Blumenthal Investigating Police Fund in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

OLD SAYBROOK - Specific information about a private fund held by Chief Edmund Mosca used to pay for Old Saybrook Police Department expenses and community programs might be soon be forthcoming.

A recent press release issued by Mosca discloses the fund has $32,000 which was acquired through "voluntary, unsolicited donations."

A letter from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is requesting information regarding the McMurray-Kirtland Fund, a fund that has been in existence since the early 1970's.

Blumenthal is requesting copies of bank statements, cancelled checks, check registers, cash receipt journals, and other records of usage of the account between Jan. 1, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2007 to be sent to his office by March 7.

In the press release, Mosca stated, "I am pleased that the Attorney General's office will be impartially reviewing the financial documents associated with the fund. Their review will assure the public that the fund has not been mishandled in any way."

Questions regarding the fund began in November 2005 when Police Commission member Richard Metsack made a motion to have the fund opened for review.

According to meeting minutes, the motion died for lack of a second.

Metsack said he was told that the commission has no authority over the fund.

"We are the governing body of the police department, why do they have a private fund?" Metsack asked.

At the Feb. 21 Board of Selectmen meeting, First Selectman Michael Pace said the Police Commission has full authority over the Police Department including all financing used for departmental operations.

Pace said he encourages Mosca to fully disclose information regarding the fund.

"The town's taxable money is not affiliated with the fund," Pace said.

Selectman Bill Peace agreed, stating, "I have had communication with the chief and chair that there should be total transparency."

In August 2007, resident Mary Hansen met with Mosca to get information about the fund but he refused to disclose financial records.

It is believed that these records are kept at the police station since Mosca admitted in an affidavit that his secretary, Joanne Klingerman, has managed the account since 1993 but claims he is unsure whether she does this on company time.

Hansen subsequently filed a Freedom of Information Office, FOI, complaint arguing the fund is a "public fund".

In her complaint, Hansen said the fund "has become the object of suspicion and mistrust; a talking point for possible police corruption."

In an affidavit, Mosca stated that the fund was used to purchase police equipment not covered by the budget, food and drink for staff meetings and outings, professional association membership and meeting fees, and flowers and plants from the local garden club which were planted in front of the police station.

His affidavit states the fund was used for purposes not directly associated with the department such as financing school trips, uniforms and equipment for local youth sports teams, donations to youth programs, as well as sending flowers and food baskets to various individuals for weddings, birthdays, and deaths.

Funds also were sent to the local historical society and local rotary club.

Hansen has questioned whether using money for those purposes meets its original intent, which according to Mosca's affidavit was to, "permit me to have money to pay for whatever items I felt would be beneficial to the department and/or its employees or whatever I deemed to be appropriate but were not included in the department's budget."

Hansen argues that "there was no mention of the word charity in any references to this fund by Chief Mosca."

Attorney Lisa Lazarek, who represents the chief, wrote in her brief to the FOI Commission that "the mere fact that the chief of police maintains a privately established fund to use for discretionary purposes should not result in a funding that the Mac Fund is the functional equivalent of a public agency."

In his press release, Mosca stated that, "I have been clear from the outset that I will abide by whatever determination is made by the FOI Commission. To allow the public access to the fund prior to the commission's ruling would seem to be premature. I ask for patience while the FOI Commission and the Attorney General's office do their jobs."

This reporter was told by a representative from the Old Saybrook Police Department that Mosca is refusing to be interviewed regarding the fund.