Judge says Old Saybrook police chief can't hide criticism of him

Aug. 11—OLD SAYBROOK — A state Superior Court judge this week said a document highly critical of police Chief Michael Spera must be made public because people have a right to know when town employees "are and are not performing their duties."

The document in question is a lengthy, handwritten exit interview from Old Saybrook police officer and former union president Justin Hanna when he left in March 2021 for a new job at the East Lyme Police Department. The move came around the time Old Saybrook officials were trying to figure out why officers were leaving the department at an unusual rate, which was calculated by Spera himself at 32 officers over 11 years.

Those who have seen the exit interview agree it contains critical comments and describes negative experiences from the officer's roughly three years on the force, according to court documents.

The case pitted the public's right to know against the public employee's right to privacy.

Now that the judge has dismissed Spera's attempts to keep the contents of the exit interview hidden, First Selectman Carl Fortuna Jr. said he intends to release the document next week.

Spera did not respond to three attempts to reach him for comment.

Judge Matthew Budzik in Wednesday's decision said previous court cases have shown the public has a legitimate interest in the integrity of police departments.

"Chief Spera cannot prevent the disclosure of Officer Hanna's exit interview simply because it is highly critical of how Chief Spera performs his official duties," Budzik said.

Spera's lawyers characterized the exit interview as an attempt by Hanna to discredit the chief and said it could undermine trust in the department and its top cop.

The case arose after Hanna himself made a request under the state Freedom of Information law to view the document. When Spera wouldn't give it to him, Hanna complained to the Freedom of Information Commission in Hartford.

The state's Freedom of Information law is designed to promote access to public documents and meetings. Members of the commission affirmed the exit interview is a public document and therefore must be turned over to Hanna.

The judge's decision came one year to the day after Spera appealed the commission's decision in Superior Court.

Hanna on Thursday said his intent in requesting his own words was to make sure that the document existed and that town officials outside the insular police department were able to see it.

Fortuna on Friday said he told Spera he plans to provide the exit interview next week to Hanna and others who have requested it.

"The document will be released," Fortuna said. "And I think (Spera) is on board with that. And if he's not, I guess we'll all find out."

Fortuna emphasized the town, which was a plaintiff in the case along with Spera and the police department, will not appeal the decision. Nor is it up to Spera "as to whether it's appealed," according to Fortuna.

"It's a town document," he said.

FOI Commission spokesman Russell Blair in a statement Friday said the watchdog agency is pleased the court agreed "that a record referring to the job performance of a municipal police chief pertains to a matter of public concern."

The working environment

Budzik, in applying the legal test used to determine when privacy trumps transparency, said the information contained in the exit interview is a matter of public concern and that releasing it would not be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

The judge said the critical comments and negative experiences in the exit interview were "exclusively related" to the chief's official duties and overall operation of the police department.

"Moreover, at the time of Officer Hanna's departure, the Old Saybrook (Board of Selectmen) was concerned about perceived difficulties in retaining OSPD officers," he said. "Officer Hanna's comments in his exit interview directly relate to that issue."

Hanna left around the same time some former officers were alleging there was more turnover in the Old Saybrook police department than in comparable departments. A lengthy report created by Spera for the Police Commission in 2021 counted 32 officers who left the department since 2010, with 15 of them classified as "voluntary" resignations. He said six of the nine members who resigned in the years with the most turnover went to other law enforcement agencies.

The East Lyme Police Department, since it went independent in 2017, has hired five officers from Old Saybrook, according to Chief Mike Finkelstein.

Hanna said he took a $15,000 pay cut to get out of Old Saybrook.

"Many of the officers who left Old Saybrook to transfer to East Lyme knew we would be going to an agency that has a lower salary, but we knew that the quality of the working environment and police department was greater," he said.

Police Commission Chairman Alfred "Chub" Wilcox on Thursday said members of the commission reviewed Hanna's exit interview upon the officer's departure, though he could not remember the details.

Asked whether any of the concerns raised by Hanna have been addressed since then, he said he believed "there were issues that were appropriate to pursue but that no conclusions could immediately be drawn."

Two years later, he said he believes retention remains "very much an issue" in the Old Saybrook Police Department.

e.regan@theday.com