1 Finalists picked for Connecticut inspector general.

New position will investigate use of deadly force by police officers

BRIDGEPORT — A local top prosecutor has been chosen as a finalist for the state’s new inspector general position in charge of police accountability.

C. Robert Satti Jr., supervisory assistant state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Bridgeport Judicial District, was selected as a finalist along with Brian Preleski, state’s attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain.

The two men will be interviewed by the Criminal Justice Commission for the position on Thursday.

The position of inspector general was created by the new police accountability law to independently investigate the use of deadly force by police. It will investigate all incidents involving the deadly use of force by police and in-custody deaths.

“This is an important position to get back the trust of the community and hold officers accountable for their actions,” Chief State’s Attorney Richard M. Colangelo Jr. said in an earlier interview.

The unit falls under the Division of

Criminal Justice, which Col angelo heads, but will be considered independent to ensure the integrity of the investigations.

The state Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated the cost of running the unit in 2021 at $1.1 million including $167,183 for the salary for the inspector general.

There will also need to be inspectors and prosecutors within the unit and office space where the unit will work,

Col angelo said.

Sat ti currently serves as second in command of the Bridge port Judicial

District and is the most experienced prosecutor in the state with 40 years in the state’ s Division of Criminal Justice. During that time, he has prosecuted more than 150 serious felony cases, inc lu ding Richard Roszkows ki, who was sentenced to death by a jury for the

2006 murder sofa mother, her young daughter and a Milford landscaper in

Bridge port. Roszkows ki was later resentenced to life in prison after the death penalty was eliminated by the state legislature.

In 2017, Sat ti was selected to serve on a hearing at Guantanamo Bay Navy base in Cuba for anal-Q aid a commander in Afghanistan, Ab dal Ha dial-Iraqi, who allegedly led insurgents who set roadside bomb sand carried out suicide attack sand ambushes that killed Americantro op sand CIA contractors, and targeted other U.S .- allied troops and civilians.

Satti, who also serves on the Milford zoning board, is the son of legendary New London prosecutor C. Robert Satti Sr., who successfully prosecuted serial killer Michael Ross, the last man to get the death penalty in Connecticut.

Preleski, New Britain’s top prosecutor since 2011, was born in New Britain and raised in Bristol, where he attended public school and his father worked as a Bristol police officer.

As a prosecutor for more than 30 years, P re le ski successfully prosecuted Connecticut’ s first cold case murder, tried the case establishing the constitutionality of sobriety check points under Connecticut law, and has tried more than 50 major felony cases to verdict. In 2013, P re le ski was selected by the National District Attorneys Association to serve as an official observer to the war crimes trial of Ab dal Ra him al Nash iri in Guantanamo Bay.