By ALISON LEIGH COWAN, The New York Times
ORANGE, Conn., -- Four police officers, including the assistant police chief, have resigned in recent days from this town’s police force because of possible sexual misconduct while on duty, the town’s first selectman said today.
Mitchell Goldblatt, the first selectman, added that two more officers might resign as a result of an internal police investigation that began about a month ago based on information provided by one of the six officers.
While Mr. Goldblatt would not discuss details of what the officers did because the inquiry is continuing, he said their behavior involved violations of the police force’s “code of conduct, departmental rules and was behavior unbecoming an officer.”
“At this point,” he said, “we have no evidence of criminal activity” that might warrant involving other law enforcement agencies. Rather, he described an environment where officers seemed to look away as other officers pursued sexual liaisons with various women while on duty.
The four officers were all veterans of the force.
They were identified by Mr. Goldblatt as Robert F. Kenny, Jr. the assistant chief, who joined in 1986; John Regan, on the force since 1992; and Andrew D’Agostino, who joined in 1984. The fourth man, Andrew Gambardella, a part-time officer who is not included in the official police headcount, started in 1991.
None of the officers could be reached late last night for comment.
The full-time officers will retain their pensions, but will lose the lifetime health benefits they would have enjoyed had they served until retirement, Mr. Goldblatt said.
Orange is a town of 13,500 people with 40 uniformed officers.
“For a small community that prides itself on community policing, this is a real blow,” said Mr. Goldblatt. “It’s a real letdown, and it’s ruined the reputation of a very fine police department.”