New Vote Called For Mayor's Stamford Police Chief Recommendation

STAMFORD, CT — A special meeting of the Board of Representatives will be held Monday, Aug. 5, during which board members are set to vote on the approval of Mayor David Martin's nominee for the city's next police chief, Chris Murtha.

The meeting was called by Board president Matthew Quinones and is set to take place on the fourth floor of the Stamford Government Center in the Legislative Chambers at 7 p.m., according to an agenda on the Board's website.

The meeting could put an end to the long journey city officials have taken to select Stamford's next police chief.

Murtha, who currently serves as the Deputy Chief for Maryland's Prince George's County Police Department, was announced as Martin's nominee for the position in June. The Mayor cited Murtha's "credentialed resume, strong relations with community leaders and consistent professionalism throughout the hiring process" as reasons he was considered an ideal candidate to lead the department.

Despite these reasons, a number of people took issue with the nomination due to Murtha's department being involved in a civil lawsuit, in which some Prince George's County officers alleged that four commanders showed racial bias in regards to promotions, work hours and other issues, according to the Stamford Advocate. Murtha had been named in the suit among other commanders.

The Board was set to vote on Murtha's approval during their July 1 meeting but received news just before the vote that Martin was temporarily withdrawing his nominee.

Martin's decision came less than a week after representatives on the city's Appointments Committee voted to recommend the Board reject his choice for police chief, according to the Stamford Advocate.

A statement from the Mayor's office emailed to Patch on July 2 said Murtha's name was withdrawn so the Board could have time to do more fact finding.

See also: Stamford Mayor Temporarily Withdraws Nominee For Police Chief

"Based on a few comments made by the community during the public participation section, we felt that we should allow the Board to do their due diligence to further understand and ascertain the actual details that will support Deputy Chief Murtha's approval," the statement reads. "We remain confident that the Board will discover that he is an excellent and highly qualified candidate, however we as a community and the Board should avoid unfairly damaging the reputation of an outstanding public servant, one who has put his life at risk for the public and has been a valuable asset to his community and his department."

Assistant Chief Thomas Wuennemann was named interim Chief of the department on July 3.

The United States District Court of the District of Maryland eventually dismissed all claims against Murtha from the lawsuit on July 8, according to a subsequent statement from the Mayor's office.

"I recognize the concerns some board members and the public raised regarding my nominee's inclusion in a lawsuit in Prince George's County. Our search committee very carefully vetted the claims made against Deputy Chief Murtha in the lawsuit before I submitted my nomination," Martin said in the statement. "The court’s decision to dismiss the case against Deputy Chief Murtha should put to rest these concerns and allow the Board to move forward to approve my nomination. Deputy Chief Murtha will prove to be a tremendous asset to our outstanding Police Department."

If chosen, Murtha will succeed Police Chief Jonathan Fontneau, a 38-year veteran who served as chief for seven years and announced his retirement in January. Fontneau, the city's 15th police chief, received the Distinguished Chief Award in 2015 from the Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut.