The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Police board to examine department turnover
First selectman notes issue ‘has been discussed for years’
OLD SAYBROOK — After receiving a letter from the Board of Selectmen indicating 32 officers have left the department during Chief of Police Michael Spera’s tenure, the police board requested a public report on department turnover.
The selectmen’s letter requested the “Police Commission undertake an examination of the issue of past turnover of sworn personnel” since Spera became chief in 2009.
“The Board of Selectmen appreciates the Police Commission acting in a nonpartisan fashion on the Selectmen’s request,” First Selectman Carl Fortuna wrote in an email to a reporter Tuesday. “Nearly all the information requested is public and simply needs organization. The board is hopeful that shedding light on this issue will lend transparency to an issue that has been discussed for years.”
The letter was penned a month after the CT Examiner reported department turnover had outpaced that in nearby towns.
In a 6-1 vote, the Board of Police Commissioners approved a motion asking Spera to create a document containing “sworn personnel that have been hired by the department who no longer serve,” the “length of time each person served with the department” and “the stated reasons why these officers have left the department.”
The motion directed Spera to include supporting documentation such as exit interviews.
The board’s decision comes a month after William Bergantino, a former OSPD sergeant who now is an officer in East Lyme, wrote a letter to the commission alleging he left his post due to a “toxic and hostile work environment.”
Even though it meant taking “a significant reduction in pay,” giving up his rank and taking a penalty toward his pension, Bergantino wrote, he felt he had to leave the department.
Spera had not returned a request for comment by Tuesday, but he spoke about turnover during the board meeting, contending there were many reasons people might choose to leave their jobs, such as salaries and retirement benefits, and that turnover “is not always a negative thing.”
“I have high expectations as a boss,” he said. “Sometimes that means, as the boss here at the Police Department, that I have to tell an employee that they’re not meeting standards, and I have to help them course correct. … Sometimes people find this is not a fit for them, or they just simply don’t wanna like me and they want to go somewhere else.”
Including Spera, Old Saybrook employs 22 fulltime and six part-time police officers, according to its website.
In his letter, Bergantino had asked the board to investigate turnover. The police commission discussed the matter during executive, or closed, session on Jan. 11, according to board member Renee Shippee.
The commission then voted 5-2 to write to Bergantino acknowledging the receipt of his letter but stating they would not take action, she said.
At this week’s meeting, Keeney stressed the board’s request for a turnover report should not be considered an “investigation.” After receiving the report, the commission would decide whether further action was warranted, he said.
Several members, including Vice Chairman Kenneth Reid, the sole dissenting vote, suggested the commission consider forming a subcommittee to examine turnover.
Reid, Shippee and board member Alfred Wilcox expressed interest in having commissioners directly interview former employees, rather than relying solely on exit interviews.
“I think the chief would be the first to tell you that you don’t conduct a credible examination by hearing from just one side,” Wilcox told colleagues. “I think we have to recognize at the outset that for this investigation to have any credibility we have to interview the people who have voiced their concerns already and others that might be identified in the process.”
He voted in favor of the motion to have the report done, “with the understanding it’s only the first step.”
Meanwhile, board member Susan Quish expressed skepticism about what the commission would gain from a new round of interviews.
“I’m thinking that between the exit interviews and their personnel records, we have the basis for a pretty good report that could be made public. What would be the purpose of, you know, giving them voices years later?” she said. “I just think we’d hear stuff that they’d repeat from other sources. I just don’t know how credible it would be.”
Spera’s report on turnover is due to the commission by March 21.
Bergantino said Tuesday he was “pleased” the commission opted to examine turnover but that it “falls short of actually doing an investigation.” He supported interviewing “those people that were directly affected.”
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Bergantino said he did not complete an exit interview when he left the OSPD as he was concerned that it could “adversely affect me moving on to my next job, and I didn’t want that.”
He hopes the commission asks him to elaborate on the details in his letter, he said.
East Lyme Chief of Police Michael Finkelstein described Bergantino as an “outstanding officer” who has brought a lot of experience to his team.
“We’re happy to have him,” Finkelstein said. “He’s definitely a great addition to our department.”
East Lyme has a similarly-sized force. The town employed 24 full-time officers in 2020, one part-time officer and the chief of police, Finkelstein said.
Since 2009, seven East Lyme officers have retired, one took an early retirement to work outside law enforcement and two have left for state police positions, according to Finkelstein, who said he hadn’t seen officers leave for other municipal agencies.
The Clinton Police Department employs 27 sworn officers, according to police Capt. Scott Jakober, who said 19 have left the department since 2009.
Of those, 15 retired, while four took other law enforcement jobs, Jakober said.
The Old Saybrook Board of Selectmen’s letter stating 32 officers had left Old Saybrook since 2009 did not distinguish retirees from those who took other positions. Fortuna did not immediately have information on the breakdown.