225 Reports Missing; Officer Resigns

by Paul Bass | Oct 17, 2019 10:56 pm

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Posted to: Labor, Legal Writes

At least ten city cops face potential discipline, and one has already left the force, after top brass discovered that they failed to file hundreds of incident reports on complaints, some as serious as domestic violence. One officer alone, who has been on the beat since only 2016, allegedly failed to file at least 225 reports. The officer, who faced “serious” discipline, according to Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, has since resigned. (WTNH reporter Mario Boone earlier Thursday first reported on Facebook about this officer’s resignation.) His case led top cops to do a broader audit, which revealed that 10-11 officers have for years been failing to file required incident reports. Some officers failed to file a small number of reports; others failed to file 60 or more, according to Chief Reyes. So far none has matched the magnitude of the case involving the officer who has resigned, Reyes added. “All of the officers face potential discipline,” he told the Independent. “We’re doing a full audit and are going to get to the bottom of it.” This episode began about two months ago, when a citizen called seeking a copy of an incident report on a complaint he filed, Reyes said. The report didn’t exist. That soon happened with a second citizen, in both cases involving a matter handled by the officer. So cops did an audit of the officer’s work and discovered at least 225 cases in which he was supposed to file a report but didn’t, according to Reyes. Many of the cases involved minor alleged offenses like a stolen radio. But about half a dozen involved major crimes like domestic violence. So detectives separately reinvestigated those reports and obtained arrest warrants, according to Reyes. The officer who resigned could not be reached for comment Thursday. “I have no comment. I don’t want to get jammed up,” said an officer accused of failing to file multiple reports, who has decades on the force. “This is an ongoing issue, and all the details are in the infancy stage,” commented police union President Florencio Cotto Jr. He added that the union “doesn’t comment on personnel matters concerning former employees.” Reyes attributed the problem to a flaw in a software program the department adopted in 2014 to move to a paperless reporting system. Officers can now file paperless reports from the laptops in their cars. At the end of each shift officers are required either to submit reports on all complaints or to submit an “incomplete,” meaning a supervisor has authorized them to wait a day to file rather than earn overtime pay to write up a minor incident, Reyes said. The 10-11 officers under scrutiny here allegedly violated that policy by simply not submitting any reports or any “incompletes” into the system. The software, produced by company called Sungard (since purchased by a company called Central Square Technologies) offers no manageable way to track officers’ reporting in these cases, Reyes argued. He said his department is now working with the company to seek an upgrade that will streamline the auditing process. The company asked the NHPD to find other local departments facing the same problem; Reyes said his team has already located a couple. One neighboring department, Hamden’s, uses software from a different company, called NexGen, according to town Police Chief John Cappiello. He said he has had no problems with it. Central Square did not respond to a request for comment for this article. Meanwhile, New Haven’s internal audit of officers’ reporting continues, according to Reyes.

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posted by: Guillermo798 on October 17, 2019 11:42pm Of course the officer resigned. What goes unsaid is the officer resigned and put in papers for their pension!

What’s more basic than a citizen/victim asking an Officer to document criminal activity?

Does a Shift Sergeant or Lieutenant keep track of Officers calls for service that require a report?

Do the officers report in for a debriefing at the end of a shift?

Does a Supervisor read the report and approve it at the end of shift and prior to sending it to the records department?

Does a records supervisor issue a list of missing reports?

Who gets the list, if it exists?

Are the officers to blame? Absolutely!

Are the Shift Supervisors, who are promoted and supposedly more responsible, doing their job?

Problems like this do not just occur overnight. Problems like these take years to develop.

Let’s blame the report writing software. Don’t look at the Officers or Supervisors.

How much money do we need to spend on software that can’t fix a human problem?

Could this be a reason good Officers are leaving NHPD?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on October 17, 2019 11:47pm 225 Reports Missing; Officer Resigns Snake-Oil and Three Card Monte Being sold.This is a cover up.I try to warn you all that CompStat. is a cover up. posted by: THREEFIFTHS on January 31, 2012 8:01pm Also look what happen.

Police Tactic: Keeping Crime Reports Off the Books. Katherine Davis said that when a man climbed through her living room window, the police did not take an official report Jill Korber walked into a drab police station in Queens in July to report that a passing bicyclist had groped her two days in a row. She left in tears, frustrated, she said, by the response of the first officer she encountered. “He told me it would be a waste of time, because I didn’t know who the guy was or where he worked or anything,” said Ms. Korber, 34, a schoolteacher. “His words to me were, ‘These things happen.’ He said those words.” Crime victims in New York sometimes struggle to persuade the police to write down what happened on an official report. The reasons are varied. Police officers are often busy, and few relish paperwork. But in interviews, more than half a dozen police officers, detectives and commanders also cited departmental pressure to keep crime statistics low. While it is difficult to say how often crime complaints are not officially recorded, the Police Department is conscious of the potential problem, trying to ferret out unreported crimes through audits of emergency calls and of any resulting paperwork. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/nyregion/nypd-leaves-offenses-unrecorded-to-keep-crime-rates-down.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all They even had a whistleblower’s report and they put hin in a psychiatric ward to try and shut him up. Part One.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on October 18, 2019 12:01am Part Two. NYPD report confirms manipulation of crime stats

Chris Francescani

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York Police Department whistleblower’s report that his precinct was systematically underreporting crime - an act that resulted in a suspension and time in a psychiatric ward - has been validated by an internal department investigation.The report, completed in 2010 but not made public, comes amid growing scrutiny of the NYPD and its declining crime statistics. Those stats have helped build a narrative that New York City has become, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg likes to say, “the safest big city in America.”In September of 2009, Officer Adrian Schoolcraft of the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn met confidentially with NYPD investigators and provided evidence - including secret audio recordings he had made - that more than a dozen crime reports had been manipulated.He charged felonies had been downgraded, crime reports taken were never filed, and in still other cases, crime victims were discouraged from filing complaints at all.Weeks later, on Halloween night, he was taken from his apartment in handcuffs to the psychiatric ward of Jamaica Hospital, where he claimed he was held against his will for six days. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-newyork-statistics/nypd-report-confirms-manipulation-of-crime-stats-idUSBRE82818620120309 Then you all say.Threefiths stop it,Your are a trouble maker,Stop it with the Gentrification vampires.And now the chickens have come home to roost.And how did I know this was all going to Happen.I told you all Read this Book.City for Sale.And there is more to Come. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/City+for+Sale:+Ed+Koch+and+the+Betrayal+of+New+York.-a07484445

posted by: Clarity on October 18, 2019 12:20am Guillermo, it seems you have an ax to grind. It doesn’t appear me that the chief is blaming the software, he is identifying an auditing issue or limitation within the software. He does say disciplinary action will be taken, which suggests accountability. The officers are primarily to blame; they either mistakenly or deliberately failed to do their reports and follow their protocols. Once supervisors are aware of an issue, then they should be held responsible for correcting it. We’ll see how this is handled.

posted by: Tuff Tony on October 18, 2019 1:07am About half way through the article it became clear, at least to me, what the problem may have been.

Chief Reyes attributed the problem to a flaw in the soft wear when in 2014 the department switched to paperless reports. “The paperless organization will become a reality about the same time as a paperless toilet.” Before I retired a supervisor working the shift was required to read all officers reports that resulted in an arrest to determine if there was probable cause for the arrest. If it existed the sergeant signed off on it. At the end of the shift the desk sergeant checked the officers radio car log against the reports the officer turned in. Those days of accountability are gone. So, my next question would be, what is the shift sergeant responsible for? What I do know is that if I order something on line I will not be successful if I do not fill in all the required boxes. I get a red printed alert, field required,” which must be filled in to complete the transaction. I just cannot fathom how one officer failed to submit 225 reports? The key will be if any of those 225 reports were a motor vehicle accident report because you know that the accident victim or the insurance company will be looking for it. I am sure that some computer whiz in the department will figure out how to correct this.

posted by: Noteworthy on October 18, 2019 6:14am NHPD Blues Notes: 1. After all these years, the NHPD keeps promising they’ll “get to the bottom of it.” Again. 2. You don’t have an accountable system for filing reports? WTF 3. I’m so glad there’s a new cop contract, where we pay more across the board - and now we know, we get less. 4. It’s ironic that you’re car can get broken into and your property stolen and you can’t get a cop to write a report. hahaha All these guys did was take it to a whole new level.

posted by: DMH464 on October 18, 2019 6:29am Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened in the NHPD, they had this same exact issue when they were not a paperless system several years back. I can tell you with the upmost certainty that EVERY officer is well aware of when they have to put “pen to paper” especially a veteran with decades of service or when it comes to domestic related issues. There is ABSOLUTELY no excuse for this laziness. This is a systemic failure not just on the officers who didn’t do their job but on the sergeants who are their direct supervisors. I have always been critical of the sergeants because while their job is extremely important it is by no means any “heavy lifting”. The officers bear the brunt of the work and the sergeants or first line supervisors oversee the shift and minor administrative work but are not responding to call, unless it’s a major incident or choose to respond to minor calls, and writing the jobs. We can also put some of this on the lieutenants who oversee the entity shift as a whole, as I said systemic. A records supervisor does put out a list of “overdue” reports which gets posted BUT it’s on the officer to

complete what’s owed. The sergeants should monitor the list and ensure what’s owed gets done. If an officer does not generate a case number or codes it in a specific then the records supervisor would not have a record of a report that’s missing. The other issue is when an officer gets dispatched to a call they can code it out in such a way that a report does not need to be generated, basically it’s at the discretion of the officer however there are certain incidents that reporting is mandatory so why not “flags” were raised is concerning. When using that system if you have to incomplete a report you need to get the approval from a sergeant and when you code it out “incomplete” every time you log back on you will get an alert to it. Some reports cannot be incomplete and MUST be done prior to termination of shift.

posted by: DMH464 on October 18, 2019 6:34am What I can tell you with certainty is that this is not some grand scheme to pad the reporting numbers because the street level officer/supervisor could honestly not give a crap about stats. This is just a few lazy officers/supervisors that didn’t do their job, that’s it.

posted by: Brewski on October 18, 2019 7:05am Guillermo798, did you read from another source that the officer had filed for a pension? Seems unlikely after resigning with only 2 or 3 years on the force.

posted by: Xavier on October 18, 2019 8:09am The powers to be, city and union, did not want Casanova because they knew he would be a stickler on discipline. Letting things slide costs in the long run, not just money but the integrity of our pd.

posted by: Elmer's Glue on October 18, 2019 8:11am New Haven has nearly twice as many cops per capita as any other US city its size. Cut the force in half. Get rid of all the racists, and those who can’t or won’t do their job, like these guys. A good policeman doesn’t need to be perfect, but they shouldn’t be actively doing harm and screwing things up. A lot of people don’t trust the police because the uniform by itself doesn’t tell you whether you’re getting an honest civil servant or not.

posted by: Morris Cove 06512 on October 18, 2019 8:57am I’ve said over and over: like him or not, there has been NO accountability in the NHPD since Chief Esserman left. Residents can sit in on a Compstat meeting every Thursday morning at 10:00am at the police department. When Chief Esserman presided over those meetings, District Managers knew they were accountable for detailed reporting or they would be publicly called out. There has been no repercussions for the lack of accountability since Chief E.

posted by: Omerta on October 18, 2019 9:05am Well that’s shocking that he didnt do his job…also if anyone wants to listen to the calls on a scanner I to wouldn’t waste my time on the meaning less calls like ...My son doesn’t want to go to school….our this one my 5yr old locked me in my bathroom….our the hundreds of drunks ods calls There cops not social workers our rehab police let them do cop work like shootings and looking for killers burglars ect…..

posted by: SparkJames on October 18, 2019 10:05am “The software, produced by company called Sungard (since purchased by a company called Central Square Technologies) offers no manageable way to track officers’ reporting in these cases, Reyes argued. “ Sounds like it was the perfect software for the NHPD

posted by: Guillermo798 on October 18, 2019 11:27am Clarity, allow me to assure you I have no axe to grind with any specific Officer or NHPD as a whole.

I was absolutely disgusted when reading the NHI article, and I allowed my disgust to overwhelm my post.

I make no apologies for being “old school”. An Officer takes an Oath when they are sworn in. I believe too many Officers have forgotten the Oath, and use the job as a means to an end.

I believe the Chief will investigate. As I have observed in the past, investigations take six month to a year. NHPD will keep the report confidential unless NHI follows up. Two weeks from now there will be a new story, and this will all be forgotten. It’s no one else’s fault but ours. We the electorate of this great country tolerate mediocrity in government, rather than expect excellence.

posted by: narcan on October 18, 2019 12:05pm Far from a grand scheme to juke stats, this seems to have been identified because the stat was recorded but no report was written to explain the stat. And I have to question if the software really doesn’t permit auditing (unusual) or it was an extra cost that didn’t fit a budget (likely)?

posted by: TruthHurts on October 18, 2019 12:53pm Is Chief Reyes serious? “The software, produced by a company called Sungard (since purchased by a company called Central Square Technologies) offers no manageable way to track officers’ reporting in these cases, Reyes argued.” First and foremost, the Patrol Sergeants are supposed to make sure these reports were written. Sungaard should be a backup system. Reyes is blaming a software system? Come on. How about taking some accountability for the lack of supervision in your department. So if someone was sexually assaulted, murdered or in a car accident, there is no report? I am sure there are lawyers who represent some of these victims will want to know why there are no reports for their clients. How does this many reports go unwritten and no one notices?

posted by: NewHaven06512 on October 18, 2019 1:15pm That officer was also recieving free rent from the New Haven Housing Authority at Fairmont Heights Apartments..

posted by: Guillermo798 on October 18, 2019 3:59pm Brewski, you are absolutely correct to question me regarding the pension comment.

My disgust at the actions of the officers overwhelmed my reading the article correctly. I read “I have no comment. I don’t want to get jammed up,” said an officer accused of failing to file multiple reports, who has decades on the force.” I mistakenly took this Officer as the Officer that allegedly failed to file at least 225 reports.

I have been called in to the office before, and I readily admit to my errors. I appreciate your attention to the details.

posted by: Guillermo798 on October 18, 2019 5:23pm Elmer’s Glue, Approximately two years ago I read an article in the NHI that listed the number of sworn officers in NHPD. I found the Census Bureau’s New Haven population. I was astounded at the number of Sworn Officers per 1000 New Haven population. I too found there were twice the number of Officers than in similar size cities with which I was familiar. If anyone is interested, go to the City’s webpage and review the Local 530 Contract. Patrol, Detention, Communications, Records Desk, Narcotics, Street Interdiction, General Investigations, Sexual Assault & Bias, Narcotics, Robbery, Domestic Violence, Cold Case, Neighborhood Enhancement, Traffic, Motorcycle, Mounted, K9, Firearms, School Resource, Police Athletic League, these are all separate units with multiple Officers in each. Do we need sworn Officers in the Detention/Jail? Lesser paid Detention Officers perform the same function in many cities. Do we need a Tow Officer(?) in the Traffic Unit, or could a civilian perform the same duties? Do we need a Memorandum of Understanding for a Lieutenant as a Technical Assistant Associate responsible for radios, body cameras, batteries, and numerous areas that could be incorporated into Information Technology? IMHO, New Haven is not Boston, New York or any major city in the country. I can’t help but see there are so many specialized Units and Officers at the expense of a Patrol Officer in a zone meeting face to face with the public every day.

posted by: Trustme on October 18, 2019 5:41pm I swear, reading most of these comments really makes me want to pull my hair out. There is only ONE real reason why these officers chose not to do their job and its because they are fnnnnn LAZY!!!!!!!!! This LAZINESS is unacceptable!!!!!

posted by: missthenighthawks on October 18, 2019 5:59pm Part of the problem is the type of reports required. Decades ago the reports fit on a single page. Today they have to scroll through multiple pages and fill out page after page of things that don’t even apply or mean much to the case. They cant skip even ridiculous questions. Most of that is so Compstat can provide details that are often meaningless. They are also driven by attorneys and insurance companies who always want more. A lot of wasted time. Most of us all have paperwork to do. How excited are you to do it when the system youre working with doesn’t fit the needs and allow you to do your real job. Remember, for every 7 page report there are 10-15 minutes the officer isnt on the streets. Its just human nature; I’m surprised there are only 10-11 officers involved.

posted by: challenge on October 18, 2019 7:17pm As honest as this department is the police dog obviously ate the reports. Of course as fast as he eats the reports crime appears to be down. That works for the chief and the mayor who love to pat themselves on the back with these shameful fabrications.

posted by: Kevin McCarthy on October 19, 2019 7:07am Omerta, re. your 9:05 post yesterday. I would think a domestic violence complaint should be recorded, don’t you? And the failure to file incident reports for crimes such as burglary and theft from auto will complicate the victims ability to get insurance payments. One fun thought - this is going to cost us money. Officers accused of serious misconduct, such as regularly failing to file reports, will be put on administrative leave. We will continue to pay their salaries, as well as overtime for the officers who take over their shifts.

posted by: T.Herbert on October 19, 2019 8:38am Good morning,

I would hope that in the future, police officers can submit their body camera footage as the official police report. At a later date, a professional typist can transfer the footage to a report. Until then, if one lacks integrity, that’s a personal issue. I am hoping that the NHPD can overcome this. Tom

posted by: Andrea Sachs on October 19, 2019 3:36pm While I understand the duty of the NHPD and Union to not release the name of the officer who is accused of failure in his duty. Or the name of his supervisor (Sergeant ) I think it is in the best interest of civilians if the media can investigate and release those names as PI. Civilians whose right to representation by the NHPD may have been comprised by reports never filed.

Or reports not fully or correctly completed and filed - need to know so they can follow up quickly. Their rights should outweigh the privacy rights of those implicated.

posted by: DMH464 on October 19, 2019 4:32pm As much as I’d like to agree, no ones rights outweigh anyone else’s.

posted by: Guillermo798 on October 19, 2019 8:39pm DMH464, respectfully, I disagree.

Once a person badges up and cashes a check from the City of New Haven, their actions should not be in the shadows. Taxpayers have the right to know.

Too much in government takes place in the shadows.

Mayor Harp, can you conduct an independent investigation?

Mayor Harp, is there no one in or outside the City with the ability to conduct an independent investigation?

Mayor Harp, is it a question of money?

Mayor Harp, can we have complete transparency starting now?

How many taxpayers have suffered an injustice as a result of Officers’ dereliction of duty? How many taxpayers have suffered a physical or financial loss as a direct result of these dereliction of duties?

Mayor Harp, am I the only one who wants to know?

posted by: DMH464 on October 20, 2019 11:31am @Guillermo798 I appreciate your response but no. No ones rights outweigh some else just by virtue of their employer, not to mention this is no longer an officer but a “civilian” with regards to your argument, so if that’s the case then his rights are no different than another non-police officer

posted by: challenge on October 20, 2019 4:53pm Anything an officer does while a public servant being paid by taxpayers should be public information. The fact that said officers are no longer employees they were at the time of allegations, will be receiving a pension from the city and should be public info. I totally agree way too much activities are allowed to be kept secret through executive sessions. The public has a right to know what they are paying for (or have paid for). Absolute power/secrecy corrupts. Time to air NHPD dirty linen to those paying for the services. The mayor is complicit in corruption when derelict in her duties as oversight.

posted by: Brewski on October 21, 2019 12:02pm @DMH464 This is a case where the rights of one are in direct conflict with the rights of others. It seems of impossible for one NOT to outweigh the other. In this case, you are speaking in favor of the officer’s rights above the citizens.

posted by: Dennis Serf on October 21, 2019 1:40pm By and large, I support our police department. The overwhelming majority of sworn officers are dedicated, hard-working members of the force. The police brass - lieutenants on up are extremely conscientious. I would be very surprised if this was endorsed or sanctioned by people high up. With respect to the person who failed to write 225 reports. This person puts the community at risk, and opens the city to legal action. And, the one thing I haven’t heard anyone discuss is restitution. This is time theft. Time theft at work occurs when an employee accepts pay from their employer for work that they have not actually done. We are a poor city. We have no money to pave the streets, maintain our parks, hire teachers, or hire enough police, and here we have someone stealing from our community. It’s not the classic form of theft, but it is stealing and the residents and taxpayers should be reimbursed. Dennis Serfilippi

https://www.facebook.com/SerfilippiForAlder-675305186265543