WINDSOR LOCKS POLICE COMMISSION

Minutes of Special Meeting

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Commissioners present: Chairman Kevin Brace, George Hall, Edward Lanati, Dennis Gragnolati,
James Gaylord and Neal Cunningham

Commissioners absent: None

Also Present: Chief Eric Osanitsch

1) Call to Order – Chairman Brace called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.

2) Pledge of Allegiance – The Pledge of Allegiance was observed.

3) Public Input –

Michael Bracken – 12 Tinker Drive – 1) Mr. Bracken questioned the rules and regulations provision where a police
officer cannot fire upon a moving vehicle. He asked if this provision will change based on occurrences that have
happened during the last several years including the incident in Boston recently. He stated that in his opinion, a
trained police officer should be able to use his own judgment as to whether to engage subjects that are an immediate
threat or could be a threat to others if they are allowed to flee an area; 2) He talked about the shootout in Boston
between the oldest brother and a police officer. He again suggested using lasers on department weapons to increase
an officer’s accuracy in this type of a situation. He also suggested our officers carry armor piercing ammunition to
increase an officer’s chance of survival during a shootout.

Officer Paul Cherniak – 4 Volunteer Drive – Officer Cherniak read a letter composed and signed by the Windsor
Locks Police Union Executive Board regarding the constant anti-police attacks upon members of the department.
The letter addresses comments made by retired Detective Sergeant Rachele at a recent police commission meeting
and in a newspaper article where he challenged the statistical data that was published in the police budget
presentation. The presentation detailed that crime is alive and well within Windsor Locks and that the department
does not have the resources to proactively and consistently meet this adversary. Officer Cherniak stated that Retired
Detective Rachele misled the Commission and our citizens by saying he had firsthand knowledge of what is
happening in the police department. He continued by saying that Detective Rachele does not have this sort of
information since he has been retired from the Department for 3 months and is not in any position to speak for Officer
Cherniak or any other members of the Department. His letter continues with the Board’s disapproval of Selectman
Balboni and Attorney Storms and the fact that they have repeatedly undermined the Union’s effort to pass their labor
contract with the town. The letter explains how the Union learned of their attempts to derail the negotiations and how
information with regard to these negotiations was leaked to Mr. Peter Tomolonis, a private citizen. The letter
concludes with the Board’s support for all those involved in trying to improve the safety and welfare of all of our
citizens.

MOTION: To enter the Police Union Board’s letter addressing anti-police attacks into the minutes.
Neal Cunningham Seconded by James Gaylord
Motion Passed Unanimously

Peter Tomolonis – 69 Juniper – 1) Mr. Tomolonis stated he doesn’t like the Union and thought it was ridiculous that
this many Union members were at the Commission meeting. He emphasized that his fight was not with the Union,
but with Officer Garofalo and Commission Chairman Brace. He expressed that he does not like foul language and
cops using Hitler signs on the media. He went on to say that this comes under a federal hate crime, and since the
Chief doesn’t want to do anything about it, he had to bring in the Feds. He then specifically asked Chairman Brace
“are you being investigated by the State at the prison for the same tactics that you pulled here with us three?”

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4) Approval of the minutes for the regular meeting of April 10, 2013.

Commissioner Gragnolati stated there was an error in the minutes on page 3 under Agenda item #9 – Executive
Session. He stated that he was “against” the vote to enter into Executive Session and did not “abstain” as was
typed erroneously into the minutes.

MOTION: To approve the minutes of the April 10, 2013 regular meeting with the above-mentioned changes
made.
George Hall Seconded by James Gaylord
Motion Passed Unanimously

5) Correspondence – Commissioner Cunningham read the following correspondence: 1) A letter from the
Bloomfield Police Department thanking Officers Malone and Dzierzgowski for their assistance with traffic
enforcement during President Obama’s recent visit; 2) A note from the Windsor Locks Credit Union thanking the
WLPD for participating in their Youth Day Celebration; and 3) A memo addressed to Chief Osanitsch from Mary
Montemerlo (town resident) expressing her disappointment in the condition of pesci park, the explicit language
and illegal behavior she witnessed by individuals in the park, and the defaced property, all while trying to enjoy a
day out with her grandchildren. The Letter also stated that she found it incomprehensible that when she needed
help from the entity responsible to protect and serve the community, they were unresponsive.

The Chief stated that he talked to Mary and explained that he tried to track down her phone call to the PD.
Although he discovered that it was not a call received by our Dispatch, he will look into it further and update the
Commission.

Commissioner Gaylord then asked the Chairman if he could read aloud a letter he drafted and asked that the
letter be entered into the record. He then passed out copies of the letter, that was dated May 2, 2013 and
addressed to the Board of Selectmen, so that the Board could read along and sign the letter if they so choose.
The letter discusses a violation of privileged communication between Police Commission Chairman Brace and
Town Attorney Scott Storms that was discussed during the Executive Session portion of the April 10, 2013 Police
Commission meeting. The communication in question was an email dated February 27, 2013 from Chairman
Brace to Attorney Storms regarding the release of a draft copy of the Police Union Contract to Mr. Peter
Tomolonis. Based on references made by Mr. Tomolonis on his facebook page, it was obvious that a breach of
attorney/client privilege had occurred. Based on a meeting with Attorney Storms on April 3, 2013, it was
discovered that because Attorney Storms is hired by the Board of Selectmen, he reports all requests to them. He
stated then that these communications are still protected by attorney/client privilege. On April 16, 2013, at the
Board of Selectmen meeting, in Public Sessions, Selectman Dennis Gragnolati revealed that he had violated the
sanctity of the Police Commission’s April 10 Executive Session by repeating what was discussed to Selectmen
Balboni. Selectmen Balboni confirmed at this meeting that she did hear about what was said in the Police
Commission’s Executive Session from Commissioner Gragnolati and that she forwarded the February 27 email
to a private citizen, Mr. Peter Tomolonis. In her public statement, Selectman Balboni contends there is absolutely
nothing confidential about the email in question. This statement contradicts what Attorney Storms told First
Selectmen Wawruck, Chairman Brace, and Commissioner Gaylord at their April 3rd meeting. Commissioner
Gaylord continues with his letter by stating that the facts presented in his letter are self-evident and that
confidentiality was not only expected, but required. At the end of his reading, Commissioner Gaylord asked
members of the Commission to sign the letter.

Commissioner Gragnolati asked Chairman Brace if he could respond since his name was mentioned in the letter.
He continued by stating that he was told by the Town Attorney and another attorney prior to and after the Police
Commission’s Executive Session that there was no legitimate reason to go into Executive Session. He added
that this is why he voted against the motion to enter Executive Session at the April 10 meeting. He stated that for
this reason, he did not violate the sanctity of the Executive Session. He then stated that he should not be
expected to not forewarn Selectmen Denise Balboni before entering any meeting where this violation was going
to be discussed. Commissioner Gaylord responded that this is politics and this is what we don’t need.

MOTION: To enter the letter drafted by Commissioner Gaylord to the Board of Selectmen into the minutes.
Neal Cunningham Seconded by George Hall
Motion Passed (5 approvals - KB, GH, EL, JG, NC; 1 against – DG)

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6) Chief’s Report –

 Hiring Update - three certified candidates are continuing the background process and have completed
psychological testing. Interviews with the Commission are tentative scheduled for May 15.
 Promotion testing – Oral Interviews were conducted on April 17. All candidates passed this phase and it is
anticipated that promotions will coincide with the hiring of new officers so that a proper ratio of supervisor to
line officers is maintained.
 Two new patrol vehicles have been outfitted and are on the road for service.
 On April 30, the Police Department co-sponsored an educational presentation entitled “Power of Parents”
which is a program designed to inform parents on techniques/skills to use when discussing underage
drinking with their children.

Chief Osanitsch distributed a copy of the 2012/2013 budget to-date. As usual, due to staffing shortages,
overtime is running high but should balance with regular salaries by the end of the year.

7) New Business –

a) Code of Conduct Draft – Chief Osanitch distributed the updated draft to the Commissioners for their review.
He stated that a copy was aslso given to the Union. It is expected that a final version will be completed
within a month.

James Gaylord made comments/suggestions for the Chief to consider based on his review of the draft so
far. Chief Osanitsch said that additional questions/comments from the Commission over the next month are
welcome.

8) Possible Vote – There was no vote.

9) Public Input (agenda items only) –

Michael Bracken – 12 Tinker Drive – 1) Mr. Bracken suggested that the Officers carry an extra magazine in order to
change over to armor piercing ammunition if needed; 2) He stated that there has been discussion recently of having
an interview room where the PD could record interviews. He said that according to General Orders, recording
interviews is not allowed and that the Chief should look into it. He then suggested that microcassettes are available
to be plugged into computers to download recordings and store suspect interviews; 4) He commented that
dispositions are occurring for the civil case against the Police Commission. He said he was told by the Town’s Civil
Rights Attorney that Public Input must include the name, address, and subject matter of the speaker, and 5) he again
promised that he is suing the Police Commission and the Town of Windsor Locks for what “they did to him”.

Peter Tomolonis – 69 Juniper – 1) Mr. Tomolonis asked the Chief if the Department is operating without a code of
conduct in Windsor Locks.

10) Commissioner’s Comments – Commissioner Brace stated that Mr. Tomolonis comes to the Police Commission
meetings and assassinates his character. He responded to Mr. Tomolonis’ reference that Commissioner Brace is
under state investigation at his job by stating that he is not under state investigation and has received a
countless number of excellent employee evaluations at his civilian job. He continued by addressing Mr.
Tomolonis’ “collective group” and the prior accusation that he vacations with officers by stating that is false.

Chairman Brace then addressed Mr. Bracken’s lawsuit threats by stating “You threaten me almost every Police
Commission meeting with a lawsuit and I get it. You accused me of pointing a gun at you at a Selectmen’s
meeting, we get it.”

Chairman Brace then stated that he never received a ruling regarding last month’s Executive Session. He added
that he will check with Selectman Wawruck to see if he received any ruling.

He continued with the following statement “During our last meeting, former employee Ricardo Rachele spoke
during
public input to complain about a March 7th Reminder article which a portion of it read “We had a really big
problem with detectives not responding after hours,” said Brace. “No Windsor Locks detectives responded [to the
Henry Dang incident], but there was nothing in the contract that would make them,” What was cleverly omitted
by Mr. Rachele was that the 5 words in that quote "to the Henry Dang incident" appeared in square brackets,

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 meaning that the author of the article added those words. Square Brackets are a common grammatical tool used
in writing to enclose words added by someone other than the original writer or speaker.

All five media contacts were provided the same press release concerning the police contract, and neither the
Police Commission nor I have control over how reporters choose to present their articles. None of the other
media outlets contacted used [to the Henry Dang incident] in their articles.

The Detective Bureau's lack of response in the past was recognized by both Union and Management and
therefore was addressed both in the new Police Contract and recent retirement of Mr. Rachele. Even though it
was a major issue in the past, it is not anticipated as being a problem in the future. This should address Mr.
Rachele's concerns. As for his calls for resignations based on his embellishments, it showcases his lack of
integrity. His charges of my being a liar are baseless and a reflection of his vainglorious character.

11) Adjournment –

MOTION: To adjourn at 8:30 pm.

Edward Lanati Seconded by George Hall
Motion Passed Unanimously

Respectfully Submitted,

Sharon Pfaffenbichler
Recording Secretary

A recording of this meeting is available on CD in the Town Clerk’s Office.

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