Groton Town Councilor Genevieve Cerf resigns in protest over hiring of police chief

Town Councilor Genevieve Cerf on Thursday resigned in protest over the hiring of Louis J. Fusaro Jr., a major with the Connecticut State Police, as police chief for the Town of Groton.

Town Manager Mark Oefinger announced earlier Thursday that the 21-year veteran of the state police would start as Groton’s new chief on July 27.

Cerf called the decision a “serious error of judgment.”

Fusaro is one of four state troopers accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed July 16, 2014, that claims the troopers provoked a suicidal Poquonnock Bridge firefighter to kill himself in 2012 by repeatedly firing nonlethal ammunition at him.

The firefighter, Timothy Devine, was Cerf’s nephew. She said she believes police action that night prompted him to take his own life, as the lawsuit contends.

After Oefinger announced Fusaro’s hiring, Cerf released the following statement:

“Tim Devine was my nephew, much beloved by all those who knew him. Many people as well as witnesses to the events of that tragic night at Avery Point think that the local police and his fellow firefighters were close to successfully negotiating a solution with him. I believe it was a grave error of judgment for the State Police commanded by Major Fusaro to end the negotiation abruptly and to fire multiple rounds of painful rubber bullets at Tim, leaving him no option but to take his life, in spite of his appeal to them: ‘Don’t make me do this!’

“I also believe it is an equally serious error of judgment for the Town Manager and the town council to support hiring someone for the Town of Groton who starts out with this history and a pending lawsuit for excessive use of force. Our young people deserve a more compassionate and understanding approach. I am therefore resigning my position as town councilor, as I cannot condone an administration — or be part of a legislative body — which makes such an inappropriate decision.”