Yale cop blocks release of complaint

University says union contract makes claim by civilian part of personnel file

NEW HAVEN — A Yale University police officer has blocked the release of a civilian complaint filed against that department, invoking a provision of a union collective bargaining agreement and claiming it is part of the officer’s personnel file.

The action means university police will not release the complaint unless the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission orders it to or the officer approves the disclosure, despite the state FOIC ruling that Yale Police Department’s law enforcement records are public.

“As a general rule, civilian complaints against a police officer in any department are subject to disclosure,” Thomas Hennick, the commission’s public education officer, said.

But the Yale Police Department said the officer blocked the release of the complaint after the New Haven Register filed a Freedom of Information request on Sept. 9 seeking all civilian complaint reports filed against the YPD since Sept. 1, 2019. The department indicated that it had a record of only one civilian complaint during that time frame.

Steven Woznyk, assistant chief for the department, said in emails there was one record responsive to the FOI request, but “the officer involved has filed a written objection to the disclosure of the records associated with it.”

“Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement with the union, the department therefore will not disclose such records unless ordered to do so by the Freedom of Information Commission or upon receipt of written notice of approval of disclosure from the officer,” Woznyk’s email said.

The response refers to Article XL, Section 7 of the agreement, according to Yale University spokeswoman Karen Peart. That clause pertains to a wide range of “employee files,” such as commendations, disciplinary letters and training documents, according to a copy of the agreement Peart provided.

Peart indicated the undisclosed complaint is part of the officer’s personnel file.

When the department receives a request for the contents of an employee file, its bargaining agree

ment says, the department shall notify the officer in question.

“If the officer reasonably believes the release of information in the personnel file would constitute an invasion of privacy, he or she may file an objection with the Department,” according to the agreement.

As a result, the YPD would not disclose those records without an order from the FOI commission, the agreement continues. State law allows agencies to withhold personnel files only when their release meets two standards, Hennick said Monday: the disclosure marks an invasion of personal privacy “highly offensive to a reasonable person” and would not be in the public interest. “In my opinion,” Hennick said, “even if the allegation is highly offensive, in most cases you can make a pretty strong case for it being a matter of public concern. ... It might be embarrassing, it might be uncomfortable, but clearly it might be something the public has the right to know.” State police officers have also blocked the release of personnel files, based on a collective bargaining agreement adopted in May 2019 that gave them the option to do so.

A year after state police began allowing officers to object to the release of files, nine records requests were denied on those grounds, with just one officer agreeing to disclosure.

While the option conflicts with public records law, Connecticut General Statute 5-278 holds that any element of a collective bargaining agreement for state employees that is contrary to state law supersedes that law. Yale did not immediately return an email asking whether there are grounds for why their department’s police union contract might fall under this provision. YPD records, when it comes to policing matters, are considered public under FOI law, Hennick, the commission’s spokesman, has said.

“We’ve ruled that their law enforcement records are clearly subject to FOI because they are hooked to the New Haven Police Department,” he has said.

In 2008, after Yale declined to release two officers’ personnel files on the grounds that the YPD was a private entity, the commission ordered their release, according to its decision.

The commission found that department was a public agency in part because its officers have the same powers as New Haven police officers, conferred by the city, the decision said.

A decision the following year narrowed the original ruling, finding that YPD payroll records were not subject to FOI law.

Such records “do not relate to the YUPD’s governmental function of policing, but rather relate to the salary structure of a private university,” according to the decision.

Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, which has petitioned the university to dissolve its police department and reinvest its funds into the New Haven community, issued a statement criticizing the YPD’s recent refusal to release a complaint.

The group was “disappointed” by the decision, per the statement, which adds that the New Haven community “should have the right to see exactly what the department is up to.”

BSDY alleges the department lacks transparency, pointing to its resistance to disclose personnel files in the case that led to the FOI commission’s 2008 ruling.

Their statement also mentions Yale police Officer Terrance Pollock, whose body camera was switched off when he fired at a vehicle with two unarmed occupants, Paul Witherspoon and Stephanie Washington, in April 2019.

Hamden police Officer Devin Eaton, who also fired at the vehicle, faces pending assault and reckless endangerment charges , but Pollock was not charged in connection with the shooting.

The Register sent a request for Pollock’s personnel file to the YPD in April 2019, though the department later said the request had to be handled by the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection due to the then-pending investigation.

A request was subsequently sent to the DESPP. As of Monday, the records had not yet been provided.

Washington, a 22-year-old woman and passenger in the vehicle, was injured by gunfire, though a state investigation found no evidence that bullets from Pollock’s gun struck her.

Pollock said he attempted to activate his body camera but was unsuccessful because he had turned it off to “conserve battery power as I was working a double shift,” according to a witness statement he gave the state.

After completing its own review of Pollock’s conduct, Yale suspended him for 30 days without pay and placed him on administrative duty.