You want the truth? Ask a cop. You want it printed ask The East Haven Vine

The saga of the worst East Haven Police Commissioners Board in the history of the Town of East Haven continued on Tuesday night where the vendettas of personal attacks continued. In probable retaliation for Chief Gallo telling the members of the Police Commission they were forbidden to be on the grounds of the EHPD the Board voted unanimously to uphold a 1973 rule from the East Haven Department Manual that said the Chief of the Department must be an electorate of the Town of East Haven. Are these Commissioners for real? Here we have the United States Department of Justice investigating our rules and regulations which they site as being outdated and these buffoons pull out a 39 year old out dated policy and expect that we the public don’t see further retaliation? Message to the Police Commission, you’re nothing but an appointed civilian oversight board that sets policies and procedures, you don’t run the East Haven Police Department.

That leads me to my next topic of who, what, when and why. We all know the issue that spearheaded the Department of Justice investigation to racial profiling came with the February 2009 arrest of Father James Manship for interfering with Officers David Cari and Dennis Spaulding while they were investigating the sale of license plates at the My Country Store on Main Street.  Those events led this current board to seek an investigation of the incident from Chief Gallo. Chairman Brow had asked Chief Gallo about the events of that arrest and if he believed the arrest met the criteria expected. The Chief responded that indeed everything that the officers fell into compliance. I guess that wasn’t enough for Chairman Brown because at the May 25, 2010 East Haven Board of Police Commissioners meeting Commissioner Krebs made a motion “to request that the Chief States Attorney’s Office conduct an investigation into the arrest of Fr. James Manship.” (May 25, 2010 Board Meeting Minutes)  All of the Commissioners voted in favor. Then on June 4, 2010 Chairman Brow wrote a letter to Kevin Kane from the Chief States Attorney’s Office requesting a challenge of Chief Gallo review of the incident. In his letter Chairman Brow was upset that the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners was not privy to any written reports or communications from the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office. Chairman Brow was seeking answers to the following questions.

1)      Did the arrest have sufficient probable cause?

2)      Were the police officers lawfully on the premise?

3)      Were the officers reports accurate and truthful?

Brow indicated that it was essential to have this reviewed because the arrest of Fr. Manship was dismissed in court.

Here is the letter written to Kevin Kane, Chief State's Attorney's Office

I guess though that was not enough for Chairman Brow. Because on June 28, 2010 Chairman Brow, WITHOUT East Haven Police Commission Board approval wrote a letter to Mr. Luis Saucedo from the United State Department of Justice enclosing the letter Mr. Brow wrote to the Chief States Attorney’s Office and enclosed editorials from the New Haven Register.  Since Mr. Brow is such a conformist about process and procedure maybe he can answer the question of why he took it upon himself to write to the Department of Justice and thus possibly exposing the Town of East Haven’s liability further? Where was the Town Attorney in this decision?

Here is the letter written to the Department of Justice authored by Mr. Fred Brow

Where was the advice to the Board from the Town Attorney because on June 30, 2010 Mr. Kane responded to Mr. Brow and stated in his letter. “Following the arrest of the Reverend Manship the Office of The State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven thoroughly reviewed all pertinent circumstances. That office determined that no prosecutable criminal conduct had occurred during the investigation or arrest.

Here is the response letter from Mr. Kane that came 2 days after Mr. Brow took it upon himself to write to the United States Department of Justice.

Still not getting his way the tenacious Mr. Brow kept pushing the issue now looking for the State's Prosecutor, Michael Dearington in New Haven to intervene. Mr. Brow wrote this letter on July 19, 2011.



Sometime the same day Mr. Brow must have been happier than a clam because he finally received acknowledgement for his efforts. The United States Department of Justice returned a letter to Mr, Brow thanking him for his materials he provided in his June 28, 2011 letter.



At that point the Chairman had no right, in his position, to go before anyone else without the permission of the Board or the Town Attorney. Fred Brow’s sneaky one handed communication with the United States Department of Justice says two things. First, he is most certainly after Chief Gallo and that he had every intention to put his interests over the people of East Haven. His actions could have severe financial implications to every taxpayer in the Town of East Haven and also continued the battle between the Administration and the East Haven Police Department. Instead of trying to work within the East Haven Police Department Mr. Brow took the approach that I am the Chairman, you are the subordinate, you do what I say when I say and if you don't well we will see what happens. Thanks Mr. Brow for placing the Town of East Haven in the limelight.

On July 23, 2011 Mr. Brow was in receipt of a letter that came from New Haven's Prosecutor, States Attorney Michael Dearington stating the the case against Fr. Manship was dismissed and that there will be no further action taken. Basically he was told by Mr. Dearington we see nothing wrong here and we are not going forward with your request.

Then at the next Board of Police Commission Meeting, August 31, 2010 Detective Thomas Russell read a statement aloud that at the time were unknown to the general public. That the East Haven Board of Police Commissioners, The Mayor and her Administrators had called the Officers of the EHPD "troubled", made public comments about officers being arrested but was most revealing at the time is Tom said exactly what I am reporting. That this Commission stepped out of it's bounds. In addition, Officer David Cari, one of the targets in the Fr. Manship arrest plead his case to the Board looking for these letters clearing him of any wrong doing in the Manship arrest to be placed in his file. The response from Mr. Brow...."The matter has been forwarded to the DOJ and he could not   comment on the content." (August 2010 Board of Police Commissioners Minutes). Gee Mr. Brow, I wonder why? Could it be that now you are a witness in the case since you were sending information to the DOJ?

It is also very evident that this East Haven Police Commission has willfully deceived the public by making statements that it was not involved in the bring the Department of Justice to the Town. From Mr. Brow’s letter dated on June 28, 2010 it is very evident that Mr. Brow’s intention was to draw more attention to the Town of East Haven thus inviting more attention to a bad situation already. Did he and this Board actually call the Department of Justice? I really don’t know and we may never know what truly happened prior to June 4, 2010 but one thing is for sure that Fred Brow and this Police Commission are a wrecking crew geared to get Chief Gallo. In Fred Brow’s own words from the DOJ findings. “We need a change at the top and now his efforts to hold Gallo to a 1973 rule book to make him be an elector in the Town of East Haven is just plain retaliation.

Who does Fred Brow think he’s fooling? Who does James Krebs think he's fooling? At the December 27, 2011 Board of Police Commissioners meeting you hear me make a statement that I hope that none of the Board was involved. My exchange with both Mr. Brow and Mr. Krebs tells it all. From frame 7:10 to 8:53 you hear me ask for an apology from the Board for Officer Mike Sorbo and Sgt. Ed Lennon for their treatment by the DOJ, The Mayor, The Administration and especially the Board. Their response? Paraphrasing,  "Apology for what?" Mr. Krebs said, "We didn' initiate anything. Since we didn't initiate anything we shouldn't apologize. My response, "I hope what you said was a true statement, that it wasn't started by anyone on this Board." Mr. Krebs, "It's a true statement as far as I'm concerned." You watch the video and you decide if this Board if lying. I know they are because the proof is right above. (EHBOPC Meeting) Courtesy of East Haven Politics, Ed Foley.

Thanks for hanging in there and following this story. For my friends at the East Haven Police Department I wish you and your families a Safe and Healthy New Year. You are our heroes because everyday you go to work not knowing what will be. The truth will come out and I hope this is the start of many victories to come.

God Bless..