Hamden’s acting police chief has recommended that the department fire a 29-year-old officer who shot 13 times at an unarmed couple in Newhallville in April.
The spokesperson for the town’s police department made that announcement Tuesday afternoon in a press release about Acting Police Chief John Cappiello‘s recommendations that the Hamden Board of Police Commissioners terminate the employment of Officer Devin Eaton.
Sam Gurwitt photo
Hamden Acting Police Chief John Cappiello.
The press release and accompanying documents note that the town department’s Ethics and Integrity Unit has completed its internal investigation of Eaton, who shot at and injured Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon early in the morning of April 16.
Coming 29 days after State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin formally charged Eaton with one felony and two misdemeanors related to the shooting, Cappiello announced that the town department has charged Eaton with a number of violations of the Hamden Police Rules and Regulations.
Those includes three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, five counts of neglect of duty, and two counts of unnecessary use of force and firearms discharge.
“These charges represent serious allegations of violations of Department Rules and Regulations,” Cappiello wrote in Tuesday’s letter to Hamden Police Commission Chair Michael Iezzi, “and I am recommending that if these charges are sustained that Officer Eaton be terminated.”
Iezzi told the Independent that he plans to hold a special meeting of the commission in order to set a date for Eaton’s hearing. “I want to do it as expeditiously as possible,” he said. Per the town’s police union contract, the hearing must take place no sooner than a week and no later than 30 days from when the chief notified the officer of the charges.
Click here to download the department’s press release, and here to download Cappiello’s letter to the Police Commission as well as his letter to Eaton, dated Nov. 15.
Paul Bass photo
Protesters rally for Eaton’s termination.
Eaton is currently on unpaid administrative leave, according to the department’s press release, and he will remain so until the resolution of this case.
Police-accountability activists have consistently called on the Hamden Police Commission to fire Eaton, and stepped up their pressure campaign after Griffin announced the state charges against the officer last month.
Kerry Ellington, one of the lead organizers of Police Against Police Brutality, called for structural changes to policing — in Hamden, and throughout the area. “Of course, it’s a step in the right direction,” she said about Cappiello’s recommendation. “It’s six months late .… [There were] all kinds of acts of violence that was evident Apr. 16 and it was sad that it had to take so long to get to the point of a recommendation.
She called on Hamden residents to stay vigilant and “see to it that the protections in the [police union] contract that protect the police are not to the detriment of the community and public safety.”
The head of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) weighed in on the Hamden PD’s announcement Tuesday afternoon.
“Hamden residents have been recommending Devin Eaton’s termination since April, and it is unfortunate that it took months for the Board of Police Commissioners to accept their complaints,” David McGuire, the executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, is quoted as saying in a press release. “The Town should not have disregarded residents to begin with, and it should not continue to ignore them now that the police department’s acting chief has also recommended termination.”
Griffin’s office did not arrest or file charges against Yale Police Officer Terrance Pollock, who shot three bullets during the encounter. State police determined that Pollock was responding to fire coming from Eaton, which he mistakenly believed was coming from Washington and Witherspoon’s car.
No news here, it's what was expected. Chief Cappiello, on almost another note, now that the Mayor has recommended your appointment to Chief of department, I suggest you "get out in front of the cameras" more rather than communicating through carefully worded press releases. Given the substantial exposure and emotion involved in this tragic incident, it often puzzled me why we rarely heard from you directly. Not being critical, just helpful Chief and I congratulate you on your appointment. I also realize that most people are uncomfortable in a live press situation, but this case gained national attention and your presence would have added much more transparency and credibility. This is a major part of being a police Chief and the much anticipated announcement on the outcome of the Hamden investigation should have come from you directly in the form of a press conference, not a press release.