MRJ on the suspension and withholding of information
The MRJs Jesse Buchanan called me today. I'm guessing his piece will run tomorrow.
With regard to the suspension of the Police Union President, he asked me for my thoughts on The Boss withholding that information from the Council. I tried to be candid. I said something along the lines of "I'm tired of the Washington-style politics: control the information, control the agenda."
And for clarity, I'm not speaking to the cause of the suspension. I'm speaking to the fact that the Council was not advised of the suspension. And I spoke with a number of people today. Everyone with whom I spoke agreed with me 100% that the right thing to do would have been to tell the Council of the suspension. The failure to do so was yet another example of poor judgment.
I certainly hope the Council doesn't stand for this.
Tim White
45 comments:
What is the current and past practice on all town employees/volunteers? Is the council made aware of all suspensions? warnings? Is there a written policy/procedure that the council needs to be notified when any town employees/volunteer are placed on suspension/warning? If no then stop griping and write and propose a policy-if yes re-educate the appropriate people.
You are a town council, not a police commission. There is no reason why the council would need to be alerted to inner happenings of any town dept.
Common sense would seem to dictate reporting up the chain of command whenever official sanctions are brought against mid-level and higher town employees because of their work related transgressions. Why would a written procedure be necessary?
The same goes for purportedly losing town property entrusted to a town employee doesn't it? The failure of town management to report to the TC could indicate that in fact the managers truly just don't get it.
In fact most residents have an interest in learning, in a timely fashion, of all town employee transgressions which result in any type of official sanction. Publish a list monthly in the Cheshire Herald for all to see.
i don't believe a key had anything to do with it if the cpd comes up to you tell them you are going to kill yourself. they have to send you to the hospital and they pay the bill
TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL
someones off thier meds again..... and they were showing such promise for a whole week. shame.
Mikey Evans...what a piece of work..."can I see your badge?" He should apologize for his comments regarding Hayes....what a loser. How about if it was a person you hit instead of a stonewall...
now she actually calls herself Clockwork Orange yikes!!!
please get yourself to the hospital!
The tape of Mike Evan's DUI altercation in yesterday's MRJ is truly sad, sad for him and his family. But thank God he wasn't elected to the council.
Tim, get a grip!
You are a Town Councilman....you do not run the town on a minute by minute basis. I would not expect the TM to tell me about every day to day personnel issue the moment it happens. Otherwise you would have to give up your day job to read all the emails.
Stop your jihad against the town manager and get something contructive done.
Remember that, in the end, Javier jumps off the bridge.
RE: "I would not expect the TM to tell me about every day to day personnel issue the moment it happens"
The suspension of this senior police officer is not a typical day to day personnel issue. The elected council should have been informed of it by the TM, not through the grapevine.
This lapse by the TM is part of his longterm pattern of being less than forthcoming with the council, and it needs to be corrected.
The longer appointed bureaucrats remain, the more they become insulated, and the less they are responsive. This is human nature, not unique to this TM. The council needs to rein him in and establish clear expectations of communications.
Hey....What the dilly on this guy Mike Evans havin a few too many cocktails before his drive home and tryin to whip some butt while secured in the hooskow ??? Can we get a recall vote and vote him into office??? I have changed my mind... I kinda like his style !!!!
Hi Tim:
What are your thoughts on the increase in DWI's and Disorderly Conduct arrests in our fair town?? Do you think we should get another MADD Chapter for the community?? Those poor cops need a better retirement program having to put up with all those meathead drunks who end up in their lockup !!! Tell me Tim...What are your thoughts on that stuff ???
Mr Evans is lucky. The police showed great restraint. He was clearly the aggressor. What he should have done is been a responsible citizen,not drink and drive and place our families at risk, then he would not have found himself in the postion he was in . Drunk and belligerent. Now SOMEPEOPLE may believe that a "4 point" takedown should have been employed- whatever that is. These are the same people who wonder why police cant shoot the gun out of someones hands instead of shooting at center mass. Videos showing instructors taking down compliant partners are not even close to how things happen in real life. If officers hesitate they get killed, tons of live video recordings show that. Mr Evans you owe the community an apology and the officer a great deal of thanks. And thank you Mr Evans for hitting a guard rail before you killed somone in my family, thats the only thing you did right that night
the Serenity Prayer (the AA Prayer):
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
(please pray for Mr. Evans & his family)
yes pray for ignorance to end, wisdom to not drink and drive, and courage to admit when you're wrong instead of blaming others.
I'm sure many of us were lucky in the past before DWI. Today you can't drink and drive period. It is also the hardest thing for someone to admit that they have a problem.
333, agreed. All those things you say, which amount to taking responsibility for your behavior, is what AA and the 12-steps are all about.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Getting back to the issue-I think Tim is trying to get the Town Manager fired.
AGAIN-IS THERE A POLICY ON REPORTING OUT TO THE COUNCIL ABOUT SUSPENDING TOWN EMPLOYEES????????????
NO THERE IS NOT-TIM GET OVER IT YOU ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!!!!
Chain of command? Since when is the town council in the "chain of command?" The Cheshire Town Council is not a military organization.
It is all about Tim White-not what is good for Cheshire!
Tim, Do you live in your parents basement?
The show Southpark has a character his name is
Timmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy
Timmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy
Just like our elected official
Timmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy
6:16 pm, town government has a chain of command. It should include the top elected town officials, i.e. the Town Council. It seems if information doesn't get passed up to them the link between them and the rest of town government has been severed.
Poor practices by management employees, union stewards, insulated bureaucrats in general, town attorneys and our legislators have helped to deliver the present state.
It seems incredible that a senior police manager would be suspended for cause with pay, others no doubt would be given OT to cover the missing senior officers shifts and no one would have the courtesy of reporting on this fact to the town council. Of course it's also interesting to think that a lieutenant isn't too high up for the local chapter of the police labor union either.
Any way you want to cut it most people would believe when they elect town council members those members are in overall charge of town activities. While they may not be worried about what color ink the TM uses when he signs official documents if they don't like what he is doing they should have the power to re-arrange the deck chairs a bit.
"You are a town council, not a police commission."
It would seem reasonable to have a police commission overseeing the PD, instead of of one person the TM. I would feel more confident if there were more people involved with assessing a situation. In addition, it would free the TM to attend to the many other critical issues facing the town. I don't think the TM has the many hours to spend in resolving problems related to the PD.
Just as the Superintendent reports to the BoE, the Town Manager reports to the Town Council. Significant incidents need to be reported to the TC & the BoE.
Any officer suspended should be reported to the TC - it is a significant issue. Was the officer who sent an inappropriate email reported to the TC - I doubt it. I suppose it's less likely to become public if it's all kept under wraps. That's part of the whole problem with what happens in town or in the schools. It's always hush hush so as not to put a mark on our perfect reputation.
Makes me sick. I agree with Tim. The Council should be aware.
What is the current and past practice on all town employees/volunteers? Is the council made aware of all suspensions? warnings? Is there a written policy/procedure that the council needs to be notified when any town employees/volunteer are placed on suspension/warning? If no then stop griping and write and propose a policy-if yes re-educate the appropriate people.
Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk
Tim write up a new policy and propose it to the Town Manager and your fellow council members.
If you feel you are being left out then set up the standards.
If you want to see change then make it happen.
Otherwise-stop the talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk-
Write a proposol up, don't be that guy that talks about things that happen-make it happen.
Or you will be known as what as what the other blogger wrote, Timmmmmmmmmeeeyyyy
I think people should lay off the rude remarks about Mr. Evans. You should not judge him or the situation from a short little video clip. There's two sides to every story.
In the past I gave the TM clear guidance on when the Council should be notified of happenings in town government.
Simply put... if it's going to end up in the newspaper, then the Council should be advised.
It's pretty ridiculous to get calls from constituents asking me about something and I have no idea what they're talking about.
Obviously there's some judgment involved there. But then the country's chief executive said "judgment matters." It seems to me that the Town's chief executive should also be able to display some good judgment and recognize when an issue will likely appear in a newspaper.
And as for whether the papers were going to pick up this story... they certainly were going to be contacting the Union President about this report... and what they have been told is that the President was suspended. So the paper's were going to learn of this. The only question was whether the Council or papers would be first to learn of this.
You can make this bureaucratic argument that "the policy must exist," but I simply disagree. I think a chief executive should be able to show good judgment. Unfortunately, time and time again... this chief executive shows poor judgment. And what's even worse is the hostile work environment that he has allowed to proliferate in Town government. Makes me sick, frankly.
Well Cheshire and Madison keep making the head lines and top news stories. This has to stop. What the heck is going on in this world?
Oh-TIMMMMMMMMMMMEYYYYYYYYYY
"You can make this bureaucratic argument that "the policy must exist," but I simply disagree. I think a chief executive should be able to show good judgment."
Just as I thought all TALK TALK TALK TALK TALK TALK TALK TALK
Not willing to put the work in to write up a proposol-
Feelings aren't facts TIMMMMMMMMEYYYYY
You are that guy who talks about making things happen-
TIMMMMMMMMMMEYYYYYYYYYYYY
856 - why should evans get a pass. Even if he has a problem, the decision to get behing the wheel is not part of that problem. Further, how stupid can one be to approach an officer point at him, as the officer backs up with his hands up, Evans continues to approach him, backing the officer into a corner. Hes a fool, and should be embarrassed.
11:05...stop being Twat Waffle...if you can but I doubt it.
When an officer is suspended it almost always has liability (SSS) ramifications with it...therefore it would be correct for the TC to be notified immediately on this action as they have the fiduciary responsiblity for the Town as a whole. If the rumors of why the suspension occurred are true, this could have very significan tlegal ramifications.
9:37 from the released silent video it seems that one could conclude that both the officer and the incarcerated were somewhat at fault. It sure would help if the audio were included. It also makes one wonder just why there was no audio.
Is it possible that the PD's audio system is in need of maintenance? Is it possible that the officers were verbally nasty towards the incarcerated individual? Could it be that our officers struck the first verbal blow in what escalated?
There are many questions unanswered by the quick release of this video by the PD. Town management gets paid handsomely and one would expect that when they release information they release all of it in a timely manner.
It is long past the point where a town police commission supplying high level citizen oversight of this important function is put in place. Both the police and the citizens are in need the extra protection such a commission affords.
the video is pretty telling. That drunk ass could have killed someone. If he came at an officer like that in a large city like BRIDGEPORT he would be breathing through a tube now. Good job by the officer. It's a shame the drunl dosent man up to his error. The officer looked calm throughout, pretty obvious he was telling THE DRUNK to calm down. THE DRUNK could have killed someone
Anonymous March 05, 2010 10:59 AM said...
"When an officer is suspended it almost always has liability (SSS) ramifications with it...therefore it would be correct for the TC to be notified immediately on this action as they have the fiduciary responsiblity for the Town as a whole. If the rumors of why the suspension occurred are true, this could have very significan tlegal ramifications."
Why don't we just give them an office in town hall with nine chairs and they can report to work every day, so they don't miss something. This is called micro-management and we already have more than enough of it! The Board of Education is guilty of it as well.
Somehow there has to be a happy medium between citizen volunteers making up the local legislative body and the professional politicians in Washington who are in it for the big buck$. Neither end of this continuum works very well, but somewhere in the middle, there should be something better.
maybe the tc could travel to fantasy land, learn thefour point throw, let drunks drive everywhere, stop on the road to give town hall the finger, and learn to ramble on senselessly. Then finally this town could run correctly.
Love how some people here think nothing of tearing apart someone in the public that makes a mistake, yet none here seem too interested in why we had a police officer suspended with pay recently. Nor do they seem to care about another officer who circulated offensive email in the school system.
Let's hear more about them and see if they'll get torn up by you bloggers or their stories appearing on the news.
Guess we have a double standard.
"officer who circulated offensive email in the school system."
What's that all about?
11:20
Did you look at the video? It is obvious that it is not your typical video but a time delay pictures, that's why it is choppy. Lets not ask for a new camera system now, we can't afford it and what we have works just fine.
In my opinion, it is very telling. When you are brought to jail for anything, you obey the rules and you never put your finger in an officer's face. Common sense will ell you that.
These officers did everything by the book and if Evans feels he has a case here, then go ahead and waste your money.
Thank God you didn't win election, hard to believe that he even got votes.
The CPD was quick to release that video to show how ridiculous it would be for him to sue. Lets see his car and the dameage he did to that and think about what could have happened if he someone.
I hope Mr. Evans gets the help he needs for his family and for the safety of this community.
Timmmmmmmmeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
that is not true with the bpt police they are a little more tolerant and know how to handle this situation. you do not let a person as this walk unattended and they know how to do a takedown properly. don't compare mayberry rfd with bridgeport PLEASE.
the report on the police is just a big sales tool....half the report is them telling the town what services they provide to fix the problems....get rid of the chief and hire an outsider...
CINDY, research how many times bridgeport has been sued vs cheshire. Very few departments hold a candle compared to Cheshire PD. YOur views on how easy it is to take down an overweight, aggressive drunk are ridiculous.
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