EAST HAVEN, CT — The Board of Police Commissioners has terminated the employment of Detective Monique Colbert after determining she violated four department policies, according to Board of Police Commissioners meeting minutes.

Colbert was involved in an off-duty personal matter, according to meeting minutes. The vote to terminate was unanimous and involved significant video footage. "Four (4) Department policies were in fact violated, including the Code of Conduct. Detective Colbert does not represent what this Department is about citing parts of the video that were disturbing, the fabrication and lying back and forth, saying one thing and then changing statements, flip-flopping – that is not what police officers are hired for or what they represent," the meeting minutes state.



According to the Police Commission meeting minutes, here is a recap of what happened that led to the termination: Disciplinary hearing regarding Detective Monique Colbert related to Internal Affairs Investigation 17-07 Chairman Illingworth noted for the record that neither Detective Colbert nor her counsel were present at this hearing. Chairman Illingworth confirmed that all Commissioners had ample time to review all the evidence presented at the October 2, 2017 Special Meeting and opened for questions. Commissioner DiSilvestro reiterated that due to Attorney Kolb representing the Town/Department in this matter, to avoid any indication of impropriety, he would not be partaking in a vote for discipline; however, he would back any decision on said discipline. He had no questions.

Commissioner Flynn sought clarification on several key terms (all based on Supreme Court rulings): Garrity Rights1; Loudermill2; and Brady vs. Maryland3. Chief Lennon provided a brief explanation of each. Chief Lennon added that at the initial juncture, Detective Colbert was given a pre-disciplinary hearing (Loudermill) before him and he determined it was more prudent to bring this case before the Board; as of today, there have been two (2) hearings giving the employee the opportunity to be heard by the Board – both times, neither Detective Colbert nor her legal representation have appeared in front of the Board to be heard.

Commissioner Torrealba stated that the internal affairs report was very detailed and expansive, along with the numerous hours of video footage. He had no questions.

There were no further questions. Chairman Illingworth moved immediately into deliberations.

Commissioner Torrealba stated that he reviewed the report and watched the videos, and he agrees with the findings of the report regarding the misconduct of Detective Colbert – literally with all the conclusions of the Internal Affairs investigation. There were no mitigating factors presented as Detective Colbert and her counsel are not present. He believes that the only course of action is to impose discipline and in this case, that would be the termination of Detective Monique Colbert from employment with the East Haven Police Department.