nothin Assistant Chief Casanova Suspended | New Haven Independent

Assistant Chief Casanova Suspended

Rally flyer.

Assistant Police Chief Luiz Casanova has received a one-day unpaid suspension for calling an officer a fucking mope” and then denying the officer the right to have union representation at a meeting about it.

Interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell informed Casanova of the decision Monday afternoon.

He told Casanova to select a day some time this month to serve the suspension.

Campbell later told the Independent that he decided to suspend Casanova for conduct unbecoming an officer” in violation of the department’s general orders.

Casanova’s attorney blasted the suspension, and community members organized a support rally for the assistant chief.

Campbell said he based the decision on two aspects of the confrontation between Casanova and a beat officer whom Casanova criticized outside a Hill substation last week for the way he was wearing his deapartment-issued knit cap.

Thomas W. Breen Photo

Campbell: Cops have union rights.

Aspect one: According to the officer, to a witness, and, Campbell said, to Casanova himself when first asked about it, Casanova twice called the officer a fucking mope.” Campbell said supervisors are not supposed to speak that way to people.

Casanova oversees professional standards and training, Campbell noted.

The officer, who said he’d been trained at the police academy to avoid the term mope” because of alleged racial connotations (some African-American cops consider it a racially charged epithet), walked away from the scene. (Casanova later denied saying fucking.”) Casanova subsequently contacted the officer over the police radio and ordered him to Casanova’s office at 1 Union Ave. The officer arrived with a police union representative.

Aspect two: According to Campbell, Casanova at first demanded that the union representative not come into the office with the officer. He later relented.

The officer was adamant he wasn’t going to speak to him unless the union represented” him, Campbell said. The officer felt threatened and intimidated. He had a legal right to have the union there.

We afford every officer, every employee who wants, union representation. Management has certain rights. But so do the employees. And we can’t deny those rights.”

Casanova failed to respond to requests for comment to get his side of the story. He has enlisted attorney Norm Pattis to represent him in the matter.

Pattis told the Independent Monday that we’re exploring our options” about potential legal action over the suspension.

I used to have chickens that passed more meaningful excrement than this,” Pattis remarked. This is ridiculous.”

Last week Pattis wrote this blog post defending Casanova’s actions, denying the use of fucking mope,” and accusing the Harp administration of using the incident to smear and neutralize” Casanova because it wants to make Campbell the permanent police chief. Casanova too has his eye on the chief’s position.

Mayor Toni Harp rejected that assessment during an appearance on WNHH radio’s Mayor Monday” program. I didn’t even hear about it until after” word got around town about it last week, she said.

She noted that if she had decided she wants to appoint Campbell as the next chief, she could have done it already, under powers granted in the city charter.

As a matter of fact, I decided not to make a decision [yet],” Harp said. I decided we would have a process, similar to the process we entered into with the fire chief, so everyone would have a chance.”

The mope” incident has provoked passionate debate in the community. Some consider Casanova’s alleged actions disrespectful and inappropriate for a top cop. Others criticize the officer for having a thin skin and reject the notion of the word having a racial connotation. (Here’s a sampling of the debate.)

Meanwhile, a group of faith based, community based organizations and local leaders have formed a loose coalition” to support Casanova against the accusations against him, according to Kica Matos, a leader in the immigrant-rights community.

The group plans a support rally for Casanova outside City Hall this Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Casanova has earned the trust of New Haven residents, and is the epitome of community policing at its best,” Matos stated. People are shocked by the way that he has been treated, and the support for him has been overwhelming.”

Click on or download the above audio file to hear the full episode of WNHH radio’s Mayor Monday,” which also covered small-business development, Hillhouse High School’s football championship, and Donald Trump. The segment about Casanova begins at 19:40.

The episode was made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C.

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