The headlines in the local papers call attention to the fact that Seargent Couture was fired following a 3 person panel hearing about the events that followed investigation into former Lt. Cummings sexual interactions with alleged 15 year olds met through a web site. Couture testified in the hearing, according to the Hour, that he confronted Cummings angrily in the parking lot after learning of the investigation. Which is sort of what you would expect to happen if a) you discovered this info informally and b) you were a friend of the subject of the info and c) the conversation went along the lines of WTF are you doing.
Needless to say none of these details emerge from the newspaper coverage, which is unfortunate becuase they are kind of important. Like why was it necessary for Westport Detective Jill Ruggiero to call Seargent Couture instead of perhaps a fellow Detective since this was supposed to be an investigation? Maybe I’ve read way too many police procedural novels but the timeline, events, and procedures followed in this whole case don’t make much sense. Didn’t anyone ask the obvious question why Ruggiero didn’t kick the investigation to a higher, outside the Norwalk department are considering that Cummings was the head Detective?
Which is perhaps why Couture’s lawyers are taking this to a state mediation board.
The 24-year career of a Norwalk police officer ended Tuesday after he was fired for his role in alerting a fellow police officer that he was the suspect in a sexual assault allegation involving a 15-year-old Weston resident.
Sgt. Stephen Couture left the third-floor conference room at police headquarters before the decision was announced by the three-member police trial board at 4:05 p.m.
Couture’s lawyer, Richard Gudis, slammed the decision to fire Couture, and said they will appeal it to the state Board of Mediation and Arbitration.
“The difference between the Norwalk police trial board and the state board is that the state board is a neutral, fair and impartial panel,” said Gudis.
Saranne P. Murray, the lawyer representing the administration, was not at the hearing. She could not be reached by telephone for comment.
Police Chief Harry W. Rilling said it was a difficult day to see one of the department’s officers fired.
“It’s a very sad day for us,” said Rilling. “It’s a very difficult situation when you have to terminate a police officer.”
Rilling had brought four charges against Couture that he violated the department’s rules and regulations.
Couture had to turn in his badge and his handgun after the ruling, said Rilling, who added the department tried to handle the situation with sensitivity.
The trial board consisted of police commissioners Daniel O’Connor and Peter Torrano, as well as city personnel director James Haselkamp. The latter was asked to chair the trial board by Mayor Richard A. Moccia, who is the third member of the police commission.
In releasing the decision, Haselkamp said the board would not make any comment on its decision.
The board was critical of Couture’s actions in alerting former Lt. Thomas Cummings, then commander of the Detective Bureau, about the investigation by Westport police.
They wrote that within 20 minutes of learning details about the allegation from Westport Detective Jill Ruggiero on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 26, 2007, Couture told Cummings about it.
That decision “thwarted any possibility of an Internet sting,” which Ruggiero had been considering, said the board, as it ruled Couture violated Section 4.16 of conduct unbecoming a police officer.
Cummings was charged in January with three counts of enticing a minor, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. He resigned from the police department on Feb. 15.
He is alleged to have had sex with two 15-year-old boys and attempting to have sex with another male juvenile.
After his conversation with Ruggiero, Couture called Cummings and told him they had to meet. They met in a parking lot where Couture testified he angrily confronted Cummings about the investigation
During that tense meeting, Couture received a telephone call about the case from Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo. The two had briefly spoken about the issue earlier. Colangelo told Couture not to tell anyone about the allegation.
Couture didn’t tell Colangelo that he had just told Cummings and was meeting with him at that moment.
The board also said Couture called Ruggiero at 5:34 p.m. that same day “and attempted to dissuade Detective Ruggiero from obtaining a formal complaint from the victim’s mother.”
The board ruled that
in telling Cummings about the allegation he violated Section 4.21, which governs the confidentiality of department business.While it found he violated two of the charges, the board ruled he did not violate Section 4.23 in withholding information from his superiors.
The board ruled Couture “technically” violated Section 4.1 (Directive 2.8.12) but didn’t impose any discipline for that violation.
Section 4.1 states that “officers shall not commit any acts which constitute a violation of the rules, regulations, directives or other orders of the Department whether or not stated in this General Order.”
The board also said Colangelo’s directive to Couture not to tell anyone was a mitigating factor in its decision to find that he did not violate Directive 2.8.12. That directive said the chief shall be notified of all complaints against the department or its employees.
Gudis said the charges were an overreaction due to the sensational nature of the investigation.
“Stephen Couture made a mistake and made a minor lapse in judgment, but for the salaciousnous of the alleged conduct by others, this would be, at worst, a written warning,” said Gudis.
“Clearly this was more of a decision of political expediency than justice,” he said. “Cummings was allowed to resign and (Lt. Michael) King was allowed to retire,” said Gudis.
During the police probe, Cummings was investigated for downloading pornographic material on his department computer and the police computer assigned to him.
Neither Couture nor King were ever charged criminally for their actions.
Despite the firing, Gudis said he didn’t believe Couture’s career was over.
“I don’t think so. I think when these same set of facts is put before competent and impartial tryers of law, Stephen Couture will be vindicated.”
source: The Hour, Police trial hearing ends in firing of sergeant, By FRANK MacEACHERN
Gay Online Tv… it`s a 24h broadcasting... 
