Amid Probes, #2 Cop Bails—With $124K Pension

by Paul Bass | Jan 6, 2011 4:31 pm

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Assistant Police Chief Ariel Melendez, who’s at the center of two recent cases involving alleged trampling of citizen rights, resigned Thursday—as investigations into those and similar incidents remained officially “ongoing.” The city announced Melendez’ retirement in a terse two-paragraph press release Thursday afternoon. Melendez (pictured above) has been on the force 33 years. His departure leaves the department with no New Haven police veterans in the highest positions. He is the only one of three assistant chiefs who was promoted from within the ranks; the other two assistant chiefs came from Chicago last year along with new Chief Frank Limon. Melendez, who’s 52, did not return calls for comment this week, including one left after his retirement announcement. He will receive a $124,500 annual pension, according to mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. His current salary is $105,000. Mayor John DeStefano Thursday said he won’t fill any more top cop jobs until pushing for pension rule changes. (More on that later in the story.) Melendez’s seven-month tenure as assistant chief took a controversial turn last fall. First came a police SWAT team raid of a private Yale student party Oct. 2 at the downtown Club Elevate. Five students were arrested; some students charged that police threatened to arrest anyone who used cell phone cameras or sent text messages. (The police reported that one student in particular, whom they tased, was attacking them.) The mayor eventually criticized the decision to send in the SWAT team as having escalated tensions in an otherwise non-threatening situation. Assistant Chief Melendez made the decision to send in the SWAT team. The department has been investigating the incident since. Chief Limon said Thursday afternoon that internal affairs is “winding down” that investigation. Melendez played an even more central role in perhaps the most visible case of alleged misconduct—most visible because the allegation about his behavior came in a police report, not just from the alleged victim. That incident occurred on Sept. 25 but didn’t come to public’s attention until this Independent article on Nov. 11. A Wallingford man named Luis Luna was cycling down Crown Street around 2 a.m. when he saw police making an arrest. He stopped and from 25 feet away filmed the action with his iPhone. According to a police report of the incident, Melendez ordered him arrested for using his camera. Luna spent the night in jail. When he received his iPhone back, he reported later, his footage had been erased. Click here to read about that incident and to click onto the police report. Limon referred that case to internal affairs, too. He said Thursday that the investigation has stalled because internal affairs hasn’t been able to reach Luna. Luna confirmed Thursday that police investigators tried to speak with him. He said his attorney advised him not to participate because he has a lawsuit pending against the department. Limon has repeatedly publicly stated that citizens have the right to use their cameras to record police actions in public. He was asked Thursday why he didn’t put Melendez on paid leave after learning about this incident based on what was written in the police report. In part, he responded, because at the time he didn’t have a written policy in place on videotaping. So technically, Melendez wasn’t violating any policy. (That policy, he said, is just about ready to be announced and put into place. It’s been undergoing legal review.) The chief was “absolutely” concerned when he learned about Melendez’s alleged actions that night, he said. “Especially when I’m telling the press that the public has the right to video police officer activity. Yes, absolutely. So it is a concern. That’s why I also wanted to have a full investigation and interview the complainant. It’s too premature to have” a final decision about the incident without hearing the complainant’s story, he said. Melendez got into a third minor pickle on Nov. 22. He was driving home from the police station when he struck a pedestrian near the Church Street South housing project. The department’s accident reconstruction team investigated. Limon said the investigation made clear that Melendez was not at fault in that incident. The pedestrian had apparently darted out of nowhere. “There were plenty of eyewitnesses there who indicated there was no need to have an investigation,” Limon said. Melendez reported an unspecified injury on the job recently. Limon said that under federal health law he can’t reveal the injury. He said Melendez was continuing to report to work; he would take off time to see a doctor twice a week and occasionally have to take a health day. No Names Yet Another similar, disturbing incident remains under investigation months after it occurred: A Sept. 10 encounter between police and a citizen with a video camera in a parking lot on Crown Street. James Kelly, 22, of Hamden, was the citizen. Around 1 a.m. he saw police using force in the parking lot. He started his camera rolling. On the video (click to watch) an unidentified officer is seen threatening Kelly to stop using his camera—and then slapping the camera out of his hands. “You’re welcome to join” the beating, the cop told Kelley. “You don’t take pictures of us!” the officer added. Who was the officer? Limon said Thursday he doesn’t know. He referred the case to internal affairs. Capt. Denise Blanchard, who heads internal affairs, said this week that her office hasn’t yet started on it because it’s waiting on a report from the patrol division. Limon said Thursday he plans to ask Capt. Bryan Kearney, who co-heads the division, for the name of the officer involved. “I haven’t talked to [Capt. Kearney] yet,” he said. “He just got back from vacation this week.” Pension Calculation Spokeswoman Mayorga offered this written explanation for why Melendez’s pension will be higher than his salary: “(A). NORMAL AGE ANNUITY CALCULATION:

With the normal age annuity calculation (no rank up) his annual retirement benefit would be $87,150 ($105,000 salary X 83% = $87,150). He will be eligible for an 83% retirement benefit (the normal maximum benefit is 80%) due to the contractual clause which states an employee with 30 years of service and who gives back 30 accrued sick days will receive the additional 3% added to his benefit. He has indicated he will give back the requisite 30 sick days to qualify for the 83% benefit. “(B). NEXT RANK UP CALCULATION:

With the “next rank up” calculation his annual retirement benefit will be $124,500 ($150,000 X 83% = $124,500), $37,350 higher than the normal pension calculation (A). He qualifies for this benefit since his average annual highest 4 years of earnings ($94,475.73) is lower than his current salary $105,000 which pushes him to the next rank status, Chief = $150,000).” Earlier this week Mayor John DeStefano called for changes in how police and fire pensions are calculated, arguing that under the current rules the system will soon run out of money. Read about that here. Thursday he released this statement: “Irrespective of Assistant Chief Melendez’s 32 good years of service, we have a pension system that is broken and that we need to fix. This is one element of the broken system. We have been working on a revision to the pension prevision for executive management and will introduce these changes to the Board of Aldermen next week. We seek to eliminate the plus one provision which is a hold-over from a previous union contract. We will not fill the remaining leadership vacancies in the department until we make these pension changes.” In his first year as a cop, in 1979, Melendez earned $14,000, according to his personnel file. Thomas MacMillan contributed reporting.

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posted by: anon on January 6, 2011 4:52pm The pension system will run out of money within a few years. Meanwhile, even though the median household income in the city is somewhere around $38,000, we have pensioners pulling in many times that amount, not working, and most likely not living within the city (therefore not contributing to the tax base). Hope the Alderpersons are up to the task of dealing with this problem.

posted by: Jon Doe on January 6, 2011 5:20pm (Sept. 10 encounter between police and a citizen with a video camera)(James Kelly, 22, of Hamden, was the citizen. Around 1 a.m) (He referred the case to internal affairs. Capt. Denise Blanchard, who heads internal affairs, said this week that her office hasn’t yet started on it because it’s waiting on a report from the patrol division.) Come on almost 4 months to wait for a report? Everyone knows that when an investigation is being done you need to get the facts ASAP not months later. Some one needs to look into why the patrol division is taken so long to complete a report on this matter. Is this a one time thing or does this happpen all the time in NHPD.

posted by: lambshank on January 6, 2011 5:34pm Al Melendez spent 33 years of service to this city without a blemish. Spent many years on the SWAT team. For cops, he was the only Chief who would actually listen to someone. The Chicago nightmare’s are a joke. Al took this job seriously. Not to mention he served many years in the service and was deployed to the middle east during the war at an age most people wouldn’t fathom going to war. Hey NHI, how about making him “cop of the week”, instead of bashing him. Sit in his shoes for a day. Nice article on a man who cares more about this city and the people who live here and his cops than anyone else. BTW the pension is deserved for what what he’s done. Your wonderful journalism always amazes me.

posted by: streever on January 6, 2011 5:40pm Unimaginable. I think the Chief’s response is not good. He was waiting for a policy? On our constitutional rights? I’m sorry, but the Supreme Court already decided the answer. Yes, you can photograph or video tape a police officer at work in the public right of way. We don’t need a “policy” to handle our constitutional rights. I mean, that is what the constitution guarantees. That a police officer can’t decide what our rights are. Don’t we have a “bad boy” clause in the police pension to handle this type of situation, too?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 6, 2011 6:06pm The pension system will run out of money within a few years. Meanwhile, even though the median household income in the city is somewhere around $38,000, we have pensioners pulling in many times that amount, not working, and most likely not living within the city (therefore not contributing to the tax base). Hope the Alderpersons are up to the task of dealing with this problem How about the Taxpayers Paying Corporate Golden Parachutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftrd-sgVLag

posted by: yale '12 on January 6, 2011 6:19pm The video above is the State Police. New Haven Police do not wear grey shirts. You can even see the shoulder patch. Excellent journalism.

posted by: Ciarrai on January 6, 2011 6:25pm Is this the NHFPD? New Haven Fascist Police Dept.? Picking on the Yalies wasn’t such a good idea. They should have stuck with the voiceless average Joe’s they are used to fucking with. “You don’t take pictures of us.” What do you think this is kid, America? Imagine, I like the police, but enough is enough.

posted by: Truth Avenger on January 6, 2011 6:27pm To Lambshank:

Your claim that New Haven Independent is bashing Assistant Chief Melendez is just wrong. The report is fair, objective and not written with any bias or agenda other than to lay the facts out there. The numbers speak for themselves, and while Mr. Melendez may have an extraordinary record of service(not withstanding the current investigation), he did receive just compensation throughout and appears to be on track to receive a golden parachute facilitated by the “next rank up” calculation. The machinations of his contract are out of line the with economic realities of this city, and New Haven Independent’s exposure of the facts, is just good, solid reporting.

posted by: ignoranceisbliss on January 6, 2011 7:01pm NHI, Instead of just reporting Mayorga’s statement of the calculation it would be nice to have some explanation of the rationale for the next rank up calculation. Why does the fact that his highest 4 year average is less than his current salary push him up to $150,000? What was the thinking behind that? Anybody out there know?

posted by: CITYSAVIOR on January 6, 2011 7:35pm As Probes Proceed, #2 Cop Bails

WOW is this the national Enquirer ???

Paul that’s a hell of a headline. You treat criminals with more respect than a 33 year police and military veteran!! A mention of on going cases is fine but what about giving the guy the benefit of doubt. Luna’s lawyer won’t let him talk to the police because if the complaint is found to be false, he can be arrested and his lawsuit goes down the toilet. Good cop who gave 33 years of service and this is how you treat him, shame on you paul!!!

posted by: Cedarhillresident on January 6, 2011 8:01pm Ya know what David I am thinking we do!!! We need to watch this! They put it in after bill and crew! but this guy has been a NHPD for 30 years. and not so sure is can be called a bad boy for a large part of that 30 years. I think what is more shocking is the dam pension he is getting. THAT MESSED UP!!! That explains why 1000’s want to be New Haven PD. I took the test a long while back and it was AMAZING how many took it!!!! NOW I know why. I just wanted a job.

posted by: Charlie O'Keefe on January 6, 2011 8:05pm I just can’t believe it. How can this happen in the reign of King John. This guy gets a pension about 20% higher than his salary which is well in to six figures. Then the story justifies it with some obscure calculations that look like they came from the holy grail. It reminds me of the impoverished California in the news recently where the mayor and his head honchos were earning millions. Well they are all under arrest now and being investigated by the FBI. I guess the FBI in New Haven are asleep on the job.

posted by: Pride on January 6, 2011 8:44pm Lambshank is absolutely correct. I’ve never worked for a boss that had more pride working for the department than he did. He’s a good man and the department will suffer from his loss. You people criticize his decisions on how to make downtown a safer place…. you got a better way to get your point across to these thugs that are shooting up downtown?? Pretty polo shirts are going to cut it. SWAT drove the point home. Enjoy your retirement boss

posted by: Gary Doyens on January 6, 2011 8:54pm Across the next 30 years, we will pay nearly $4 million in pension, more on an annual basis and collectively than Mr. Melendez ever made. This is the second top cop to get this special perk. It is agreements like this that explains in black and white what is so very wrong with the finances of the City of New Haven.

posted by: justwaitaminute As a taxpayer I see where the problem is. It isn’t the average workers, it is the police,fire and school administrators. It is frightening that the mayor is going after all the other unions and what I consider the little guy who works for the city. What in this world is this mayor doing? Why is he taking out all this on his average workers. Why isn’t he standing up to the other 3 unions and tell them enough. Why aren’t these aldermen coming to the side of these average workers and take a stand against the police,fire and school administrators? I know if my alderman who is Dildine doesn’t start opening his mouth I will not vote for him any longer and will speak to all my neighbors about this. I also think we need to start doing this citywide! This is just beyond belief! Mayor DeStefano, please think about what you are doing here. I can no longer support you.

posted by: robn on January 6, 2011 9:53pm I have a hard time believing that a 33 yr veteran doesn’t know that theres no expectation of privacy in public places. Videotaping police activity (from a safe distance and without interfering) is soundly legal. I hope that the assistant chief and those fellow officers who supported him in this thread are a disappearing minority in the department. Good cops enforce the law, obey the law and, to do those two things, KNOW the law. Its a hard pill to swallow knowing that this fellow will be sitting back for the next 20 years doing nothing and receiving 300% of the average city income. BTW the median household income in 1979 was $16,461 (adjusted for inflation thats $45,498)... his starting salary of $14,000 wasn’t so bad and was, in fact many thousands of dollars higher than todays starting salary (adjusted for inflation).

posted by: City Dem on January 6, 2011 10:41pm Can we know more? 1. How much of their salaries do officers pay into their pensions annually? 2. Where does Melendez live? 3. How many other retired officers have gamed the system, albeit according to the rules of the game, in similar fashion? Could we get a spreadsheet? 4. When were these rules put in place? The “rank up” rule, the four years including overtime. The bonus, the 30/30/3% clause? Did any of this come about under DDe-Stefano or do they date back further than that? This taxpayer really feels the joke is on us. My god, what could be more generous than an 80% pension and the opportunity to retire in your 50’s? Who could need better than that? And of course the irony is that we’re encouraging talented officers like Asst. Chief Melendez to retire, even though we might need him, as he’s making more in retirement than he would working! By my math Melendez is taking the city for over $1,000,000. ($40K+/year, for the rest of his life.) Can’t wait to hear Cavaliere’s response to this one. He’ll clamor about officers not getting enough “respect”. But where I’m from respect is a two-way street, and the New Haven taxpayer is clearly being abused.

posted by: anon on January 6, 2011 10:56pm Three-fifths, I appreciate your continued concern about corporate greed and Wall Street. However, the City of New Haven has no jurisdiction over Goldman Sachs or bank bailouts. If your argument is that the city should do more to advocate for its own finances at a legislative level, sure - but in that case we should think about staffing up the mayor’s office, not cutting staff there. I’d start by hiring a crack team to lobby the state to fully fund its PILOT obligations. Meanwhile, back in reality, all we have control over right now is a pension system that is about to go bankrupt in a few years (PILOT or no PILOT), an enormous group of relatively well-paid public employees who primarily don’t even live here, and a rise in property taxes that has made it very difficult for many of our renters, homeowners, and small business owners to make ends meet, much less create more jobs. We are raising rents on our lower-income residents and poor working families, and raising taxes to the point where middle-income families are being foreclosed on, for what purpose? In order to subsidize the gas-guzzling SUVs and 3-car garages of our city employees who live in Westbrook?

posted by: ellis Copeland on January 7, 2011 12:18am About time. But he should not get a pension in any amount

posted by: Tom Burns ANON-thanks for the shout out—its a two car garage and a Honda Civic—-

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 7, 2011 8:12am posted by: anon on January 6, 2011 9:56pm Three-fifths, I appreciate your continued concern about corporate greed and Wall Street. However, the City of New Haven has no jurisdiction over Goldman Sachs or bank bailouts My point of this was to show that our tax money just doesn’t pay for city and state workers.It also pays for corporate bail outs. If your argument is that the city should do more to advocate for its own finances at a legislative level, sure - but in that case we should think about staffing up the mayor’s office, not cutting staff there. I’d start by hiring a crack team to lobby the state to fully fund its PILOT obligations Cuts should be across the board.Why should the mayor and his staff not have there salaries and medical cut in half.

Meanwhile, back in reality, all we have control over right now is a pension system that is about to go bankrupt in a few years (PILOT or no PILOT), an enormous group of relatively well-paid public employees who primarily don’t even live here, and a rise in property taxes that has made it very difficult for many of our renters, homeowners, and small business owners to make ends meet, much less create more jobs. Most workers not just public employees don’t live here beacuse of the taxes.Also I know people who work in New York and they pay there taxes to New York.Unemployment is also to blame

for tax lost.Look at the tax lost that will becoming when AT&T lay off come.Look at the cost of the two wars.

We are raising rents on our lower-income residents and poor working families, and raising taxes to the point where middle-income families are being foreclosed on, for what purpose? In order to subsidize the gas-guzzling SUVs and 3-car garages of our city employees who live in Westbrook You have to Blame the Two Party system for this.Also as far raising rents on our lower-income residents and poor working families,How come the crooked two party system will not pass a law to have rent control and stabilization in this state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_New_York As far as this officer get the big money package.They have to pay him for his sick time and vacation and they do this also in the private sector. Wake up.This is a war to break the middle class and try to blame unions.

posted by: streever on January 7, 2011 8:17am CHR:

yea, I don’t think he should be denied a pension, considering his 30 years. But, I definitely don’t think he needs to get 124k a year as a pension! I wonder if the Bad Boy clause can get him removed from the “bonus” angle of the pension? A guy who trampled over citizen’s 1st amendment rights, who flees instead of sticking around to answer the charges and face the music? If he stayed in the NHPD & apologized and admitted his wrong, sure, fine, let him retired with the benefit in a few years. But if he tries to weasel out? I don’t think he deserves that bonus money!

posted by: Hello on January 7, 2011 9:33am Paul Bass, you would be a better man if you wrote good thinks about people, rather then bashing them.

Its becoming less then desirable reading your news articles when it involves members of the NHPD.

posted by: Funky Chicken on January 7, 2011 10:12am Hi Paul (or editor): A day or two ago you posted a story on the drugs being delivered to a home in Beaver Hills. NHI did not publish the name of the alleged drug pusher nor the owner of the home’s due to the privacy policies out lined there.

Yet you have no problem in airing every allegation against the Asst. Chief, with out getting his side of the story. Yes you say that you called him (Melendez) and received no answer but did you reach out to the drug pusher? If you did, but he did not answer his phone why did you not publish his name? [Paul: Thanks for the good questions. Some key differences, in my view. Most of all: Melendez is (was) a public figure with great authority. Our policy clearly makes a difference for people in power about whose actions the public has a right and need to know. If a top cop is walking around on the job allegedly violating people’s basic civil rights and throwing them in jail for using cameras on public streets—with the evidence then destroyed—the public needs to know about that. Big time. Immediately. Before it happens to more of us. There’s a public need for answers and accountability. Second: This case had more than one version publicly available: Not just the victim’s version, but on-the-record written testimony by an independent eyewitness, the cop who was following Melendez’s orders and prepared a police report under his direction! That’s incredibly powerful evidence. And far different from the fate of a private citizen who received a box with marijuana in it and doesn’t have a taxpayer-funded public relations team and armed law enforcement agents and legal counsel to present and advance his side of the story. Finally, this story added to an already public story with a compelling public interest: an assistant chief’s role in another similar case on the same street, which was the subject of an internal investigation and had drawn specific criticism from the mayor. On top of all that, other major media in town have for some reason chosen to leave this incredible incident involving a powerful figure with the ability to deprive citizens of their freedoms completely out of the public record. For all those reasons, this seemed like a no-brainer.]

posted by: Steve B on January 7, 2011 10:15am He’s going to make more money as a retiree than he would EVER make by staying on the force. His pension is being calculated based on the next-rank-up, which is CHIEF. So unless he thinks that he could eventually get promoted to chief, he has absolutely no reason to remain on the force when he can retire today with the chief’s pension. That calculation is an absolute crime against the taxpayers of this town. His pension should be based on his rank. Period.

posted by: Frank Alvarado on January 7, 2011 11:05am Thank you for your 33 years of service to the City of New Haven and for your service to this country as a member of the Naval Reserves, best of luck in the future.

posted by: Steve Bradley A police officer’s pension is greater than his yearly earnings? You bet your ass the pension system is broken! And that’s not the only thing broken at the police department or the city in general. There are more investigations of the department itself than I could count in this story.They’re sending SWAT Teams into clubs to check I.D.‘s and paying police more in pension money than their yearly salaries, surely, you jest! Can anyone spell D-E-F-I-C-I-T? Now that there is a new Chief, maybe what’s needed is a New Department!

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 7, 2011 11:37am My question to those who say that he should not get this pension. How come none of you did not apply for civil service jobs.Also for those of you who work in the private sector,Form a union and you can get the same benfits.Last He will not get alll of this money. Due to the fact that when tax time comes he will have a heavy federal and state income tax bill to pay.

posted by: Funky Chicken on January 7, 2011 12:45pm Hi Paul Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I appreciate the dialog. FC [Paul: Right back at you, I’m not sure we’re right in how we apply that policy you were asking about. The questions are great; it’s a grey area.]

posted by: robn on January 7, 2011 1:43pm 3/5 Wrong again. Private sector firms can pack up and move to Atlanta, Mexico, China, India (you name it). Public sector jobs are secure because their boss (the city) can’t move. Thats why even FDR was against public sector unionization.

posted by: Unbiased on January 7, 2011 2:17pm the police department operates on just under 10% of the city budget WITH overtime..Possibly instead of trying to take things away from our police department, (making veterans retire with high pensions, and the job less attractive to younger more qualified people) the city should actually taxes all the places (Yale included) that suck up city resources and redistribute them all across the city budget. I would personally like to see Mr Bass write a well studied article on the appropriation of resources along with who and who does not get taxed along with the money that could be gained. And possibly make it a unbiased report. (something that rarely shows up in the NHI) We all want a better police department. Is this really the way to do it? By bashing the department? By taking things away? I’m all for saving money. ESPECIALLY tax money. but I’m also for reduced crime in a place that desperately needs it. Instead of bashing the department what if we actually supported them?

posted by: JAK on January 7, 2011 3:23pm Three-fifths, If everyone applied for a civil service job and/or joined a union, who would end up paying for all of the benefits? To enjoy the kind of annual compensation that this guy is going to receive until he dies, equates to at least $2.5 million in retirement savings/401k plan for a private sector employee without a defined benefit. Waaaaay out of whack. And Three-fifths, socialism breaks down when you start to run out of other people’s money.

posted by: Bob's Mum on January 7, 2011 4:33pm I want more information. How many local government retirees receive more than $100K in annual pension payments? What positions afford such benefits (titles? years of service)? What percentage of their highest salary do they collect? And how do these numbers and percentages compare with other localities? If this information isn’t available, maybe it should be. FWIW - in my old town, a retiree’s initial payment could not exceed the top 12 months of on the job compensation, although that could be inflated with COLA over time. I thought that was fairly standard.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 7, 2011 7:32pm posted by: JAK on January 7, 2011 2:23pm

Three-fifths, If everyone applied for a civil service job and/or joined a union, who would end up paying for all of the benefits? What you and other fail to see is that civil service workers do pay taxes and pay part of the medical benfits.

To enjoy the kind of annual compensation that this guy is going to receive until he dies, equates to at least $2.5 million in retirement savings/401k plan for a private sector employee without a defined benefit. Waaaaay out of whack. Like I said get the tax codes book.He has to pay tax on this money.

And Three-fifths, socialism breaks down when you start to run out of other people’s money “The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.”

Jawaharlal Nehru quotes



posted by: robn on January 7, 2011 12:43pm

3/5 Wrong again. Private sector firms can pack up and move to Atlanta, Mexico, China, India (you name it). Public sector jobs are secure because their boss (the city) can’t move. Thats why even FDR was against public sector unionization Not all can pack up and move to Atlanta, Mexico, China, India, look at wall street,trucking companies.By lwas you still can start a union in the Public sector.

posted by: Anon on January 7, 2011 9:24pm When is NHI and these crack Yalie PD brutality activists going to stumble on the case of the Yale cop who broke a woman’s windpipe this past summer?

posted by: citysavior on January 7, 2011 9:44pm Ellis Copeland said About time. But he should not get a pension in any amount

Ellis what is this based on allegations??? so he put in 33 years and in his last years you would deny him a pension??? not too smart. Paul didn’t this same jump happen to chief redding and no body mentioned how she originally was going to retire in July and some one whispered to her to leave in June get a bigger pay day. Why didn’t the mayor make a big deal then?? How come no one figured out that this is the second home grown cop to leave this limon administration?? may be it’s not about the money??

posted by: Zimbabalouie on January 7, 2011 10:12pm Why is he not charged with any crimes? When police conspire to deprive the public of their constitutional rights they are commiting a crime. As the leader of the force he is the leader of the conspiracy and therefore should be charged, not rewarded.

posted by: 22% on January 7, 2011 11:26pm 22% is all the city gives to the police and fire pension which is funded by police and firefighters…. and the NEXT RANK UP CALCULATION hello the Mayor agreed to this in the contract…so you just cant blame the police. Police dont get social security, and dont get double time for working holidays and dont get the luxury of having holidays off. PEOPLE listen up police cant work a second job unless approved by the Chief (DID YOU KNOW THAT?) there are a lot of things the mayor leaves out but just makes it seem like the police work and make money…. everyone does it but not on the holidays OR spending several late nights away from family like we do when ordered to stay at work…. not many people want a job where u are taking a chance of getting punched on the face or never coming back home… gee you all make it sound easy!!! especially when you are not backed by the city… unreal…

posted by: Cedarhillresident on January 8, 2011 1:14pm Asked why is henot charged… I take the unpopular side of this, with new techonlogee, the web, cell phone ect. Laws do not address these things directly. should people be allowed to film and take pics? Yes But I see the other side of this. when an officer is in an unknown situation and people have objects in hand, and a crowd out numbers the officers 10 to 1 they the crowd needs to have some kind of cooperation. you the on looker may not be a wear of all the events that led up to the situation. you are just seeing the here and now. you the onlookers maybe doing what is legal, but you maybe, by distracting an officer, be putting his life,the awakened life and all the on lookers lives on the line. I think laws need to be made to protect all in this kind of a situation.

posted by: robn on January 8, 2011 2:14pm 3/5, Public sector unions didn’t even exist until 1958 when the mayor of New York realized that by creating them, he could exploit them as a voting block. JFK took it to another level 4 years later by allowing federal employees to unionize. The results are predictable. Politicians have made back-door promises that taxpayers can’t possibly keep.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 8, 2011 8:58pm posted by: robn on January 8, 2011 1:14pm

3/5, Public sector unions didn’t even exist until 1958 when the mayor of New York realized that by creating them, he could exploit them as a voting block. JFK took it to another level 4 years later by allowing federal employees to unionize. The results are predictable. Politicians have made back-door promises that taxpayers can’t possibly keep. My point is that by law anyone on a job can form a union.The Law Protects Your Right to Form a Union.So the people who complain about not have the same benefits as union members do should stop crying and form a union. so you can get these type of benefits.Do you belong to a union?

posted by: AJ on January 8, 2011 11:49pm Goes to show how much you all know. All of you who read (and the bonehead who wrote) this article go chomping your gums at information you see, but have no background knowledge on. To understand why Assistant Chief Melendez is getting the money he is getting you have to understand the union agreement that the NHPD has—he didn’t make the contract, just has benefited from it. And after 33 years of service, he deserves it. Of course this article only talks about the negatives Chief Melendez has faced over the past year or so, and we see no positives. Ariel Melendez is one of the most highly decorated officers in NHPD history (with over 30 awards of 10 separate decorations from 3 different PDs), the longest-serving Hispanic officer in NHPD history, and a decorated Combat Veteran from the War in Iraq (with awards for Meritorious Achievement, Combat Action, and heroism). He had also served as a DARE officer for close to 10 years in the 1990’s.

And those of you who were wondering, Ariel Melendez was born, raised, and has lived in New Haven his entire life, attended New Haven Public Schools as a child and enrolled his three children in the New Haven Public School System as well.

I believe I’ve said enough.

posted by: robn on January 9, 2011 11:40am 3/5 And for the record, I’m not anti-union as a matter of course. They come in many different flavors and serve a purpose in many cases. But I have grave reservations about public employee unions for the reason I’ve already described…in exchange for votes and legwork, politicians make promises to them that taxpayers can’t keep.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 9, 2011 5:36pm But I have grave reservations about public employee unions for the reason I’ve already described…in exchange for votes and legwork, politicians make promises to them that taxpayers can’t keep. And politicians make promises to Lobbyist and the taxpayers pay more.

At the turn of the century women earned approximately ten cents an hour, and men were fortunate to receive twenty cents an hour. The average work week was sixty to seventy hours. During the thirties, wages were a secondary issue; to have a job at all was the difference between the agony of starvation and a flicker of life. The nation, now so vigorous, reeled and tottered almost to total collapse. The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over our nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

posted by: Gary Doyens on January 9, 2011 7:12pm 22% and AJ: Nobody deserves a publicly supported pension that pays them more in retirement than it does to work. I agree the mayor never should have allowed the next rank up provision - it was a pay off when he ran for governor. But it was also proposed for several years by the union. In any case, it was a whore’s deal that never should have been proposed, accepted and then approved by the rubber-stamping Board of Aldermen. This is the second time it’s been applied - the first was when Stephanie Redding retired, also making more to stay home baking cookies than managing a police force. Melendez may have been a fine officer and leader for all his career but by any standard, he’s had a rough finish. I was impressed with all his credentials right up until you say he spent 10 years with DARE. That has proven to be a worthless program with absolutely ZERO accountability for tangible results.

posted by: NHCitizen on January 9, 2011 8:21pm I well said AJ. To Retired Chief Melendez, I would like to thank you for your service to the city of New Haven and to our great country. Good Luck and God Speed.

posted by: che15 on January 10, 2011 1:21am As a PROUD member of the NHPD I want to know a few things. 1. Why is it our fault for the pensions we receive, that the city agreed too? 2. Has anyone looked into the mismanagement of funds conducted by the incompetance at city hall? 3. although I agree that we should reside in the city how can one change the requirements, illegaly, one day and expect one to sell their home and move back to city in a blink of an eye? 4. People complain about certain officers and for the most part I can agree with the folks that certain officers should not have been hired and possibly fired but the powers that be hire some morons who couldn’t even dig ditches without fing that up, ask the board of police commisioners why they hired them. 5. Ask yourselves this question, who is to blame for the cities fiscal issues, the Police, the Fire, the Public works, the Teachers, or maybe its the administration who was banking on office in the capital city who made deals hoping that they would not be the ones who havetoclean up the mess. No one in public service approved our contracts, the city negotiated them. Some folks need to find the real cause(s) of the city’s fiscal problem and it can be found within city hall. Rememmber most of the Police are here to provide quality service to the public and at times we need to use the appropriate force to maintain some sort of calm. People of New Haven you do have a tremendous Police Department we havesome idiots but so does every block in New Haven.

posted by: JAK on January 10, 2011 10:17am Che15, You’re absolutely right. Its not the “fault” of the police that their union took advantage of a corrupt patronage fueled system. You got what you deserved in a fair negotiation. It was up to our mayor to see that it didn’t happen. But it did! So now, with or without this mayor, we’re going to change things. And we’re going to do it as quickly as we can. Whether or not it is your fault or not, we the taxpayers are being ripped off.

posted by: robn on January 10, 2011 11:16am I’m trying really hard to believe that Chief Melendez was a meritorious officer, but its hard to do so with these recent flagrant violations of the 1st and 4th amendments. Its basic Constitutional law. How could he not know that?

posted by: did we forget?! on January 10, 2011 4:57pm how about we halt the mayor’s annual raises to save money?? just google it and you will see the astronomical amount of money he gets in raises. cited examples: 2002 $23,000 raise…. last years $16,000 raise, (he asked for $25,000) he makes $140,000+ a year… and what you think the city will give him to retire? how much is his benefits? what about the city car he drives that he runs every red light with? We all blame Chief Melendez.. but isn’t Destfano doing much worse to us?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 11, 2011 9:00am Do like New York and go to a Tier system.Every

city and state workers pays into this system. http://www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/members/final_average_salary.htm

They have a The New York State Common Retirement Fund. http://www.osc.state.ny.us/pension/index.htm