Fung Addresses Missteps in Scathing Police Dept. Review

Hours after the release of a report summary that included details of his pattern of interference in police department matters, Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung on Monday night acknowledged that he might have made missteps as he dealt with the fallout of the so-called Ticketgate scandal.

Addressing the Cranston City Council, Fung, in a rare appearance in council chambers during a regular business meeting, also said that he asked the state police to take over the department and conduct a top-to-bottom review knowing that his actions would be scrutinized along with the members of the department.

The report, which was summarized by State Police Superintendent Steven G. O’Donnell in a letter first obtained by the Patch on Monday afternoon, admonished Fung for having a secret meeting with the disgraced now-resigned former police captain at the center of the ticket blitz scandal in an effort to have him reinstated with a demotion, among other concerns.

Fung did not directly address the specific concerns outlined by O’Donnell about his ”extraordinary” relationship with the former police chief and union president and how Fung’s loyalty got in the way.

What he did say is that the problems outlined in the report about the inner workings of the department were problems that he inherited and have simmered in Cranston for decades.

Fung also said that he asked the state police to conduct the probe “well aware of the fact that my own personal decisions. . .would be reviewed” and criticized.

“It’s hard to look into the mirror at times but it has to be done,” Fung said.

Fung said his intention has always been to improve the morale of the department and bring an end to the internal divisions and strife that plagued it.

“In short, the structural problems didn’t start with my administration,” Fung said. “I didn’t create these problems, but I will take ownership of fixing them.”

And Fung said it might be time for the city to consider creating a cabinet-level public safety director position to eliminate the perception that politicians are driving the public safety department. The current model, which dubs the mayor as public safety commissioner, “was created when everything west of Oaklawn Avenue was farmland.”

And Fung set the stage for repeated praise from everyone through the night about the rank and file members of the department who have endured withering scrutiny and a freight train of bad press ever since the Ticketgate scandal exploded in late 2013.

They, along with Cranston’s new police chief, Col. Michael J. Winquist, have been credited with making huge leaps in improving how the department works and tearing down barriers.

“In the last 10 months there has been a complete turnaround in the Cranston Police Department,” said City Council President John E. Lanni Jr.

Winquist, the former second-in-rank at the state police before he was hired to lead Cranston police as chief, said that “every single officer in this room does not deserve to be critized or scrutinized.

“Everyone in this room works hard every day. The department is a lot different than it was several months ago,” the chief said.

“I ask today that we leave on a positive note,” Winquist said, a reference to the positive future for the department as well as the vote scheduled for later in the meeting on a new police contract, which coincidentally landed on the same night.

The contract (details will be posted later) was described as fair and would give police moderate raises in exchange for increased medical insurance cost sharing and other concessions typical of recent new police and fire contracts around the state.

The union’s president, Richard Santagata, thanked everyone involved in the contract talks. He then addressed the “elephant in the room” and said that the men and women who work for the department have suffered unfair criticism.

Instead of focusing on past mistakes, Santagata said, “we’re trying to move forward.”

The police labor movement actually began here in Cranston when seven individuals refused to follow a tainted practice and boycotted a promotional test.

“It all started here and we’re proud of that,” Santagata said.

Before the contract was unanimously approved, council members took turns thanking members of the department, especially Winquist, who was the lone person in City Hall Monday night to receive a round of applause

This story will likely be updated.