New Haven Independent

Posted by: City Hall Watch | January 7, 2010 10:00 AM

Why did the Center Street Lounge continue serving drinks to somebody who is that drunk? He probably should be fired, but really, the bar has some responsibility here and it doesn't sound like employees there used much adult judgement either.

Posted by: JB | January 7, 2010 10:12 AM

I agree with the chief. I think he should be fired too. He's much to immature to have the responsibility and power that comes with a police badge.

Posted by: Sunday | January 7, 2010 11:15 AM

He should be terminated and if he is doing this now just think what he will be doing if he stay around for 20 more years. The same thing and probably worst. If he get away with this, then he feel he is above the law and can do anything. People like this make bad cops and will cost the city a lot of money in the future. With this attitude that's the making of a bad cop.

Posted by: mike | January 7, 2010 12:00 PM

It wouldnt surprise me if this kind of thing was one of the reasons Chief Lewis is leaving.

...

Posted by: Jay | January 7, 2010 12:11 PM

Normally I would jump on the band wagon and say this guy should be fired. I've never been a fan of the cops or stupid behavior. However, I think the biggest issue he has with the department was taking the sick day. This kid is 24 years old and was not working at the time. How many people can say they never got drunk and did something stupid when they were in their early 20's. If this has been his only disciplinary incident and he has taken full responsibility for this actions, then I believe he should be given the harshest punishment up to firing. It would be fair to let him have a second chance with zero tolerance of anything like this happening again. This is a career he trained for and is invested in also which may provide some motivation for him.

Posted by: Enough | January 7, 2010 12:22 PM

Jay,

I agree if this is the kids first problem punishment short of firing is a reasonable way to go. dont strip him of what he always wanted to be and has worked hard for (academy isnt easy) because of one mistake. he is young and made a mistake on his personal time. i think there should ne a zero tolerance after this first learning experience.

Posted by: notimon | January 7, 2010 12:33 PM

Fire him now, before he takes someone life in the name of his badge. This is your bad apple and the everyone is aware of it, no need to let this guy hang around to teach others that this is how you behave when you have the honor of carrying the badge.

Posted by: TBWRIGHT | January 7, 2010 2:52 PM

I don't agree with firing him, yes something should happen, but we all did things stupid when were young and yes he should lead by example but do you think he is not feeling bad right now,and on top of that he still lives with his mother. It's a life learning expericance so grow up if you get your job back. Pray on it.

Posted by: annon | January 7, 2010 3:53 PM

some life lessons are sometimes harder to learn than others, the cop made a huge mistake and for that he should be punished. If the punishment is loss of his job, i think he should be allowed to resign so he can mature and again attempt to become a police officer later in life if he chooses...on another note, dosen't the police department have a internal affairs division? Shoulden't they be the ones who have the burden of conducting a internal investigation on the officer and if criminal charges apply, shoulden't they be writitng the warrant. How do police officers go to their sergeants knowing that down the road, that same sergeant may be applying for an arrest warrant for a mistake they made? Poor decition on the PD part and the sergeant's part....

Posted by: anon | January 7, 2010 5:14 PM

Great reporting. Can we also terminate police officers who speed, run lights and talk on cell phones while driving throughout New Haven?

To the average citizen watching what goes on on our streets every day, that is a more dangerous and dishonorable offense than getting drunk at a bar. The police force should be setting an example for our community, not causing harm to it through reckless and law-breaking behaviors.

The laws are there for a reason.

Posted by: bjfair | January 7, 2010 7:07 PM

Jay and Enuf: we have enough "kids" on the streets armed with deadly weapons. we don't need another. If he's a kid then he needs to grown up before becoming an officer. Honesty cannot be minimized either when you become an officer because too much relies on yor ability to tell the truth during an arrest. His initial response, "F*** You is so common among some (not all)officers in NHPD that I am wondering if it is a part of academy training.

Posted by: Anon | January 7, 2010 8:59 PM

Fire the disrespectful young man. Respect the wisdom of Chief Lewis who has worked hard to elevate the reputation of the New Haven Police Department. If Rookie Bandy is allowed to keep his badge, I and many other New Haven citizens will lose faith in the ability of the police commission to protect us from bad cops. A bad cop can do enormous damage. Terminate him.

Posted by: Che | January 7, 2010 9:41 PM

I agree with you ANON. I have seen cops not just talking on their cell phones but eating while talking on the cell and reading the newspaper. They cross red lights without flashing theirs. They cut you off without signaling. They should be the ones being the example of what not to do. Where is their blue tooth ear piece they should be using. This kid made a mistake but he needs to know that there are consequences. Too many excuses are being made for stupid mistakes young knuckleheads make. The badge means integrity and he will turn into another Office White if he is being let slide for this incident. Cops off the clock behaving inappropriately with patrons at bars and this fool making a fool of the police force.

Posted by: seen it all b4 | January 7, 2010 10:23 PM

taking sick time without being sick is worse than theft. he stole money from the department, the city of new haven and the tax-payers by getting paid fo not working and causing the department to incur overtime to cover his shift.

yeah, go ahead and try to justify this lawless behavior by a sworn officer of the law by saying 'he is young', 'we all did that once', blah-blah-blah, but when we were young and we did that once ourselves, we were not police officers. that's a huge difference. peeing on the floor, kicking the garbage, spitting...c'mon! any cop would arrest you or me for disorderly conduct, creating a public disturbance, public indecency, rioting, just to get you in the pokey with a gauranteed court appearance, so you could bargain the charges down in a court appearance. bandy should be accorded the same treatment. and you know what is more unbelievable? his buddy was a cop, too. instead of looking out for his 'brother', he is complicit in the behavior.

there seems to be a recurring theme lately that because you are a cop, you can do things outside the boundaries of lawful behavior...bandy the drunkard, the racing cops of milford, the rapist cop from milford, the gun-running cop from waterbury, and lets not forget madison, the hot-bed of beyond-the-pale: lobster thief, gas thief, sleeping on the job, taking hookers and teens in patrol cars, threatening co-workers and superiors, abuse of time off...you get the picture. above the law.

the time to address bad behavior in anyone's career, no matter what the vocation, is early, before it has a chance to get worse.

terminate.

Posted by: This Stinks | January 7, 2010 10:44 PM

I am not trying to excuse this young man but there are inconsistencies here. He took a day off sick and got shit faced with 2 other cops. Why? This behavior indicates he was under great stress. Why? The other 2 cops he was drinking with did not get talked about. Were they as shit faced but better politically connected? Were they setting up Bandy? Why didn't they stop a brother officer getting into this trouble? Cruz makes a cheesy statement that Bandy was embarrassing the NHPD badge. John Wayne couldn't have done better in a 1950s super macho movie. As Cruz had been extra duty at the bar that night why hadn't he taken action earlier to stop a brother officer getting in to this trouble? Why didnt the rank and file cops at the scene get this under control. They had to get 2 seargents in after the event to clean up the mess. There's a lot here that's not getting investigated. In the old days with Billy White and the Beat Down Posse we all knew where we were with NHPD.

Posted by: paulienh | January 8, 2010 2:14 AM

How did this guy make it by the psychological testing ????

Posted by: STYLENE | January 8, 2010 8:03 AM

Yes firing him seems to be an over-reaction. Though I am appauld by his behavior, the punishment should fit the crime (no pun intended). If he makes another mistake after that.....then SEE YA!!!! If they do decide to fire him....it would be a nice deterent for future "bad behavior." THINK ABOUT IT.

Posted by: Gene Debs | January 8, 2010 8:35 AM

While a huge mistake, this conduct was not done while the officer was working in his official capacity. Thus, save for the sick time issue, the department has no disciplinary remedy. I'm sure this is not the first time in the department's history--or any workplace--where someone has called in sick while not really being sick. Let's have the punishment fit the crime here. The man was arrested and publicly embarrassed. Let's ask this: has the chief disciplined anyone for abusing sick time during his tenure? Was the outcome similar? I'll wager it wasn't. So what is the difference? High profile?

Posted by: Bruce | January 8, 2010 9:38 AM

The guy flashed his badge in an attempt to put himself above the law. Sounds like abuse of power to me. Fire him.

Posted by: Confusedblogger | January 8, 2010 2:06 PM

Although Officer Bandy was not working in his official capacity he did show his badge and identified himself as an officer at the time of this incident. This gave the department the right to investigate the matter and proceed with departmental charges.

Furthermore, this incident projects beyond a simple case of abuse of sick time. The officer's action in this case demonstrated a total disregard for the department and its officer’s reputation; one that is currently being repaired by the department. The officer also violated numerous departmental general orders which regulate officers’ behavior on and off the job. I noted a concentrated concern among the bloggers responding to this article that this officer has less than two years on the force when this incident occurred and is already involved in such a serious incident of MISTRUST and; more importantly ABUSE of power. So the difference isn't that the case is high profile but more importantly the officer's abuse of his lawful powers and his total disregard for the New Haven Police Department reputation which could have a profound effect on the daily interactions with the community it serves. I think we have all seen what happens when a community does not trust the police department it is served by. So in conclusion, what is at stake here isn’t the job of one immature young police officer, but the reputation of an entire police department trying to crawl out of the gutters and the reputation of all of its current sworn members who conduct themselves in the highest regards for law and order and attempt to gain the trust of the community on a daily basis. I would ask that the police commissioners, when considering this case, to consider the real damage this officer has cost with his behavior. At some point the bodies we trust to make these decisions have to make decisions for the better good of all and not just one.

Posted by: NH Native | January 8, 2010 2:16 PM

I am rather surprised to see a show of support among some of these comments for Officer Bandy. He may be young and immature, but he was arrested for breach of peace, interfering with an officer, and disorderly conduct. He was also dishonest in calling in sick AND lying about being a police officer. Is this the kind of judgment and conduct that we condone in those who have sworn to uphold the law and protect us? If as a city we have been quick to point our fingers when cops are accused of wrong-doing, why should Officer Bandy be excused? Also, I am well-accustomed to hearing criticism from the community about the police, especially in situations when it is perceived that cops are covering for each other when there's trouble. I therefore want to commend the officers who responded to Bandy's poor behavior as well as the Chief for his recommendation that he be terminated.

Posted by: Gene Debs | January 8, 2010 5:14 PM

Confused Blogger: The young officer was either acting in his official capacity or he was not. If not, it's a criminal matter and beyond the scope of workplace discipline, except for the matter of having called in sick, when he obviously wasn't, though I suspect he didn't feel well the following day. But people call in sick all the time when they really aren't. Whole sit com episodes are based on this irony. I'm certainly not justifying the officer's actions, but how many cops identify themselves as officers when they get pulled over while driving? What is the difference? The difference is this officer made an idiot out of himself due to intoxication. But how many of us have never done that? My point is, I hope those who decide this young man's fate keep the matter in perspective, give him a chance to pick up the pieces from this mess and have a productive career.