New Haven Independent

Police Union President Louis Cavaliere, calling the termination a denial of due process, vowed to file a grievance immediately.

The decision was made Wednesday at the police department headquarters, where the Board of Police Commissioners held a termination hearing. The two cops had both filed for retirement after being arrested by the FBI after a sting operation. White, a 39-year veteran of the force, was charged with accepting bribes from local bail bondsmen and stealing money at crime scenes. Kasperzyk, a 12-year veteran, was charged with theft of government funds under $1,000.

(Click here to read a potboiler 57-page FBI affidavit about the case against Lt. White and co. For other related stories on the scandal, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here , here and here.)

White didn’t attend the meeting. Kasperzyk showed up with his mother and sisters, flanked by union reps and lawyers. Claiming back injuries that prevent him from continuing to do his job, he has filed for early retirement due to disability.

The question at hand: Would he be allowed to retire on disability, giving him a chance to cash in on over $34,000 in accrued vacation, sick and personal time pay, and leave the force without the stigma of having been fired? Or would the city succeed in terminating him before he got the chance to have his retirement request approved?

The union, city and police commission hashed out the question behind closed doors. The city emerged victorious: Commissioners voted unanimously, 5-0, to terminate the 34-year-old detective. Kasperzyk, in a dark suit, left down a back staircase, escorted by union reps. His family filed out through a gauntlet of TV cameras, one reportedly pushing the mic back into a reporter’s face.

In the hallway, Police Union President Cavaliere (pictured) dismissed the dismissal as “grandstanding,” charging the commission had fired one of its members based “merely on hearsay.”

In the past, when cops were arrested, the city has let them retire. Citing the gravity of the charges, the city made the unprecedented move of interrupting the retirement process by seeking termination.

“You’re presumed innocent, I hope, until you’re proven guilty,” protested Cavaliere. “Give him his due process.”

As a result of the termination, Kasperzyk won’t be able to cash in his unused vacation, sick and personal time days — a move that would have earned him over $34,000. Similarly, White, who stood to earn over $54,000 in a similar cash-out, will also be denied that pay.

Cavaliere said he’d fight the termination and the loss of cash-out option for vacation and sick pay, which he claimed went against the terms of the union contract. “They’re inserting a bad boy clause into the contract. If they’re allowed to do what they’re doing tonight, no contract is safe in this city.”

Police Commission Chair Rick Epstein defended the board’s choice to terminate Kasperzyk for violation of several departmental rules and regulations, evidenced by the FBI’s findings. “Based on the preponderance of evidence that we saw, there was more than enough evidence” to justify termination. Epstein recused himself from the vote on White because his company once wrote insurance for White.

White’s hearing, also behind closed doors at the request of the union, centered on whether White’s retirement took effect immediately when he filed his paperwork (as the union contends). The city’s position, according to Emmet Hibson, Jr., director of labor relations for the city, is that “until the pension board acts, they are not retired.” Hibson said the city’s stance was backed by a past case in 2005 where an officer filed paperwork for retirement, then changed his mind and withdrew the paperwork before the retirement board met, allowing him to continue to work.

Pensions Appear Secure

While the city had vowed to scrutinize the two cops’ pension requests, the decision at this time will be left to the police and fire retirement board, which meets April 12.

“It’s out of our hands,” said Hibson. The city did succeed in lowering White’s by a fraction: White is expected to receive a pension of roughly $91,000 per year, a sum that equals 80 percent of his salary plus 40 percent of his average overtime. Had he not been fired, he would have earned 83 percent, said Hibson.

If Kasperzyk’s disability retirement is approved by the retirement board, he stands to earn a $41,000 annual pension, said Hibson. The union’s Cavaliere contends a private doctor, and a pension board doctor, have both signed off on Kasperzyk’s disability claim.

As the hours of hearings broke up, city Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts applauded the board’s decision, which was backed by the mayor and police chief. “These criminal, reprehensible actions deserve and merit termination,” Smuts said.