This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Hypothetically Speaking: Lieutenant Bunnell Quandry

This blog proposes a theory regarding Lieutenant Bunnell and the State's COLLECT system.

I’m going to propose a hypothetical situation out for everyone to consider:

Montville is the most unique town in the State of Connecticut.  We have the dubious claim to housing the first experimental facility for some of the in the State’s penal system.

Montville has a very proactive Parks and Recreation Director and Commission.  Their programs are run all year round which equate to a tremendous volume of volunteers and part-time paid staff who interact with our children on a regular basis during the span of each individual program.

Find out what's happening in Montvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now consider, each of these volunteers should have a background check, for in our society, the reality is that sexual predators exist.  They are real; .  These sexual deviants do not wear a sign signifying that their preference is young boys and girls. Rather, people with these sexual preferences where masks and ingratiate themselves into positions where they can have interactions with children.  This is not to say that all volunteers are predators, rather the opposite.  But the unfortunate truth is we as parents, mentors, teachers, and volunteers should expect and accept that a background check is inevitible when working with children in any capacity.

So how are criminal background checks done?  Because our town police are considered a Constabulary versus an “official” Police Department, all applications for criminal history records have to go through the Connecticut State Police.   Here is a link to the actual form: CT State Police. According to the form, upon completion the applicant is to pay fifty dollars ($50.00) to the State in order to obtain the information.

Find out what's happening in Montvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Therefore, using the hypothetical scenario that Montville P&R supervisors believe that it is imperative due to our new residents a.k.a. sex offenders to have criminal background checks on volunteers for their programs. Let’s also say that in the summer season that number of volunteers is approximately 100 individuals.  That means for just a single season, the cost would be $5000.00 to have the background checks.. Multiply that by another three seasons of activities and the cost for these records could add up to $20,000.00 annually.

The former Town Council passed an ordinance to implement Child Safety Zones with the intent to give some protection to our children.  Could it be possible that all the controversy spinning around Lieutenant Bunnell has something to do with criminal background checks for the Parks and Recreation?  Theoretically, if this was the case, then the Lieutenant utilized the COLLECT system for the benefit of taxpayers and parents.  He would have saved the town money while protecting our children. Again, if this was the scenario, then it seems to me that Lieutenant Bunnell circumnavigated another expensive State approved fee which is outrageous at best.

Alas, all my thoughts are simply conjecture for only a select few know what happened regarding Lt. Bunnell and the COLLECT system access. The Mayor has chosen to withhold information that could possible exonerate Bunnell, at least in the eyes of Montville citizens. To me, as far as the State officials are concerned, they forced our community to host some of the worst possible criminals in Connecticut.  If Lieutenant Bunnell bent the rules to protect our children, good for him!  The State can choke on their mandated fifty dollar per check fee.

But, then again, I may be wrong. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?