Norwalk police chief orders investigation into Duff spitting incident
NORWALK — Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik on Monday said he has referred a confrontation between his police officers and state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff to the department’s internal affairs unit for further investigation.
Kulhawik said the department is investigating the July 24 encounter, in which Duff has claimed one officer spat toward him, others swore at him, and dozens poured out of headquarters into a parking lot in an apparent bullying tactic before he drove away.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Kulhawik said. “I referred it to Internal Affairs, so that all officers present could be interviewed.”
Kulhawik said he has offered to meet with at least two groups that have spoken out against the incident where Duff was escorted from headquarters after a scheduled meeting with police union leaders.
Ellie Kousidis, Duff’s Republican challenger in the upcoming election, on Monday urged Duff to apologize to police for what she said was an exaggeration of the July incident.
The incident happened the day after the state House of Representatives approved a controversial law enforcement accountability bill, which prohibited choke holds while making personnel records of officers accessible for public inspection. The Senate approved the legislation on July 29. Gov. Ned Lamont signed it into law, which takes effect in the summer of 2021.
For about two weeks after the July 24 incident, Duff claimed, a motorist drove by his home, shouting expletives. State Capitol Police, who investigate threats against state lawmakers, stationed personnel at Duff’s home.
Surveillance footage of the incident, released by the Norwalk Police Department last Monday, showed a Norwalk police officer interrupting a conversation between Duff and two other officers with a spitting gesture. The video does not have sound and runs about 35 minutes.
In her statement, Kousidis claimed Duff “greatly exaggerated” the situation, “attacking and fueling mistrust of local police officers.”
Kousidis, a media specialist in the Stamford school system, said the video painted a different picture than the one Duff told to members of the news media, but did not further specify. She said Duff owes every officer an apology, and that a public apology is also needed.
“What concerns me most of all is the selfish use of his platform to elevate his own voice above all others,” she said. “We have real problems in our community, not the least of which includes the mental and emotional health of our children in the middle of a pandemic and the safety of all people.”
Duff declined to comment on Monday.
On Aug. 20, Duff sent a letter to Norwalk Police Union President David O’Connor — a copy of which was also sent to Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik and Mayor Harry Rilling — describing what happened, but without naming the officers who he said confronted him.
“If Bob Duff truly felt threatened by what allegedly happened, why did it take him six weeks to make the incident known?” Kousidis questioned. “And why did he go to the press with the story and not to Capitol Police first?”
Kousidis claimed in her statement that by co-authoring and voting in favor of the police accountability bill, Duff “turned his back on public safety and police officers.”