Name: Bridgeport police chief resigns after he’s charged with fraud and accused of rigging a promotional exam to guarantee himself the position
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Bridgeport police chief resigns after he’s charged with fraud and accused of rigging a promotional exam to guarantee himself the position

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AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantSep 10, 2020 at 6:23 pmBridgeport Police Chief Armando J. Perez has resigned after he and the city’s personnel director were charged Thursday by federal authorities with rigging the city’s 2018 police chief examination to guarantee that Perez would get the position.Perez, a longtime confidant of Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, and city acting personnel director David Dunn were charged with fraud for fixing the test and, later, lying to FBI agents investigating. Ganim said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday evening that Perez had resigned.Advertisement“We have today new leadership in the Bridgeport Police Department,” the mayor said. “With the resignation of Chief Perez, I will be appointing Assistant Chief Rebecca Garcia as an acting chief to lead our department. I think the residents need to know, and we all need to know, we remain committed to making this, in ever way we that we can, the safest city that we can.”Both Perez and Dunn appeared briefly in federal court in Bridgeport on Thursday afternoon. Perez, wearing a business suit, said little in court beyond telling Magistrate William I. Garfinkel that he understood his rights. He was released on a $150,000 bond after agreeing to surrender his firearms, including his department-issued weapon.AdvertisementFederal officials accused Perez and Dunn of hatching the scheme in 2018, when Bridgeport was searching for a new chief. Perez was acting chief at the time. The plan, the federal officials said, was to ensure that Perez would be ranked among the top three candidates and have an advantage at getting a five-year contract to run the city police department.The city’s search for a new chief began in February 2018 and, under the city charter, was to be an “open and competitive examination” to identify the top three scoring candidates — one of whom would be chosen by Ganim as the new chief.Ganim was said to be meeting with aides Thursday afternoon and was not immediately available to discuss the arrest of his old friend. But a Ganim associate, who asked that he remain unidentified, said the mayor tried to distance himself from the process used to evaluate candidates for chief.“Certainly there’s a grappling for some of the answers as to what has happened, disappointment, uncertainty,” Ganim said in the video posted to his Facebook page. “But I can tell you this: The members of this administration remain committed to you, as residents of this city ... committing to public safety is out top priority and we’ll keep you advised as me move forward on this.”Ganim and Perez, known as AJ, have been close for a quarter century. Perez, a career cop, has compared Ganim to a brother. He was Ganim’s official driver during Ganim’s first stint as Mayor — five terms beginning in the 1990s that ended with Ganim being convicted and imprisoned in 2003 for taking a half million dollars in bribes and kickbacks.After his release from prison, Ganim pulled off something most observers considered politically impossible: He campaigned his way back into city hall and was sworn in again as mayor in 2015. Perez, in the meantime, had risen through the department ranks.Other players in Bridgeport’s rough and tumble political world were quick to weigh in on the arrests.State Sen. Marilyn Moore — a Ganim foe — said she would have fired Perez for incompetence, were she mayor, and went on to predict there will be more to come from the examination investigation.Advertisement“Unfortunately, I and many from the Bridgeport community are not surprised by this arrest,” Moore said. “Once again the people we depend upon to serve with honesty and integrity have let us down. This is a betrayal of the public trust, and there are no doubt more than Dunn and Perez involved. Bridgeport deserves better. The chickens have come home to roost.”Bridgeport’s five-member state house delegation called for an overhaul of the police leadership.“These allegations are extremely troubling and, unfortunately, the latest in a string of incidents that have undermined public confidence in the leadership of our police department,” the delegation said. “We appreciate and support the hard work of the rank and file officers who patrol our city every day. However, it has become abundantly clear that change is needed at the top to bring about real accountability and transparency in policing the city of Bridgeport.”Federal officials said Dunn, as acting personnel director, was to supervise the selection process. As part of his duties, he hired a consultant — whose identify the officials concealed — to work with the city in developing and administering the examination.Federal authorities said Perez, 64, of Trumbull and Dunn, 72, of Stratford, arranged to manipulate the examination process in a variety of ways.Perez had two disadvantages going into the evaluation process. He lived outside of Bridgeport and lacked a bachelor’s degree — both of which were required under the job posting, a city official said.AdvertisementDunn is accused of stealing confidential exam questions and other information developed by the consultant, then delivering the materials to Perez by email. The authorities said Dunn also instructed the consultant to “tailor examination scoring criteria” in a way that favored Perez. Finally, they said Dunn arranged to have a panelist appointed to provide a final ranking of candidates ensure that Perez was one of the final three.Perez is accused of “enlisting” two Bridgeport police officers to secretly draft and write the written portion of his examination.Perez ultimately was one of the top three finishers and was chosen by Ganim. His five-year contract included a $300,000 payout for leave accrued over his career.DailyWe're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. &gt; Both Perez and Dunn are charged with making false statements in an effort to conceal their conduct from FBI agents. Both men agreed to voluntary interviews with agents.Perez is accused of lying about how Dunn and others helped him cheat — among them a Bridgeport police officer he allegedly asked to sneak into police headquarters and retrieve the secret and confidential materials Dunn had obtained.The officials said Dunn lied by denying that he asked an exam panelist to make sure Perez scored in the top three candidates.AdvertisementThe investigation was supervised by Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. Attorney in the southern district of New York. Connecticut U.S. Attorney John H. Durham, whose office works with Connecticut police departments, recused himself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Agents from the FBI’s New Haven division conducted the investigation.“Today’s arrest of city officials including a high ranking, longtime law enforcement officer is a stark reminder that the betrayal of public trust and community members by a public servant is not only unethical but often illegal,” FBI Special Agent-in-Charge David Sundberg said.Perez and Dunn are charged with one count of fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. Perez is charged additionally with two counts of false statements to federal investigators. Dunn is charged with one count of false statements to federal investigators, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.Courant Staff Writer Nicholas Rondinone contributed to this story. Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantSep 10, 2020 at 6:23 pmBridgeport Police Chief Armando J. Perez has resigned after he and the city’s personnel director were charged Thursday by federal authorities with rigging the city’s 2018 police chief examination to guarantee that Perez would get the position.Perez, a longtime confidant of Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, and city acting personnel director David Dunn were charged with fraud for fixing the test and, later, lying to FBI agents investigating. Ganim said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday evening that Perez had resigned.Advertisement“We have...

Bridgeport police chief resigns after he’s charged with fraud and accused of rigging a promotional exam to guarantee himself the position

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