State seeks prosecutor for police use-of-force cases

Thestate has begun movingto fill the legislature’s far-reaching package of law enforcement reforms by opening a search to fill the powerful new position of Inspector General, whowill be responsible for investigating and prosecuting all police use of force cases that result in death.

The $180,000-a-year Inspector General will have unusually broad powers not available to others in state law enforcement and the new office has been at the center of two years of debate by the legislature over how to exert greater control over how police officers work. In spite of the importance of the office, the state Criminal Justice Commission is struggling with a budget of less than $500to findawaytoreachabroadaudienceofpotential applicants.

“We are trying to get the word out,” Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald, the commission chairman, said Wednesday. “We are encouraging applicants because we have only a $409 budget and no opportunity to engage in anything other than a public effort to encourage applicants to step forward. That’s the entire budget for the division of criminal justice for the entire year.”

The volunteer commission appoints the 220prosecutors in the state Division of Criminal Justice and its budget normally is dedicated to sandwiches andother meeting costs. TheInspector General will bepart of the division and appointed by the commission, but the legislature directed that the new office be quasi-independent, operating separately from the division and in separate offices. The Inspector General will be equivalent in seniority to a Deputy Chief State’s Attorney.

McDonald said the commission is counting oncourts, bar associations and other legal groups to help recruit applicants, who can apply until Aug. 31.

“We have a long run-up period for applicants in large part because we are very interested in broadening the pool of applications,” McDonaldsaid. “Specifically the commission is encouraging non traditional applicants to engage in this process.”

“Fromthelegislative debates it is very clear that the legislature would like to have individuals who are not currently prosecutors in the division of criminal justice to apply for this position,” he said. “So the commission is trying to encourage those types of non traditional applicants, including federal prosecutors, maybe retired judges or law professors whomighthavepreviously hadprosecutorial experience to apply.”

“But weareopentointerviewing any applicant who has a significant criminal experience,” he said. “Either as a prosecutors or as a defense attorney.”

With the application process open only a day, there already are two leading candidates for Inspector General. Robert Devlin is a former federal organized crime strike force prosecutor, a former Superior Court judge and, until his recent retirement, a state Appellate Court judge. Anne Dranginis is a former state prosecutor, Superior Court judge and Appellate Court judge whonowpracticeslaw privately.

The nine-member Office of Inspector General is expected to cost about $1.5 million a year in salary and benefits next year, with another $50,000 to $100,000 a year for office space separate from other prosecutors and law enforcement. The eight staff in addition to the inspector general will include a senior assistant prosecutor, five inspectors, a forensic analyst and a paralegal. The office is expected to run 25 full investigations a year.

The Inspector General also will be alone among all other state law enforcement in having the authority to issue subpoenas compelling witnesses in police use of force investigations to provide statements or produce records. Investigative subpoenas are used routinely bylawenforcementelsewhere and by federal prosecutors in Connecticut in cases involving complex crime like political corruption.

For decades, the legislature has brushed aside pleas by state prosecutors for subpoena power. It finally granted it to the Inspector General this year, but for use only in investigations of potential police misconduct.

“I think in these instance whereaprosecutor is not able to voluntarily get information from a police department, if you are not going to allow them to subpoena those records you are not going to have a full fair transparent andopeninvestigation,” said Bridgeport State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, a Democrat.

A legislative report said the Inspector General “will investigate all instances of deadly force and where physical force by a peace officer results in death. In addition, it will be the duty of the office to prosecute any case where the finding is not justifiable and make further recommendations concerning the peace officerinquestion to the Police Officers Standards and Training Council.”