Politics & Government

Mayor: Bunnell "Changed His Mind," Won't Retire, Town To Proceed With Disciplinary Action

Police union maintains Bunnell never reached out for help; he had threatened union in letter to the membership.

 

Mayor Ronald McDaniel said this morning that Lt. Leonard Bunnell has “changed his mind.” 

Bunnell had told police officers in a letter earlier this week he was being “forced to retire” and gave the union until today to support him.

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“He’s not going, he said. He’s not going to retire,” McDaniel said, adding “that’s Bunnell’s right and “he needs to be what he thinks is (best).” But, McDaniel said, the town will be proceeding with action against the embattled lieutenant, on the job for more than 30-plus years. 

“Now that he’s changed his mind on this, we need to through the disciplinary process on those charges,” he said, referring to the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Division internal investigation into Bunnell.

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 As the investigation is closed and though investigators have declined to comment or confirm the findings and a Freedom of Information request for the final report is “being processed,” Patch learned that Bunnell was found to be guilty of improperly accessing the state background check information system on nearly 40 occasions beginning in 2011.

 Bunnell, who said earlier this week he would comment on his job status and the investigation and complaints against him today, did not return calls.

 f it didn’t support him in the various actions against him: “I am faced with a decision as to whether or not to pursue legal civil action,” he wrote. He gave the union a Friday deadline so it’s now unclear if he plans to proceed with a lawsuit.

Officer Robin Salvatore, AFSCME Council 15 Local 2504 president said the union “cannot comment on matters concerning union member Leonard Bunnell at this time.”

 But added that, the union has “no knowledge of the consequences of either investigation other than being told that the investigations are complete,.”

 “We the Union have not been contacted by Bunnell, the Town, the Town Attorney, or the State of Connecticut regarding either of the investigations,” Salvatore wrote “We can only say that we are hopefully optimistic that any conversations had between the Town and Bunnell are going well. “

The CSP Major Crimes unit case against Bunnell

According to an early April letter from Lt. John S. Eckersley, major crimes commanding officer, Bunnell was accused of not following proper procedures for requesting criminal background checks on 38 occasions, between October of 2011 and January of 2012.

Troop E commanding officer Lt. Samuel R. Izzarelli lodged the complaint against Bunnell after getting a report by a system auditor. The Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing (COLLECT) System lets users find information that the state has about people, and find motor vehicle and criminal history data on the national and international level. The auditor said she was informed by Montville Police Officer Robin Salvatore “she had reviewed the log and discovered misuse by Lt. Leonard Bunnell.” 

One of the allegations was that Bunnell documented a criminal history request by a town employee even though Bunnell was told he was not allowed to “give criminal history information for Town Hall and City Hall requests during his recent re-certification class in August.” 

Harassment, discrimination investigation completed 

Bunnell was also the subject of a discrimination and harassment complaint by Montville Police Officer Karen Moorehead.

Filed in October of 2011, Montville Patch learned the investigation report concluded the many allegations “generally happened,” including instances of intimidation, workplace hostility and sexual harassment, the latter pertaining to a Bunnell remark about Moorehead’s breasts. The investigation, by Montville Finance Director Terry Hart and attorney Hinda K. Kimmell, concluded that Bunnell’s behaviors toward Moorehead while “entirely inappropriate,” nonetheless “did not rise to the level to support a claim of sexual or workplace harassment.”

 Moorehead’s Hartford-based attorney Andrew Houlding said he would have to defer comment until he sees the entire report, once Moorehead pays the town $250 to get it; $.25 per page, her attorney said, the report must run about 1,000 pages.

Bunnell still taking “comp time?”

McDaniel said the lieutenant was taking “the comp time he earned,” and was permitted to also work special detail shifts including traffic and events.

 


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