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04/19/2022 01:10 PMThe State Board of Mediation and Arbitration will hear an appeal next month in the case of an Old Saybrook police officer who was fired for falsifying a police report, lying to his superiors, and breaking department property. A decision is expected by summer.
In early January, the Old Saybrook Police Commission narrowly voted to fire Old Saybrook Police Officer Austin Harris after the officer filed a false police report and lied to his superiors about how his computer was damaged.
Following the ruling, the police union’s grievance committee met with the Police Commission to try resolve the grievance, but no agreement was reached. Following that meeting, Harris had 10 days to submit another appeal to the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration, according to Police Commission Chair Alfred Wilcox.
“The decision of that board shall be binding on all parties,” Wilcox told the Harbor News earlier in 2022.
A spokesperson for the Department of Labor confirmed to the Harbor News on April 11 that the case will be heard in May, though a decision may not be announced until later.
“I did confirm with the State Board of Mediation that they have the case and it will be heard next month. Information on the case is not available to the public until 10 days after the resolution is reached…,” Juliet Manalan, the communications director for the Connecticut Department of Labor, wrote in an email.
Harris was fired due to an incident that took place last December. An internal report on Harris’s firing from Old Saybrook Police Chief Michael Spera was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Harbor News.
The report stated that in the early hours of Dec. 15, Harris contacted a Patrol Sergeant to say that he had accidentally damaged the mobile data terminal (MDT) in his police car. The MDT contained a Panasonic Toughbook computer valued at $1,470.
Harris filed and signed a police report that stated in part: “While driving eastbound on Boston Post Road in the area of Shoreline Quick Lube, a large gathering of raccoons preceded to cross the road at the most opportune moment. I heavily applied my brakes and, in the process, slammed the bottom of my Yeti mug on the top of the Toughbook. This caused damage to the back of the computer and screen.”
However, a review of the damage to the car and a review of the dashcam footage cast doubt on Harris’s version of events. After being told that an internal investigation was being done, Harris eventually told the chief that he had been sitting in his parked car listening to music, according to the department’s investigation.
When a song with a catchy beat came on, Harris removed his collapsible baton and began waving the baton around, according to the report. When a song “with a big bass drop” came on, he then beat down on top of the MDT using the butt end of the baton “three or four times,” which caused the damage to the computer, according to the report. Despite being told to only remove the baton during cleaning, training, or an approved use, Harris told Spera he would routinely remove it while listening to music.
Harris was placed on indefinite administrative leave following the meeting and Spera asked the Police Commission to fire the officer.
The Charges
As police chief, the harshest punishment Spera can hand out is a 10-day unpaid suspension; the recommendation to fire an officer can only be approved by the Police Commission. Spera asked that the commission approve the termination of Harris.
The officer was officially charged with three violations: falsifying a report, lying to a superior officer, and using his baton in a non-approved way that resulted in damage to department-owned property.
In part of his report, Spera wrote, “I need to be able to trust the official word of a police officer. Once that trust relationship has eroded, it cannot be repaired. Based on Patrolman Harris’s actions of lying to his supervisor, creating and submitting a false police report, and only telling the truth when he realized his lies were exposed, I have lost all faith and confidence in Austin Harris’s ability to perform his sworn duties as an Old Saybrook police officer.”
Following a meeting that took place mostly in executive session, the commission voted to approve the firing with four commission members voting in favor of termination (Democrats Alfred Wilcox and Jill Notar–Francesco as well as Republicans Carl Von Dassel and Joseph Maselli) versus three opposed (Democrats Renee Root Shippee, Jessica Calle, and Carol Manning).
Harris had been with the department since 2019.