NEWS > 05 December 2006

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Hartford Courant - United Stat
05 December 2006

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Report Rips State Police

A scathing 168-page report on the state police internal affairs unit has found the very structure designed to promote integrity within the department to be riddled with misconduct and improper influence.

Some of the 19 internal affairs cases investigated by the New York State Police may lead to criminal charges or disciplinary action against troopers involved in sexual assaults, domestic violence, drunk driving and larceny, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

The report, which calls for an overhaul of the unit, prompted Gov. M. Jodi Rell to order an independent commission to oversee its reform and an outcry from other public officials to eliminate what some perceive as corruption within the state police.

Released during a press conference Monday, the report points the finger at top managers and raises questions about the ability of the department's elite major crime squad to investigate criminal allegations that arose in some internal affairs cases. In several instances, the major crime squad failed to properly document or complete cases.

Responding to the worst black eye for the department since a 1989 scandal involving illegal taping of prisoners, a grim-faced Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle took responsibility for the problems outlined in the yearlong investigation.

"I'm responsible for everything that happens and responsible for trying to fix it," Boyle said.

Blumenthal thanked state troopers who came forward "to make complaints about a system that is dysfunctional, in disarray, and ultimately discredited."

"More importantly than what we call it is what we do about it," he said. He turned the report over to Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane for investigation.

Col. Edward Lynch, commander of the state police, who announced his retirement Friday, said the timing had nothing to do with the report. He said he is taking a job in the private sector.

Rell ordered Boyle to set up a commission that will include expertise from outside the state police to oversee systemic reforms.

"This is necessary so that we may have an unbiased and professional group charged with transforming the internal affairs process," Rell said in a statement. "I am deeply concerned by the troubling practices exposed by this report and am firmly committed to reforms that will ensure they never occur again."

Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan, who has been critical of state police management, said Boyle properly called in an outside agency to do the investigation. "[The report] says there is a culture gap between the expectation of modern police management and the historical clubhouse nature of the state police," Sullivan said. "This blows the lid off the clubhouse."

Investigators from the New York State Police, a department recognized internationally as a leader in internal affairs, found that Connecticut's state police command staff improperly interfered with and influenced internal affairs cases, and that citizens' complaints were regarded as nuisances rather than legitimate cases warranting investigation.

Col. Joseph Loszynski, deputy superintendent of the New York State Police who led the investigation, said the report and recommendations should lay a foundation for a new era. He said 11 New York investigators conducted 262 interviews, and spent 9,500 hours on the investigation.

Loszynski and the team of investigators issued more than 60 recommendations, including making the internal affairs division completely autonomous, and having its supervisor hold the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. The report recommends a centralized complaint system for the public, including a way to make complaints via the Internet. Rell also ordered a 24-hour complaint hot line.

Some recommendations already have been implemented, Boyle said, and others will be soon.

Blumenthal's office worked jointly with New York investigators and released a separate report of 11 whistleblower cases that were brought to his attention. The report names several managers who had some involvement in internal affairs cases. Mentioned by name or rank were: Boyle; Lynch; Lt. William Podgorski, Lynch's chief of staff; Lt. Col. Vincent McSweeney; and Capt. Michael Guillot, who supervised the internal affairs unit before he was removed.

New York officials found no evidence of anyone in the command structure purposefully trying to harm or improperly target any employee for launching an internal affairs investigation, as was initially claimed by the state police union.

What New York found was far worse than what state police union members had anticipated. The report criticized the actions of rank and file troopers as much as it did command staff.

"In numerous cases reviewed, supervisors or command staff directed investigators to ignore evidence, limit the scope of their investigation to the point of not following obvious leads, not open or pursue a case that was already being investigated by an outside agency or not open an administrative case with strong evidence of misconduct if a separate criminal investigation did not find proof," the report says.

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Article sourced from

Hartford Courant - United Stat05 December 2006

Report Rips State Police

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Hartford Courant - United Stat
05 December 2006