September 18, 2008

Conn. officer in sex-scandal resigns

The Republican-American

TORRINGTON, Conn. — A police officer flirted and had sex with female dispatchers on duty for four months, and he and the two dispatchers involved, with whom he had separate affairs, used a city messaging system to exchange sexual suggestions and arrange their encounters.

The city on Wednesday released documents concerning the investigation of officer Christopher Donovan, 36, and dispatchers Catherine Goodfield, 41, and Jennifer Street, 23. Donovan resigned in June after the affairs were uncovered. The dispatchers also resigned after being confronted with evidence of the affairs.

Nearly 700 pages of messages and internal reports revealed that Donovan had sex with the dispatchers in the women's locker room at the Torrington Police Department while on duty. He and Goodfield, who began having sex in February or March, arranged for trysts in the parking lot of Torrington Middle School and the Torrington Industrial Park. Donovan began his affair with Street in April.

Supervising officers had grown suspicious that Street and Donovan were having a relationship. On May 24, another dispatcher walked into the locker room, wondered why the lights were off, and heard a rustling noise. She used the bathroom and then was startled to find Street in a secluded area of the room, saying she had spilled something and needed to change her pants, according to the city's investigation.

The dispatcher noticed a Taser and holder that could have belonged only to a police officer on a cabinet, and she alerted department supervisors.

The documents released Wednesday show Donovan flirting with the dispatchers and trading bawdy comments using an internal messaging system that is supposed to be used for official communications. Police and dispatchers use the system not to report emergency calls but to share information such as directions or practical matters such as lunch break times.

The department allows somewhat personal use of the system, such as asking if a fellow officer wanted a coffee, but the exchanges between Donovan and the dispatchers extended far beyond that.

"Locker room bench sound good to you?" Donovan wrote to Goodfield over the messaging system the afternoon of March 3.

"Oh yeah," she responded.

"I'm 'up' for it if you are," he said.

Donovan's record was not unblemished since his hiring in 2001. He received a written reprimand and a three-day suspension in 2004 for an incident that involved insubordination, according to the city's report. He also received another written reprimand in 2005. The details of both were not included in the report.

The report released Wednesday said Donovan had past problems with conducting personal business on duty, and with inappropriate behavior with women.

Street had worked for the city for six months. The report has no mention of her job performance.

It was not clear Wednesday how long Goodfield had worked as a dispatcher. Police did not have her personnel records immediately available.

The exchanges on the message system often began at the start of their shifts and continued through the day. Both Goodfield and Street met Donovan during lunch breaks. At no point was the public's safety or the handling of emergency calls jeopardized, said Police Chief Robert Milano.

Emergency calls are always handled by phone and by police radio, so dispatchers and officers would not be using the messaging system at the same time, Milano said. Because they met on official breaks during their shifts, others were handling emergency response at the times they were having sex, he said.

At least Goodfield knew about Donovan and Street. In the report, Goodfield told investigators she was relieved when Donovan began to focus his attention on Street instead of on her, though the transcripts and investigation show she was a willing participant.

Investigating officer Sgt. Linas Venclauskas wrote in the internal report that he reviewed 425 pages of transcripts from the messaging system, 228 of which had sexual comments, messages or plans to have sex involving Street and Goodfield. He also said he believed others in the department may have known about the affairs.

Venclauskas recommended a number of changes to police policies.

The department has already implemented several of the suggestions, Milano said Wednesday, including regular spot-checking of the messaging system and phone calls on police department lines that are recorded. Other officers who were found during the investigation to have made inappropriate comments using the message system have been pulled aside and reminded of department policies, the chief said.

Milano also said the incident prompted him to push forward by six months an administrative reorganization of the department originally intended to take affect Jan. 1, 2009. As of July 1 of this year, many administrative responsibilities such as paperwork have been taken away from supervising officers, allowing them more time to pay direct attention to their workers, he said.

The chief said he has considered another recommendation, a key card system that would track where people go in the police building, but the cost, which could run $45,000, was likely not worth the expense, he said.

Milano said he has in the past attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a fraternization policy, another recommendation, but would consider bringing the issue to the police union again.

"It is appalling that such behavior was being documented on both forms of communication as they could be subpoenaed for another case and become divulged and cause discredit and embarrassment for the department," Venclauskas wrote in the report.

Donovan could not be reached for comment. Two phone numbers listed for him are no longer in service.

Neither could Street; no one answered the door at her address in Torrington. A woman who answered the door at an address previously listed to Goodfield in Terryville Wednesday said she had recently moved and she did not know where Goodfield lives.

The investigation and transcripts were released Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Republican-American. After the city initially refused to supply the information, the Republican-American filed a complaint with the state's Freedom of Information Commission. Rather than proceed to a hearing, the city agreed to turn over the information and redact any civilian names. The city redacted the names, and also redacted many of the lewd comments and sexual references, citing a concern for privacy.

Electronic communication on a city computer, even personal business, is public information, according to state FOI laws.