Andy Thibault

Andy Thibault

Cool Justice
Brutal Cops Must Be Prosecuted
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
April 3, 2006

Enough, already. Why is it that brutal cops in Connecticut almost always get away with assaulting innocent civilians?

The simple answer is police chiefs and supervisors - as well as prosecutors - rarely have the guts or integrity to enforce the law when someone wearing a badge breaks it.

Race can play an issue, though the cops who engage in such beatings generally are indiscriminate when it comes to choosing victims.

As a reporter and investigator, I have examined hundreds of police brutality cases in Connecticut over the past 30 years. For many officers, brutality is a routine part of the job. Citizens can count on being assaulted if they ask a cop why he is beating someone else. In reality, such citizens are witnesses to crimes. Their statements - if taken and used properly - can constitute probable cause for an arrest. This routinely happens when the perpetrator is a civilian. When a cop is the perpetrator, arrests only happen when there are citizen uprisings, numerous witnesses and videotape. Even then, cops usually get to keep their jobs and are let off with accelerated rehabilitation.

When I investigated one hundred such cases in Hartford in the 1980s and early 1990s, officers told me colleagues routinely lie to protect each other. So-called internal review boards generally take the word of an officer over a civilian. These investigations also serve cops by gathering evidence - legitimate or not - that can ward off civil rights lawsuits. I usually advise clients not to go to internal affairs divisions in Connecticut because they are tools of an establishment that protects itself.

Stratford is dealing with a volatile situation now that probably should have resulted in the arrest of a cop who assaulted at least one civilian last month. One of the victims is a black town councilman; the other, a 15-year-old girl.

Stratford has a history of covering up and rewarding police misconduct. The town tried to hide the cost of civil rights violations - $450,000 - after two detectives kept a man they knew was innocent in jail for several months. It took another local department 20 minutes to determine this suspect had an alibis - working where he lived in Florida. The Stratford detectives withheld exculpatory information from prosecutors. The town claimed it did nothing wrong and one of the detectives was promoted.

In the most recent incident - last month - Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal saw officer David Gugliotti punching a girl in the face and slamming her on the hood of his cruiser. The girl's parents credit O'Neal with saving her life. For this, O'Neal was arrested. He had told the officer to stop punching the girl. Statements by O'Neal, the girl and other witnesses could constitute probable cause for the arrest of Gugliotti. Police supervisors or the chief could have arrested him on the spot. But, they didn't.

I asked Chief Michael Imbro whether he had taken the officer's gun. He refused to answer. In a letter to Imbro requesting public records, I also alluded to a prior incident involving this officer, in which I have been told court officials and attorneys allegedly cautioned him to back off from a confrontation involving civilian witnesses in a criminal case.

This officer clearly seems to be a threat to the safety of the community. What is Stratford going to do about it? Based on history, probably nothing. "I don't want to hear about it," was Imbro's response when I cited wrongdoing and negligence by his officers in another case. What can citizens do? Stand up and demand justice from your public servants. Take complaints directly to the local state's attorney, who will likely forward them to the chief state's attorney.

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