwich town employees make up a high percentage of his
readers.
Pacewicz and Harrod agreed that police were near his store at the
time because Harrod had made a complaint about an illegally
parked car on North Water Street.
A police officer entered Harrod's store at 161 North Water St. to
investigate whether Harrod had the required permits to hold a
going out of business sale, Pacewicz said.
The officer, who patrols Byram regularly, was concerned the signs
were being used illegally to drum up business, Pacewicz said.
A second officer was summoned to the store by the first as backup
because Harrod was upset, Pacewicz said.
A third officer stopped by briefly to see if his help was needed,
Pacewicz said, and a sergeant was called because Harrod had
requested it.
"It is not uncommon for an officer to come to a scene when
backup is called to see what is going on," Pacewicz said.
"Harrod called for the supervisor to come to the
scene."
The sergeant told the first officer not to issue Harrod a ticket,
but to refer the case to state consumer protection authorities
for possible action, Pacewicz said.
"In our profession there are many ways to skin a cat and
many ways to get a final outcome," Pacewicz said. "The
sergeant thought it best to consult with consumer protection to
determine the applicable state charges."
Also, Pacewicz said there was no reason to believe that an
officer made a comment to Harrod indicating the visit was linked
to the parking problem Harrod reported.
According to Harrod, one of the officers told him that "he
was the pot calling the kettle black," to report illegal
parking while displaying illegal signs.
"If an officer had made that comment it would have been
inappropriate but it probably wouldn't violate a policy,"
Pacewicz said. "We're all human and make statements and it
is very hard to avoid all those pitfalls in the job."
Ridberg did not return calls for comment yesterday.
In his blog, Harrod criticizes Ridberg, police, and other town
agencies for a lack of services in Byram.
On Thursday afternoon before "Greenwich Matters" Harrod
wrote he planned to call the show that evening to complain about
police.
"Tonight, I am going to call Sam Romeo again and complain
about the poorly managed police officers who are responsible for
patrolling Byram," Harrod wrote.
On his blog, Harrod wrote that patrol officers in Byram are not
around enough to deter vandalism and other crime.
"Windows get smashed, tires get slashed, mirrors get knocked
off cars, while the Byram police officer just sits on US1 looking
for broken taillights on cars," Harrod wrote.
In the same post he called Ridberg "thin-skinned" for
using WGCH to respond to public comments by attorney Lindy Urso,
who has publicly stated that police have focused on a theory that
Andrew M. Kissel hired his own assassin.
"Why does the Greenwich Police Department have all of these
unsolved murders," Harrod wrote. "Maybe, because the
other police departments do not have a thin skinned Police Chief
that goes on the radio and attacks critics and those trying to
help."
Harrod blames Ridberg for a lack of supervision and training
which allowed officers to target him, according to the complaint.
"The Greenwich Chief of Police has timed illegal and
unwarranted raids É to prevent me from discussing his
performance on a WGCH radio program," the complaint said.
Pacewicz said over the past several years, Harrod has made six
other formal complaints naming 11 officers, with all the
complaints either being dismissed or withdrawn.
Harrod confirmed the earlier complaints, and said one included a
complaint about whether Pacewicz had done a thorough
investigation of his claims.
"I have received a lot of pressure because of it,"
Harrod said. "If you file one complaint about a Greenwich
police officer you get years and years of grief from it."
"Maybe we should look at all the complaints that have been
listed," Harrod said. "Maybe they have all been
unfounded because we don't talk to the victims."
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