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Hartford Courant - United Stat
28 November 2007

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Connecticut Sate Police

USA: Officers Claim Retaliatio

Two of the principal whistle-blowers in a highly publicized investigation of the state police internal affairs unit are claiming that they are targets of retaliation for making complaints and that the attorney general's office is not adequately protecting them.

The complaints of Sgt. Andrew Matthews helped trigger the investigation late last year that found, among other things, that internal affairs officers failed to address the misconduct of some troopers.

On Tuesday, Matthews said in a written statement that the state police division is continuing to harass him and that managers even attempted earlier this month to place him in a facility they knew was a hostile environment.

"Unfortunately, I was na�ve to think that I could expose the truth about the systemic problems within the state police and be protected," he said Tuesday.

Matthews, who is studying for his law degree, said he was misled by the state attorney general's office when he was promised protection, and is questioning just how much authority Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has in protecting a whistle-blower from an employer, if any.

"The legislature needs to modify the existing whistle-blower statute in order to provide real protection," Matthews said.

Blumenthal said Tuesday that he is "deeply concerned and profoundly troubled by any claim of retaliation of a whistle-blower � nothing is more critical to the integrity of government than the open and fair reporting of wrongdoing."

Meanwhile, Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III said the state police division has put policies into place to prevent retaliation.

Lt. Benjamin Pagoni Sr., another trooper who had given statements to Blumenthal's office about the problems within the state police, also recently filed a complaint alleging retaliation.

He has been the focus of three internal affairs investigations over the past year and was suspended for four days for an incident on a highway, a punishment many troopers said seemed excessive.

Pagoni's attorney, Kevin M. Smith, wrote a letter of complaint on behalf of the trooper to state auditors who handle whistle-blower cases.

"Due to his speaking out, he is now being subjected to three separate harassing internal affairs investigations that are wholly without merit; he is being denied promotion to captain; he has been suspended for four days without pay; and he has been transferred to an unsuitable office to perform his risk management functions," Smith said.

Smith said the complaints and investigations have been filed and pursued by the same individuals Pagoni and others had complained about.

Matthews first filed a whistle-blower complaint in the summer of 2005 when he had been an investigator for the internal affairs unit. He told the attorney general about problems within the unit and the practice of covering up misconduct by fellow officers, including drunken driving, family violence and misuse of state funds.

Many of the cases he reported were highlighted in a lengthy, highly critical report on the internal affairs unit released in December by Blumenthal and the New York State Police, brought in as an outside investigator. Some cases are still under internal or criminal investigation.

State police union President Steven Rief said he has filed grievances on behalf of Matthews.

"No one can say at this point they weren't aware of the problem," Rief said of state police managers. "Not only has the union made them aware of it, but the attorney general's office has made them aware of it as well."

A report released by Blumenthal in May found that Matthews was harassed, retaliated against and ostracized by high-ranking managers because of his claims against the agency. Blumenthal's investigation found that Matthews was not only subjected to a hostile work environment, but was punitively transferred around the agency, including to Brainard Airport in Hartford, which "posed a safety risk to Matthews" because some of the officers he had reported on work there.

Matthews was again transferred to Brainard Airport on Nov. 1.

Matthews' attorneys said sending him to Brainard is "an extremely hostile, possibly dangerous environment for him to be in," adding that there is still an active internal investigation at the airport "where a trooper in the aviation division threatened to shoot fellow officers and civilians."

Blumenthal, after hearing that Matthews was transferred to an office at Brainard, which he had specificallyopposed, wrote a letter Nov. 1 to Danaher and Gov. M. Jodi Rell, urging them to re-evaluate the assignment. "My office lacks the legal authority under the whistle-blower statute to order state agencies to assign or reassign personnel," he said.

Danaher replied on Nov. 6 that he had "never received any specific information that anyone has made any threat against Sgt. Matthews," but that he has attempted to address the officer's safety concerns. He said Brainard has keycard access and an office for Matthews with a separate lock and that any problems involving Matthews should be reported directly to him.

Rell spokesman Chris Cooper said Tuesday, "Gov. Rell is confident that Commissioner Danaher is addressing this matter, which is still being investigated, appropriately."

Blumenthal said Tuesday that the letters he sent to Danaher and Rell "are only the tip of the iceberg in our efforts to persuade relevant officials about the appropriate course of action."

He also said there should be new legislation for stronger measures against retaliation. "One of the statute's most serious weaknesses is the lack of enforcement," he said. "It leaves whistle-blowers vulnerable."

Norm Pattis, an attorney who represents Matthews, said the state police are failing to take Matthews' claims seriously, and he called on the state legislature to hold hearings on problems still brewing with the agency.

"They are just flouting the law, thumbing their nose at the attorney general and waiting for something catastrophic to happen," Pattis said.

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Hartford Courant - United Stat28 November 2007

USA: Officers Claim Retaliatio

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Hartford Courant - United Stat
28 November 2007