Old Saybrook Police Commission Member Calls for Greater Oversight

On the June 28 Police Fee assembly, a member of the fee accused Outdated Saybrook Police Division Chief Michael Spera of inappropriate actions, drawing the ire of a few of his fellow fee members and outlining an obvious rift over their notion of the position of the fee.

During the last a number of months Alfred Wilcox, certainly one of two Democrats on the fee, has been rebuked by his fellow fee members for a few of his criticisms of the division and for his alleged makes an attempt to conduct unbiased investigations into fee issues.

On the fee assembly on June 28, Wilcox as soon as once more had robust phrases for the police chief and his fellow fee members.

Wilcox responded to accusations made about him, saying he “owed it to the division and our neighborhood to clarify the place I’m coming from.” Whereas he stated he believes the division and Spera have finished good, Wilcox additionally stated he believes there was methods wherein the division can do higher and may change.

“Repeatedly I’ve encountered proof of what to me seemed to be an unwarranted and inappropriate heavy handedness,” Wilcox stated of the division.

As proof, Wilcox talked about a YouTube video titled “Outdated Saybrook Air Freshener Heroes” from 2020 wherein a person is pulled over by Outdated Saybrook cops at a DUI checkpoint and is questioned by officers. The video is compiled utilizing physique digicam footage and begins after the motive force had already been pulled over.

Within the video, officers instruct the person to maintain his arms seen upon leaving the automobile however the man places his arms in his pockets. The person is then positioned in handcuffs and his automobile searched. The search doesn’t flip up something nefarious and the person is introduced with a written warning for hanging an air freshener on his rear-view mirror which the officer says is against the law.

Some viewers declare the video is proof of harassment dedicated by the division in opposition to a Hispanic individual over an innocuous motion.

“The conduct depicted in that video was a humiliation to our division and to our city,” Wilcox stated on the June 28 assembly.

Spera didn’t reply to requests for touch upon this text.

That was not the one incident by which Wilcox stated he was troubled. Wilcox additionally talked about the notorious case final fall when cops, together with Spera, lengthily questioned a person with Down syndrome in regard to a stolen road signal with which the person had no involvement, the calls from the general public for a brand new coverage that may cowl citizen complaints in regards to the division, and earlier this 12 months a report from Spera that addressed the explanations for the excessive turnover of cops inside the division over the past decade.

Wilcox stated that when he introduced all these situations as much as the fee, nearly all of the fee declined to additional look into them. Wilcox said he accepted that he’s not a police officer and there may very well be different details that needs to be considered for the occasions

The turnover report specifically was an incident that prompted extra severe accusations from Wilcox. Through the assembly, Wilcox stated that some former cops said cause for leaving the division was resulting from what Wilcox would name “overzealous or heavy-handed policing.”

“This included the chief requiring patrol officers to arrest individuals for offenses which the officer have most popular to let go together with some counseling, or to simply challenge a quotation for however not drag all the way down to the police station and incarcerate. Once more, this to me smacks of heavy-handedness directed from the highest down,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox’s criticisms weren’t solely reserved for Spera and the division, nevertheless. Wilcox criticized the remainder of the fee members, which incorporates 5 Republicans and two Democrats, for rejecting Wilcox’s efforts to look additional into alleged wrongdoing by the division.

“It appears that evidently at any time when I elevate only a query, a majority of you commissioners attempt to smack me down and decline to look into what is perhaps a possible drawback,” stated Wilcox.

Wilcox additionally stated that in his opinion, the general public ought to maintain the fee accountable for a failure to correctly oversee the division.

“[The] chief is keen on drawing the analogy that he’s the CEO and the Police Fee is the Board of Administrators. I agree with that. However it’s the duty of the Board of Administrators to ascertain the mission, set the objectives, give steering as to the strategies for assembly these objectives, and monitor progress towards these ends. If we don’t try this, that’s on us. And if we don’t try this, our shareholders, the individuals of Outdated Saybrook, actually ought to change us,” Wilcox stated in closing.

The Response

Although Wilcox said in his feedback he had no private drawback with Spera or the division, a number of in attendance on the assembly discovered Wilcox’s feedback inappropriate. Throughout Wilcox’s feedback Spera interrupted to inquire if Wilcox was lodging a criticism about him, and if that’s the case, said it needs to be made within the right trend.

Fee Chair Frank Keeney stated that Wilcox’s feedback ought to have been made in govt session and warned he could have to chop off Wilcox’s feedback, although he didn’t finally achieve this.

Fee member Carl Von Dassel stated he was “pissed off” and accused Wilcox of utilizing his feedback to editorialize and make a political case for his re-election to the fee. Joseph Maselli stated that Wilcox was “cherry [picking] these large negatives” and ignoring the positives the division does.

Keeney closed by saying that he believes Wilcox operates “exterior the guardrails” the commissions is required to work between.

Wilcox Responds

Contacted by the Harbor Information after the assembly, Wilcox responded to a few of the feedback the opposite fee members made. He once more reiterated his view that the fee must be extra lively in monitoring the division.

“I believed the police fee is about oversight and to me, oversight is lively not passive,” Wilcox stated.

Wilcox elaborated that to him, that meant having the fee investigating some issues quite than accepting Spera’s reviews with no additional motion. Wilcox pressured that he wasn’t saying the chief made issues up or filed dangerous reviews. Somewhat, Wilcox stated the fee may benefit from having individuals with completely different world views and experiences weighing in on issues which might be controversial and want additional examination.

As for the allegation that he was being political, Wilcox stated that the 5 Republican members have repeatedly made their views on issues associated to the fee clear in previous conferences. Wilcox stated that folks have a proper to know the place members stand.

For the cost that he feedback solely on the unfavorable facets of the division, Wilcox contended that it was essential to not dismiss criticisms in opposition to the division. Whereas Wilcox acknowledged the division did good issues, to him it was foolish to pay attention the facets that have been universally accepted pretty much as good on the expense of the dangerous.

“If there’s actually dangerous issues, the fee ought to give attention to them,” stated Wilcox.

Ultimately, Wilcox stated he hopes the general public at massive takes a better take a look at the goings on in Outdated Saybrook and makes their voices heard in November.

“I believe individuals ought to give all of the boards and commissions extra consideration and I believe individuals ought to get out and vote I don’t care in the event that they’re Democrats, Republicans, or Independents,” stated Wilcox.

Within the November election, 5 of the seven fee seats will probably be up for grabs, together with Wilcox’s personal seat.