Lysaght Hearing

Slated For December

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr and the town have agreed on four dates in December on which the chief’s job termination hearing will be held.

 Attorney John Kelly, representing Chief Lysaght, said Wednesday the hearing will be conducted December 13, 17, 20 and 22. The sessions will run from 10 am to 5 pm.

Whether more sessions will be needed will depend on the number of witnesses who are called to testify, Mr Kelly said.

No location for the sessions has been set, Mr Kelly said. It is unclear if the sessions will be open to the public, he added.

 The town and the chief will be meeting with arbitrator Albert G. Murphy to discuss how the proceedings will be conducted, Mr Kelly said. Although the arbitrator will consult with the town and the chief, the arbitrator will have the final say on running the hearing, Mr Kelly said.

 Mr Murphy, a Hartford attorney, will function as a non-binding arbitrator who will issue “findings of fact” based on testimony presented at the hearing. The Police Commission will not be bound by the findings of fact or by Mr Murphy’s recommendations on the case.

Mr Murphy has been a full-time arbitrator and mediator since 1991. He received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1953 and a law degree from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1958.

Having decided that Chief Lysaght’s job performance is unacceptable, the Police Commission has notified him of the reasons it plans to terminate him. Commission members have said the chief possesses neither the leadership nor management skills required to effectively run the police department. The commission hired Chief Lysaght in July, 1996. He formerly served as second-in-command at the Bristol Police Department.

Mr Kelly has said the commission’s complaints against the chief amount to “philosophical differences” over how to run a police department, adding that the chief has become the victim of the “petty politics.”

The Police Commission placed Chief Lysaght on administrative leave in early July. Police Captain Michael Kehoe has been running the police department since then.