Connecticut police charged with abuse of authority toward Latinos

Four police officers from a Connecticut suburb have been accused of abusing their legal authority to harass, intimidate and deprive Latinos of their rights, the latest in a series of charges brought by the federal government against local police departments.

The charges against four East Haven police officers follow a Justice Department report last month that found a pattern of discrimination against Latinos and their supporters.

“We know and understand how difficult police officers’ jobs are and how important they are to a free society,” U.S. Atty. David B. Fein said at a news conference announcing the charges in East Haven. “It is for their benefit — and society’s — that we at the Department of Justice are ever-vigilant in investigating and prosecuting wrongdoing by those who have sworn to protect the public.”

East Haven police officers Dennis Spaulding, David Cari and Jason Zullo and Sgt. John Miller were charged with conspiracy, deprivation of rights and obstruction of justice in a federal indictment released Tuesday. The three officers worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, often supervised by Miller.

The indictment alleges that the group, “acting under the color of law did knowingly and willfully conspire and agree together and with each other ... to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate members of the East Haven community in the free exercise and enjoyment of rights,” the indictment said.

“In simple terms, these defendants behaved like bullies with badges,” Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director of the New York office of the FBI, said at the news conference.

Nationwide, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is investigating 17 law enforcement agencies for possible violations, said Xochitl Hinojosa, a department spokeswoman in Washington.

“Enforcing civil rights is a top priority for the department,” Hinojosa said.

Police are under investigation in Seattle, New Orleans, Miami, Portland, Ore., and Suffolk County on Long Island. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in the Antelope Valley are also among those under federal investigation.

Last month, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona, run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was accused of illegally arresting Latinos, abusing them in county jails and failing to investigate hundreds of sexual assault cases. Justice Department officials intend to file suit in U.S. District Court in Arizona requesting a judge to order changes in the department. Arpaio has said he would try to cooperate, but criticized the charges.

In East Haven, authorities began investigating in 2009 after local activists complained that police were waging a campaign against Latinos and Latino businessmen. The indictment alleges more than 30 overt acts by the four defendants, including using excessive force in the arrest of five individuals, conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, arresting five individuals based on false and misleading pretenses, and trying to intimidate fellow officers and their own commissioners to prevent scrutiny of misconduct.

The top charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The obstruction charges allege that two officers, Spaulding and Cari, prepared false reports to justify false arrests.

Mayor Joseph Maturo, who took office Nov. 19, told reporters that he found the charges “very disturbing,” but added that he backed his police.

“I stand behind our police department,” he said in televised remarks. “We still have a great police department here.”

Lawyers for the defendants denied the charges and said their clients were excellent officers.

In 2009, the Rev. James Manship was working to document police harassment of Latino businessmen when he was arrested and jailed while videotaping police during an arrest. He was later released but complained to the Justice Department, which opened an investigation.

michael.muskal@latimes.com