The day after being sworn in, New London’s new mayor issued some executive orders that surprised some city officials, but now he must rescind one of them.
One of the executive orders from Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio called on police not to charge a resident with marijuana possession on personal property if the resident did not reach out to police for help.
State prosecutors soon forced Finizio to retreat in his order to police to ignore marijuana use on private property.
State's Attorney Michael Regan told The Day of New London that the executive order violates state law and Finizio does not have the authority to direct city officers to look the other way if they see marijuana use on private property.
The order said the city has "many serious criminal enforcement and protection issues and concerns" and limited resources and asked police not to charge residents with possession or drug paraphernalia on personal property “if the violation occurs on private property and the landowner has not made a complaint or requested police assistance.”
The mayor said he will abide by the state prosecutor's opinion, but insisted he has the authority to allocate police resources.
Another order said that New London city employees who test positive for marijuana during random testing should not receive disciplinary action unless they are CLD drivers or work in a "safety-sensitive" job.
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The state decriminalized marijuana and "good, dependable employees should not be disciplined or terminated based upon infraction-level offenses," the order said.
The other one making headlines asks that police not ask about immigration status unless they are investigating the possibility of a federal immigration law.
"(T)he City of New London wishes to ensure that its citizens, residents and guests will not be subject to impermissible profiling by the New London Police Department," the order says.
