Investigation on Naugatuck, CT, police chief ... finds no evidence of misconduct

[left-of-center2012]

Investigation on Naugatuck police chief after daughter sent racially offensive Snapchat messages finds no evidence of misconduct

A Naugatuck police chief whose daughter sent “racially charged” Snapchat messages will not be terminated and two independent investigations found similar conclusions that there was no evidence of misconduct, the department announced Friday afternoon. The newly released investigation report highlighted Police Chief Steven K. Hunt’s employment contract that included a “’just cause’ requirement that must be met before a public employee’s employment can be terminated,” and specifically made note that no policies were violated by the chief himself.

“All departmental policies contemplate actions taken directly by an employee, and not by an employee’s minor child,” the department said. “In light of existing employment legal protections, and the undisputed facts, Chief Hunt has not been shown to have engaged in any behavior sufficient to establish the ‘just cause’ necessary to justify his termination or to invoke any other discipline.”

Earlier in the year, Snapchat messages from Hunt’s daughter from 2019 were publicly disclosed. A few of the messages included racial slurs, meanwhile others
said “My dad is officially the Police Chief so that just means he’s more advanced in shooting Black people ...”
and “I’ll make my dad drive with lights and sirens and if we see any Black people we will shoot them.”

Hunt learned of the messages for the first time when they were made public, one of the reports said. Hunt and his wife wrote a letter shortly after the photos and messages were released in January. In that letter “Chief Hunt wrote that he and his wife raised their children ‘in a loving household always appreciative of the rich diversity in our community and the complex and often inequitable history of race in our society,’ ” the report said. “He condemned the racist comments and conduct of his child in the strongest terms and disavowed the words used, which the Hunts state, ‘do not represent the words spoken in our home or the values and lessons we have taught our children.’ ”

https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-naugatuck-police-chief-no-misconduct-daughter-racially-offensive-snapchat-20210417-im6s2xyw7nbq7fv2teptby53km-story.html