Police Commission Members Responds

To the Editor:

Last week the independent candidate for the Police Commission submitted a letter which continued to demonstrate his misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the roles and responsibilities of the police chief and the members of the present Police Commission.

In his letter, the independent candidate insists that the Police Commission does not adequately maintain  checks and balances over the Newtown Police Department; and that the police chief has usurped the duties of the commission. The independent candidate’s solution is that his personal involvement in department operations would assure that the proper controls are in place.

The independent candidate’s simplistic “want to be” chief solution fails to consider the command and control structure that has been in place since the Police Commission was established. Namely, that the police chief is a hired competent professional who is charged with the daily operation of the police department and who is accountable to the five member civilian Police Commission. The Police Commission in turn reviews the department’s operation and ensures that the public’s concerns are noted and acted upon.

I am a retired former United States Treasury Agent and a former State of Connecticut Liquor Control Enforcement Agent. In my 38 years of experience in those positions, I worked with and observed the operations of numerous local Connecticut police departments. In may opinion, Chief Michael Kehoe is an excellent chief of police and operates one of the finest police departments in Connecticut.

I have been a member of the Newtown Police Commission for six years acting in the past four years as its vice chairman. If you agree with continuing the roles presently in place for the chief and the commission members, I would welcome your support on Election Day, November 6, 2007.

Thank you,

Gerald J. Finnegan

2 Driftway Drive, Brookfield                                September 10, 2007