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Commission reviews three internal investigations and moves into executive session on personnel
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Summary
The Middletown Police Commission reviewed three internal investigations—one resulting in exoneration, one finding a justified use of force, and one leading to verbal counseling for a wrong-person detention—and voted to move into executive session to discuss personnel and conduct candidate interviews.
The Middletown Police Commission reviewed summaries of three internal investigations that the police chief forwarded for commission review. The chief read brief findings into the public record: one personnel-complaint investigation (incident 25-13469) concluded with the officers exonerated; a second investigation (incident 25-3978) found a use of force injury to a defendant but determined the force was justified and there were no policy violations; a third investigation (incident 26-1661) involved the department detaining the wrong person and resulted in verbal counseling for the involved officer.
The police chief described the third case in detail, saying he had been present and noting the similarity of the two individuals involved: "It was very, very difficult to tell the difference in the individuals," the chief said, and added that the mother of the person in custody had suggested the two young people looked alike. On the use-of-force case the chief stated plainly, "The investigation determined this was a justified use of force. No violations of policy." For the personnel-complaint matter he said the officers were exonerated "given the circumstances from both sides."
Commissioners moved to accept the investigations as written. Mayor DeStefano moved to accept them and, as recorded, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Sullivan; the commission voted in favor and accepted the reports in the public record. Later in the meeting, Commissioner Cantoli moved that the commission go into executive session to discuss personnel matters and to conduct a probationary interview and four officer candidate interviews; the motion was recorded at 04:44 p.m. and the chair announced the public portion of the meeting had ended.
The transcript has an internal inconsistency about who voiced the verbal second when the motion to go into executive session was made: one speaker said "Second," and the chief later recorded the second as Commissioner Sullivan. The article does not resolve that inconsistency; it reports the motion and the commission’s move into executive session as recorded in the public transcript.
