Mayor: Police Lt. Bunnell "Still On The Books"

A meeting was held Monday with embattled Montville Police Lt. Leonard G. Bunnell, according to Montville Mayor Ronald McDaniel. But what was discussed or decided, if anything, remains unclear.

“We did meet, we did talk. He’s still on the books; he’s taking compensatory time off. Other than that, I won’t be commenting on a personnel matter,” McDaniel said.  

Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Commanding Officer Lt. John S. Eckersley had completed his investigation and a report was given to the town. It is unknown what the report contains, and Patch is awaiting a response from the CSP on its Freedom of Information request for a copy of the closed investigation file and report.

In late April, Bunnell was notified that he was under investigation and advised to speak to no one on the matter save for his attorney and union rep. The probe was in connection with 38 instances of alleged improper use of the state police background-information database from October of 2011 through January of 2012. A complaint was lodged against Bunnell by Troop E commanding officer Lt. Samuel R. Izzarelli following his receipt of a report by a system auditor.

The Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing (COLLECT) System allows authorized users to request national and international background information, motor vehicle and criminal history data on individuals. According to documents obtained by Patch, Montville Police Officer Robin Salvatore “reviewed the log and discovered misuse by Lt. Leonard Bunnell” and notified the auditor. According to the auditors statement, Salvatore was gathering information in advance of a training class on the COLLECT protocol.

One of the allegations was that Bunnell documented a criminal history request by a town employee even though he was allegedly warned against giving "criminal history information for Town Hall and City Hall requests during his recent re-certification class in August,” according to the statement.