Viral post leads to apology in police probe

Cops’ treatment of man with Down syndrome questioned

Old Saybrook’s first selectman made a public apology last week after a widely viewed social media post questioned how police treated a man with Down syndrome during an investigation into a stolen street sign.

The Facebook post, written by the man’s sister, detailed how several Old Saybrook police officers treated the man, CJ Roy, as if he was guilty of stealing the street sign as they questioned his whereabouts on Oct. 10. The Roy family has a cottage near Great Hammock Beach.

The officers repeatedly asked where the sign was and what Roy had done with the sign, according to the Oct. 10 post from Rebecca Roy, which was shared more than 16,000 times.

“As most of you know, my brother has Downsyndrome. He doesn’t have a license, nor can he drive. He cannot read well. He is not capable of moving deftly enough to steal a street sign, nor does he have any motive to do so,” Rebecca Roy wrote. She did not respond to a request for comment sent via social media.

In a written statement, First Selectman Carl Fortuna said that he, the chief and several officers met with the Roy family last week and heard of how the situation both “hurt and scared the family” as officers explained their actions that day.

“For this, I apologized to the family on behalf of the town,” Fortuna said in the statement. “The family was then provided with information from the Police Department on the mandatory training they receive and practices officers follow when interacting with disabled adults along with a promise to review those efforts to determine if more training would be beneficial.”

According to officials, the police interaction with the family lasted about 30 minutes and ended whennewevidence was received that ruled out CJ Roy as a suspect.

“The family was upset with how they were questioned, feeling they were never afforded a presumption of innocence,” Fortuna said. “They were particularly upset with the questioning of the intellectually disabled adult male. Rebecca Roy, one of the family members that was questioned, posted about this incident on social media.”

Rebecca Roy, in an updated social media post, said she filed a formal complaint with the town’s police department on Oct. 12 and then with officials the following day.

“We appreciate their willingness to have a conversation with us and are relieved to report that CJ left the meeting with a stronger sense of security and safety,” she wrote.

Fortuna said officials will continue to review how the officers responded and reflect on whether the situation could have been handled differently.

“The police officers in our town, who are also our first responders, work hard and are committed to service to our community,” Fortuna said. “That being said, I completely understand Ms. Roy’s position on this matter and her instinct to protect her brother CJ.”

The Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut lauded both the Roy family for speaking up and the Old Saybrook Police Department for acknowledging their actions.

“We applaud the Roy family for speaking up. It is daunting to question authority,” the association said, in a written statement. “We also wish to recognize the Old Saybrook Department’s swift response to the complaint and its willingness to learn from this situation. It takes effort from all parties to work out problems like this and the officers involved stepped forward willingly to make things right.”