#MiddleburyCT #Police #LaborBoard #Cronin #Ireland
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
A press release issued late Wednesday, June 5, stated the Town of Middlebury will appeal the Connecticut Department of Labor Arbitration Board’s May 31, 2024, rulings awarding former police officers Alton Cronin and Randy Ireland reinstatement with full back pay. Both officers had been abruptly fired by the Middlebury Police Commission on July 8, 2019.
First Selectman Edward B. St. John said in a telephone interview, “We did the right thing. It is my job as first selectman to protect the residents.”
Arbitrators found the officers had not been fired for just cause, a conclusion the press release states sanctioned the conduct of Cronin and Ireland. Uncontested evidence of that conduct shows Officer Ireland performed no patrol activity on 34 shifts and limited patrol activity on 34 shifts during a four-month audit period. It showed Officer Cronin performed no activity on 15 shifts and limited activity on 54 shifts and, on one occasion, he went home yet billed the Town for a shift worked.
“Night after night the citizens of Middlebury were left unprotected by these two patrolmen,” the release states. St. John added, “You can win a case, but you’ll never have the public trust.”
The release says, contrary to the arbitrators’ conclusions, the Town believes Connecticut law does not require forewarning a police officer “who blatantly fails to perform his job” that failure to work is unacceptable before imposing discipline.
The release also said it’s inconceivable that a first selectman does not have the power to commence an investigation into misconduct by members of the town police department and that the rulings are against the state’s public policy that public employees are accountable to the taxpayers they serve.
“We did our best to expose all these issues and bring the facts forward,” St. John said. He said of the two officers, “They never disputed any evidence (presented to the Arbitration Board).”
