Paul Bass File Photo
Chief Limon.
(Updated 7:15 a.m. with chief’s written statement.) Unhappy with the Chicago crew that took over the department, the police union is planning a no confidence vote against the new chief.
Sgt. Louis Cavaliere, president of the city police union, said Wednesday that he expects a proposal to be introduced at a Sept. 15 union meeting asking for a vote of no confidence in Chief Frank Limon. The union would then schedule a ballot vote at a later date, where the union rank and file can make a public statement on whether they support the chief.
The rank and file is rankled by, among other decisions, management reviews of how much cleavage female officers reveal while in uniform and on how promptly senior officers must arrive to daily crime-statistics meetings, according to the union president.
The union move comes five months after Limon came to New Haven from Chicago to take the police chief job. Cavaliere said in those months, the union has filed 41 grievances against the administration on a range of issues, including new changes to the police dress code. By contract, Limon has 10 days to respond to grievances; almost all of them have gone unanswered, he said.
At first Wednesday Limon referred comment for this story to mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. “At this time, he has no comment,” she said. “If this vote does take place, he will respond with a statement.”
At 9:47 p.m. Wednesday Mayorga released a one-paragraph written statement from Limon with no responses tot he specific concerns raised by the union: ““I understand that change is stressful. I am mindful that Officers may have concerns and questions about the strategies that are being implemented and there will be opportunities to address these issues in the near future. I look forward to working with the members of the Department to bring about change that will make New Haven safer and at the same time to work together to create a police department that will be a professional and progressive working environment.”
Behind the scenes, Mayor John DeStefano has stepped into the fray, meeting last week with the union executive board over lunch at Anastasio’s on Wooster Street, then conveying their concerns directly to the chief.
“It’s new team in police management. You’ve got police union leadership that goes back to Billy Farrell, six chiefs. They’ve seen chiefs come and go. I think Chief Limon’s trying to do some things. They’re trying to figure out how to deal with one another,” DeStefano said Wednesday. “A lot of it has to do with developing interpersonal relationships and respect for one another.
“Without replying to another specific, I think the union does have insights at time that the chief ought to pay attention to. Sometimes they have insights that the chief ought not to pay attention to. I think largely at this point it’s about learning to communicate with each other.”
High-Ranking Heat
Cavaliere said he has heard from 100 police officers over the last month who are unhappy with the leadership of the new chief as well as the two new assistant chiefs Limon brought with him from Chicago, Thomas Wheeler and Tobin Hensgen.
Complaints are coming from high-ranking supervisors, not just patrol cops, Cavaliere said. He said the displeasure stems not from a single issue, but rather general lack of competence.
“Their leadership ability and their managerial skills leave a lot to be desired,” he said of the three new top cops from Chicago.
Cavaliere cited several new policies police are not happy with.
Assistant Chief Thomas Wheeler, who runs the detective division, announced a new policy in July that all detectives have to wear a suit and tie on the job — even if they’re called to a homicide at 3 a.m. In another recent directive, Wheeler issued a written memo ordering female detectives not to expose cleavage, Cavaliere said.
Cavaliere said the policy was apparently prompted by one detective who dressed improperly one day. Management should have dealt with that person directly instead of issuing a memo, he said.
“Females were irate about it,” Cavaliere said. “Now you have to have your chest inspected every day at lineup. That’s insulting.”
In another recent change, Wheeler has imposed a strict punctuality rule at 10 a.m. TASCA meetings, where top cops analyze crime data. One Yale sergeant showed up early to the meeting, then went to the restroom and came back at 10:02 a.m. to find the doors locked, according to Cavaliere. The sergeant had to wait outside for two hours before he could retrieve his belongings, Cavaliere said.
Union President Cavaliere.
Cavaliere said the people who attend TASCA meetings are top supervisors, including district managers who may have to be a couple minutes late if they are dealing with important business in their neighborhoods. To penalize them in this way doesn’t make sense, he argued.
“We’re not children. We’re professionals. We’re management. That is unprofessional, the way he did it,” Cavaliere said.
“They shouldn’t be late,” replied Wheeler Wednesday about the TASCA policy. He referred further comment to Limon.
Other police officers have complained that Limon hasn’t been enough of a presence around town.
Cavaliere said the new managers have sunk spirits in the police department.
“It took [former] Chief [James] Lewis 18 months to take this department out of the cellar” after a bribery and theft scandal landed several narcotics cops in jail, Cavaliere said. “He brought this department up in morale.”
“What [Limon’s] administration has done in a short time is bring us back down in the cellar as far as morale goes,” Cavaliere said.
“There’s something drastically wrong in that department,” he said.
Cavaliere said he expects the issue to come up at the union’s next regularly scheduled meeting, on Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marchegian Club at 226 Cedar St. Cavaliere said the union is supporting a vote of no confidence, but he expects the issue to be raised by someone in the rank and file, not the union’s executive leadership. He expects rank and file police to introduce a motion calling for a vote of no confidence. If approved by the people at that meeting, the union would schedule an election day, where officers could cast ballots all day on the issue.
Cavaliere, who’s been union president for decades, said he recalled passing votes of no confidence on three previous chiefs: Edward Morrone, Nick Pastore and Francisco Ortiz. Such a vote isn’t binding.
If approved, Cavaliere said, a vote of no confidence would send a message to the chief, the mayor and police commission that they “need to address a serious morale issue.”