Ex East Haven Cop Appreciates Huge Petition Drive Support

EAST HAVEN, CT – One of the four cops who is hoping President Donald Trump will pardon him for his conviction on civil right abuses for alleged profiling of Latino residents of five years ago said he isn’t surprised at all that a petition asking Trump to issue the pardon has been signed by more than 1,650.

David Cari and Dennis Spaulding were each convicted of civil rights abuses and obstruction of justice charges in October 2013, while two others, former Sgt. John Miller and former Officer Jason Zullo, pleaded guilty to lesser, unrelated charges.

Zullo was sentenced to two years in prison, Cari to 30 months and Spaulding to five years. They were arrested in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 2012, on an indictment charging that the four "conspired to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate various members of the East Haven community in violation of their Constitutional rights."

Patch asked the officers if they were surprised by the outpouring of support.

Spaulding answered.

“I am not surprised at all by the number of signatures,” said Spaulding. “East Haven residents have always been very supportive of the Police.

“Years ago when the town was going through the Malik Jones situation, the residents supported Sgt Robert Flodquist and the police department. Even after the town was ordered to pay a multi-million dollar settlement, the residents and town administration refused to settle and fought for what was right,” Spaulding said.

“It took almost a decade and a half for Sgt. Flodquist and the town to be cleared of any wrongdoing. The residents gave the police department their full support the entire time.

“As far as our situation, the residents lived through it. They saw all the out of state registration plates, they saw the fraud according with the illegal immigrant population and they were victims of many motor vehicle accidents with unlicensed and uninsured drivers. Something had to be done.

“When my investigation into the out of state plate fraud began, I was shocked at the sheer volume of this fraud. Hundreds of drivers were arrested for having these fraudulently obtained license plates. There was a lot of wrong going on, the town was losing out on vehicle taxes, the state was losing out on vehicle registration fees, residents of East Haven were becoming victims of hit and run accidents more often and if the drivers did stay, they were uninsured.

“The illegal immigrants were victims as well, from the people selling them these fraudulent documents and vehicle registrations. The illegal immigrants were paying almost $1500 for these documents and plates, lining the pockets of criminals with huge sums of money. The residents of East Haven knew all this and despite the media reports and statement from the federal government about the police "harassing Latino's, they knew we were doing our jobs and protecting them. They were very supportive then and they continue to be supportive to this day,” Spaulding said.

Asked why the pardon matters, Spaulding, who has a young family and is now a personal trainer, said: "A pardon would go a long way towards helping us and our families move on from this situation."

He added: "We just want out side of the story told, that we were not a bunch of racist cops out preying on anyone, that we were out there looking out for the best interest of the people we took an oath to protect," Spaulding said. "Their taxes paid our salary and if we ignored the problem with the out of state license plates, we wouldn't be living up to that oath. We were not paid to ignore laws, even if some groups think those laws shouldn't be enforced."

The petition which is on the website, change.org says: “The 4 police officers are still seeking justice.

“Pardon and commutation paperwork has been submitted to the Trump administration. We are looking for help and support to get these decorated police officers pardoned from their politically motived prosecution and to give them a fresh start on life.

“Their families deserve it, their community deserves it and most of all they deserve it for the years of decorated service they provided to the Town of East Haven, Connecticut. Please sign this petition and help us ask President Donald Trump to pardon these officers.”

The cops were arrested in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 2012, on an indictment charging that the four "conspired to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate various members of the East Haven community in violation of their Constitutional rights."

The arrests were sparked by a DOJ investigation of the East Haven police, which began in 2009.
Prosecutors filed the obstruction of justice charge largely in light of the Feb. 19, 2009, arrest of St. Rose of Lima Rev. James Manship. The New Haven priest was arrested after he filmed Cari and Spaulding ordering employees at an East Haven Latino-owned general store to remove nearly 80 license plates that had been screwed in to the back wall.

Following the arrests and prison sentences, the town’s police department fell under Department of Justice jurisdiction and was under that watch for more than four years. That watch was lifted late last year.

The DOJ agreement with the town, after the arrests, called for more extensive training for officers, including 32 hours of annual training for all officers.

It also ordered "bias-free policing," stating that the "EHPD shall deliver police services that are equitable, respectful, and free of unlawful bias, in a manner that promotes broad community engagement and confidence in the Department.

And more interaction between the police and the community has helped heal wounds. The agreement requires monthly meetings with community groups so the police are hearing directly from the community.
The department also initiated the purchase of body cameras for officers.

The petition has a lengthy list of the awards and arrests made by the four officers on it.

The language asking people to sign the petition includes this statement:

“Not all police are good civil servants, but 4 East Haven, Connecticut Police officer's, Officer David Cari, Officer Dennis Spaulding, Officer Jason Zullo and Sergeant John Miller served proudly and honorably as East Haven Police officers with a combined, over 40 years of police service. The four officers were among the town's most decorated and proactive police officer’s, received numerous awards, medals of Valor, Unit Citations, Commendation medals and a Purple Heart in that time. The group included members of the Swat Team, K9 Division and Search, Rescue and Recovery Dive Team. Officer David Cari, was shot in the line of duty and Sgt. Miller has twice had to use deadly force to protect innocent citizens and save the lives of police officers.”
>>>See the full petition here.