East Haven's Mayor and the Police Department are butting heads over beach patrols. Mayor April Capone-Almon called off permanent patrols at Cosey Beach after a confrontation with an officer last month.
“I certainly believe in our officers judgment and when I see that it’s skewed, I certainly will step in,” said Capone-Almon.
But East Haven’s Republican Town Chair Carl Ruggiero disagrees. “What do you have department heads for if you’re going to keep interfering with them? She might as well do it all," said Ruggiero.
The two have locked horns when it comes to the events at Cosey Beach on July 19th. According to the police report, Officer Mike Sorbo says the Mayor interfered with him ticketing and towing cars that were obstructing others.
Republican mayoral candidate John Finkle says she should’ve delegated it to the police chief “There’s nothing that I’m aware of that says the mayor supersedes the police chief,” said Finkle.
But the mayor says she stepped in because residents were being unfairly treated. “No announcement was made to tell people their cars were being towed. Nothing was done, a preventative measure to take care of this,” explained the Mayor.
The report also states the mayor told the officer “this is political" and demanded the officer call her “ma'am.”
Capone-Almon didn't confirm or deny those allegations but Officer Sorbo did run for town council on the Republican ticket in 2007, against Capone-Almon.
Political or not there’s a bigger issue now. Permanent beach patrols were suspended 2 days after the incident. The Mayor says this will control overtime costs.
