Christopher Peak Photo
Commission Chair Dawson: “We’re not playing.”
Thirty-seven would-be New Haven cops were set to receive their appointments Thursday night — but now will have to wait while the department figures how much fabrication took place in their vetting process.
Police Chief Anthony Campbell told the Independent Friday that he decided to have the department conduct a thorough review of the background-vetting process before proceeding with hiring new cops.
That was among the latest developments since the Independent reported Wednesday (in this story) that a police officer resigned from the force after officials discovered she had fabricated at least 17 background checks (including an alleged interview with a dead neighbor) on applicants to join the force.
When officials first learned that the officer, Leah Russo, had fabricated a report, they ordered a review of all her reports. That’s how they discovered the 17 fabrications— all of which involved reports of neighbors or friends or relatives praising applicants.
Officials then decided to proceed with a Board of Police Commissioners meeting this Thursday night at which a vote would confirm the chief’s recommendations to hire all 37 for a training class to begin June 25.
But since the article appeared, according to people familiar with the process:
• Officials decided to review all background reports on all applicants for the class. They informed remaining members of the background unit that the review would take place.
• Then a second member of the unit, Officer Kris Ramirez, turned in his resignation. Ramirez was Leah Russo’s partner. (Ramirez did not return calls to his cell phone seeking comment for this article.)
• Department brass reassigned the six remaining members of the unit to patrol and brought in more experienced officers to conduct the new review of all the background checks.
• At 2:17 p.m. Thursday, less than four hours before the Police Commission’s scheduled start time, Chief Campbell’s administrative aide sent out a one-sentence email message to commissioners and other interested parties: “Please be advised that the Special Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 14, 2018 a6:00 PMPM has been cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.”
“I want to be methodical,” Campell stated Friday, “diagnose the real problem and properly address it, not just react.”
“We’re not playing. We’re taking it very seriously,” Police Commission Chairman Anthony Dawson told the Independent. “There’s no way that we could move forward without looking at every application to see if any other fabrication has taken place.”
Christopher Peak Photo
Rejected applicants line up to learn their fate at a police commissioners meeting.
Police union President Craig Miller praised the action. “They’re making the right choice to put it on hold” and make sure the process has integrity, Miller said.
Because none of the fabricated reports involved negative comments about applicants, it is not expected that any applicants already rejected would now have a new shot of being offered positions.
The 37 applicants who had made it passed the vetting process and were in line for starting the academy were, according to a public meeting notice issued by the department: Christopher Chin, Margaret Luciani, Rykema Stone, Sean Connelly, Cartlon Lewis, Conley Monk, Travis Miller, Jennifer Depeano, Jennifer Giovanni, Eddie Diaz, Christopher Troche, Ginarose Vlake, Ryan Hooper, Claire Rieser, Karyn Hoffman, Jessica Esposito, Maurice Randall, Brian Kearny, Martha Alves, Nicholas Sinopoli, Marlena Ofiara, Christopher Noble, Kevin Blanco, Joesph Dinatale, Jamie Conroy, Christopher Caccomo, Tony Vitale, Jawan Haddock, Jacob Sosik, Romir King, Jean Louisgene, Aashish Katara, Jessica Mirmina, Yalexa Melendez, Alex Torres, Joseph Mortali, David Leon.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Chief Campbell: Be “methodical” rather than “just reacting.”