Name: Third Shelton police officer fired after investigation into photos posted on Facebook
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Third Shelton police officer fired after investigation into photos posted on Facebook

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SHELTON — Officer Daniel Loris was fired Wednesday, according to the police chief, on allegations of ethics and sexual harassment violations and misconduct while on duty.In all, six officers have been fired in the past seven weeks from two separate internal affairs investigations. The department began the year with 52 officers and now, with several recent hires and the firings, .Police Chief Shawn Sequeira said Loris’ termination resulted from an internal affairs investigation that began months ago in connection with what were alleged to be photos of officers changing their clothes in the department parking lot that appeared on the Support the Shelton Police Union Facebook page in July.“Your immature actions of taking these photographs were more important to you than deterring crime and protecting the citizens of the City of Shelton,” Sequeira wrote in Loris’ termination letter. “The oath of office that you took as a police officer to serve and protect the citizens of this community cannot be accomplished with this type of behavior.”Michael Lewis, a police union representative, called Loris’ firing “unjust.”“Dan will be grieving this unjust termination to the State Labor Board,” Lewis said, speaking on behalf of Loris. “We hope somebody with the authority to do so will investigate the city which is out of control. They have terminated 12 percent of the department in just the past few months.”Loris is the third officer terminated after the internal affairs investigation into the photos. Officers and , who are also grieving their firings, were terminated earlier this month on allegations of staging the photos and lying about them.More NewsLoris was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation and had handed in his service weapon. His locker was cleaned out Wednesday, Sequeira told Hearst Connecticut Media.“As our nation struggles with the current uneasy state of police-community relations, police officers who can instill community trust through their personal integrity are valuable assets,” Sequeira told Loris in his termination letter. “Due to your reprehensible behavior, I feel that you are a liability to the Shelton Police Department.”In June, the union filed a grievance alleging three female officers were denied use of their headquarters restrooms while the 49 men had access. The police chief then limited use of headquarters locker rooms and bathrooms for both men and women and set up portable toilets for patrol officers in the parking lot.The police chief said his department launched an investigation when photos of the officers changing in the parking lot were posted on Facebook. The images, which blocked out the officers’ faces, appeared to show male officers changing their pants and female officers in their bras as they changed their shirts allegedly in public.Sequeira said Loris was observed on video surveillance footage taken from the parking area of the police department, and later allegedly admitted to his action on audio recordings during his internal affairs interview.“Unfortunately, he took zero responsibility and did not see wrong in his action of this conduct on duty and on police grounds (which) resulted in termination,” the chief told Hearst.Loris left his patrol while on duty to return to police headquarters and took “an inappropriate photo” of a female officer changing her clothes in the parking lot, Sequeira said the investigation showed.“I have to create and ensure a safe work atmosphere for all employees,” Sequeira said. “That type of behavior was degrading and offensive in nature not only to myself (but to) others.”Sequeira said Loris admitted that the photo was taken without the female officer’s consent, “even though he stated that he showed the officer the pic shortly after he took the photo.” Sequeria said the photo then appeared on the Support the Shelton Union Facebook page.“Under the state guidelines of sexual harassment, there is zero tolerance ... even if you have a personal relationship or even consent from the alleged victim or other party,” Sequeira said. “The action itself was offensive and violated our state guidelines.”In all, eight department members were subjects of the internal affairs investigation about the Facebook photos, Sequeira said during an update on the probe given to the Board of Aldermen’s Public Health and Safety Committee earlier this month.Brian McPadden, Victoria Chapman and Christopher Robek received written warnings for not using good judgment in changing outside on police grounds, the chief told Hearst. Sequeira also said the trio, who’d had clean records up until then, would undergo mandatory ethics training.Officer Michael Curran and John Napoleone, the union president, were also subjects of the probe, but were not disciplined for it.Napoleone, however, was fired earlier this summer for dereliction of duty in an unrelated investigation which also resulted in the terminations of officer Michael McClain and Lt. Dave Moore.All of the officers who have been terminated or given written warnings have filed grievances.Lewis, speaking on behalf of the officers, called the discipline “without cause.”brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com

SHELTON — Officer Daniel Loris was fired Wednesday, according to the police chief, on allegations of ethics and sexual harassment violations and misconduct while on duty.In all, six officers have been fired in the past seven weeks from two separate internal affairs investigations. The department began the year with 52 officers and now, with several recent hires and the firings, .Police Chief Shawn Sequeira said Loris’ termination resulted from an internal affairs investigation that began months ago in connection with what were alleged to be photos of officers changing their clothes in the...

Third Shelton police officer fired after investigation into photos posted on Facebook

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