Former officer dead at 54
East Haven cop’s famous testimony sent four policemen to prison
Vincent Ferrara, the former East Haven police officer whose testimony on the harassment and assault of Latinos helped send four crooked town cops to prison, died Saturday, at age 54.
His death, in the Connecticut Hospice in Branford, came 17 months after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He had a 17-year career in law enforcement.
In 2010, Ferrara helped the U.S. Department of Justice gather evidence of a systemic, department-wide pattern of abuse and corruption. He later filed an active federal civil rights case against the town, including East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., charging that he was a victim of retribution from fellow officers and town officials.
Ferrara said he was shunned, and called a rat, in a departmental atmosphere where veterans of the scandal told younger officers to stay away from him. His lawsuit alleges that fellow officers, asked to back him up in potentially dangerous street encounters, were either slow to respond or failed entirely in arriving.
In January the 11-year veteran of the department was fired over the alleged misuse of his agency computer.
Ferrara’s attorney, James Brewer, said Monday that the lawsuit will continue. “He stuck his neck out,” Brewer said. “It took a lot of moral courage to stand up to people he knew were a physical and emotional threat to him. I think he made a decision to not stand by and watch the abuses. He was an honest cop. Some of these other folks should probably look in the mirror and ask what it takes to be a law enforcement officer.”
In late 2017, around the time Ferrara was suspended over issues that led to his firing over a year later, a series of headaches sent him to doctors who diagnosed the kind of brain tumor that killed U.S. Sen. John McCain. He was put on paid administrative leave for most of 2018.
Vincent B. Ferrara Jr. was born in Brooklyn, NY April 16, 1965, the son of Denyse Clolery Ferrara of New Haven and the late Vincent B. Ferrara, Sr. He is survived by his wife and mother, and his children, Allison Grace and Addison James Ferrara of Branford; his grandson Jaxson Ferrara of Branford; and five brothers and sisters.
The family will greet visitors Tuesday from 4:00 -8:00 p.m. at the W. S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford. Funeral services will be Wednesday morning at 10:00 in the Branford Evangelical Free Church, 231 Leetes Island Road, Branford.
In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that memorial donations be sent to the Smilow Cancer Hospital, 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06510.
Brewer said he visited Ferrara in recent weeks in the intensive care unit at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he had obviously taken a turn for the worse. “He was courageous,” Brewer said. “Others made decisions not to cooperate with the FBI. I will always wonder what kind of toll the stress took on Vince.”
Brewer said that procedurally, Ferrara’s estate will next become the plaintiff in U.S. District Court in New Haven. “It doesn’t change anything,” Brewer said. “Vince was adamant that we would go to the conclusion. We have no doubt we’ll win the case on the testimony of the defendants. Vince was a great guy, and he was treated like dirt by these people.”