"Marie" posted a comment on the blog earlier today:
Does this mean that all other officers guilty of falsifying their time cards will also be terminated?? Time to lift up all the "other skirts" or drop the "other pants" with regard to abuse of City time. We may lose 1/4 to 1/3 of all muncipal employees!!!! Audit one, audit ALL!!
This raises a valid question.
Although Chief Roberts, as well as others, have stated that the Robles matter was an isolated incident, I think common sense will show it is not.
Sources have told me that it is most likely that several other Officer's potentially may have participated in the same activity that Robles has been accused of. To think that Hector Robles concocted a scheme to deceive the City of Hartford and that he was the only one smart enough to devise such a plan is naive.
The same sources have also advised me that of the other officers potentially involved, they rank from a Captain down through Lieutenants, Sergeants and Patrol officers. This potentially could be devastating to an already understaffed Department if other allegations are proven and result in additional terminations.
But "Marie" has it right. This needs to be investigated and let it lead wherever the facts go. The Robles investigation was labor intensive and took months to finally be finished, but that should not be a deciding factor in rooting out any other corruption or thefts. If Robles was an isolated incident, so be it. If others are involved and need to be exposed, so be it.
The integrity of the good officers of the Hartford Police Department should be the main concern. Anything that undermines the public's confidence and trust of the Police Department needs to be exposed.
This could prove to be a tough period for the Hartford Police Department, but as Chief Roberts likes to say "Success is never final".
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7 comments:
Don't stop with the police. I heard that at least 3 of the council aids have full time jobs on top of their city pay and benefits. Is this type of double dipping allowable? You should get copies of THOSE time cards.
Agreed. Anyone noticed how Robles said eleven other cops were doing the same thing? Think about that... who says an exact number like that? This is a group of officers & commanders that Robles was part of who were working together to push time cards through the system. This is big and the Chief doesn't want to look into this because of the embarrassment the department will face publicly as well as him seeing some of his friends who are on that list go down.
Kevin, maybe you should contact Robles and get those eleven names since the Chief is neglecting his duties.
Every cop that did the same thing as Robles...and found by the hearing Board to have done so..should be fired just Like Robles.
Kevin your info is pretty good. You are hearing the same things the whole PD knows. It extends well beyond Robles. But the chief won’t go after it, because his crew is mixed up in it. Start with the top 10 earners in each rank; without a doubt your scammers will be found in these numbers. The problem is if you look at the Sergeants, many of these top ten earners will have come out of Internal Affairs (please ask around- Ford, Klin, Brooks, Laureano) And now Sgt. Klin is in charge of the entire Private Job and Overtime distribution. Chances are all these IAD Sergeants are not guilty of scamming. But I'll wager one or two of them is. How can an IAD Sergeant average at least 5 extra jobs a week and not be involved any type of shenanigans? Who monitors these guys’ time cards and PJ slips??? Let’s not get into the rumor about the Lieutenant and Captain in charge of special events and ultimately are Sgt Klin's supervisors. Where do you think their pay ranked? Yup, and Roberts put them all in the golden assignments. Go figure. Guess what, there will be no investigation of these guys or the EAP coordinator pj’s, or any of the “magnificent 11”, as this would embarrass the hell out of the powers that be. And speaking of them, they are all trying to get out of HPD before their names get tarnished and associated with Roberts command disaster. Can you blame them? This is what happens when you promote a low ranking lieutenant all the way to Chief of Police just to get Eddie his northend votes. Again, I love your blog, but you never seem to mention that about Roberts.
When will it all end? Will Hartford forever be known as another Chicago style corrupt city. Folks, this place isn't that big. It can't be that hard to find this sort of stuff in either the PD or City Hall. I guess the question would be "which is easier to start with?"
Anonymous,(8:10PM)
I understand what you are saying about the "protected class" at HPD but a failure to investigate is not an option. I have confidence that Chief Roberts will investigate if the suspicions are there. It appears that you don't have the same confidence in the Chief that I do, and I can appreciate that, whatever your reasons are.
On the other hand, you also know that the Chief is not our only resource when it comes to wrongdoing being investigated. I fully expect that the Chief will do what is necessary and go wherever the facts lead. In the case of the Mayor and his corruption, we knew that going to HPD to investigate that would go nowhere, so it was necessary to approach the FBI and the States Attorney and I think people in Hartford have no problem doing that in this case also if it becomes necessary. You seem knowledgeable as to what is going on, so I am sure you are aware that the States Attorney's Office has taken the lead role in potentially prosecuting Robles and is being assisted by HPD Major Crimes. Adding another dozen names to the list may seem like a huge project, but I'm sure the State has the resources to throw at the problem if needed.
Do I think the Chief is perfect? No. Do I think he is trying to do what needs to be done? Definitely.
I for one have no confidence in the Chief. He will not do the right thing in the end unless forced by outside pressures.
Like Anonymous at 8:10 said, Eddie appointed him out of politics, not competency. A Chief with integrity would at least order an investigation and not sweep it under the rug, but then again he already knows what's going on and what an honest investigation would reveal.
If the Chief of Police in the city can look the other way at criminal conduct what chance does Hartford have?
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