East Lyme ― The personnel file for police Chief Michael Finkelstein reveals a philosophical and legal schism between the town and the embattled chief.

Should officials be working to determine the extent of internal misconduct related to his arrests, or should they be investigating how to return him to duty?

The file, obtained Friday through a Freedom of Information request, was released as independent investigators from the Southington-based Daigle Law Group continue to probe how the department handled allegations of domestic violence lodged against Finkelstein twice over the course of one year by his wife.

East Lyme Police Commission Chairman Daniel Price in a letter to Finkelstein identified the chief, who has been on paid leave since June 5, as just one of the subjects of the investigation into claims of misconduct by local officers.

“These allegations currently involve, but are not limited to, abuse of power, violation of the criminal code and conduct unbecoming,” Price said in an Aug. 13 letter.

The town hired the law group in late July at a cost of $175-$225 an hour for three investigators, according to the contract released previously. No deadline was identified for completion of the probe.

“The Daigle Law Group is currently obtaining evidence from the Connecticut State Police and other sources to determine the specific scope of the misconduct related to your arrest,” Price wrote.

Chief arrested three times

Finkelstein was ultimately arrested three times by Connecticut State Police and charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of second-degree breach of peace, as well as with making a false statement and violation of a protective order for not turning over all of his guns following the initial arrest.

The arrest warrant affidavits show the most recent dispute, on June 3, left Finkelstein’s wife with a bloody nose and bruised chest. Both alleged altercations involved her concerns that he was using his work-issued cell phone to inappropriately text a female coworker.

The name and number of other officers being probed remain unspecified, though First Selectman Dan Cunningham has identified one of them as Lt. Dana Jezierski. She is the department’s highest-ranking woman and reported directly to Finkelstein.

Central to the investigation is whether there is sufficient cause to take away the law enforcement certifications of those involved, according to an Aug. 7 letter from Price.

According to the arrest warrant affidavits, a local officer responding to a 911 call left it to Finkelstein’s wife to call state police to report that he had been rough with her in front of their young children. The unnamed officer, who was later joined by an unnamed sergeant, said it was a conflict for the department to investigate its own chief.

The affidavit revealed state police were never called. The allegations went away until prosecutors, after Finkelstein’s arrest for the June 3 incident, ordered a reinvestigation by state police of his wife’s 2023 complaint.

Finkelstein speaks out

The release of the personnel file gave a voice to Finkelstein, who in an Aug. 22 email told Price, Cunningham and the town’s legal team that he has remained silent while trusting the town’s process despite two-and-a-half months of being ignored personally and shamed publicly.

Finkelstein had been directed a month prior to communicate with the town only through his lawyer, John Nazzaro, according to the personnel file. Nazzaro, in turn, was advised to address all communications directly to town labor attorney Nicholas Grello.

“The town has artificially extended this personal damage as it continues to make no effort to work with me, or towards an investigation which returns myself to duty,” he wrote. “I have given the Town of East Lyme seven years of outstanding service, which apparently are of no consideration.”

His message came the same day the Board of Police Commissioners posted meeting minutes stating they’d met three days prior for a closed-door, emergency meeting to discuss Finkelstein’s “response to a police call” while on leave.

The Aug. 16 call went out over the department’s radio frequency as the report of a man in the area of Cedar Ridge Golf Course who might be suicidal and could be carrying a gun, according to a dispatch report.

In his email, Finkelstein said he happened to drive by the potentially suicidal man after he’d heard the call on a public scanner app. He expressed concern the man would harm himself by jumping into traffic.

“As a 35 year police veteran, with extensive training and experience responding to situations involving mental health issues, and having taken a sworn oath to protect the community and bound by Connecticut statute, I exited my car and approached the male,” he said.

Finkelstein, who was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt and athletic shorts at the time, said he identified himself only as “Mike” and engaged the man in conversation to keep him safe until officers arrived.

“Once officers arrived I promptly left the scene,” he wrote.

Body camera footage obtained through a Freedom of Information request shows Finkelstein continued to talk with the man for almost a minute after police arrived, then stood there for another minute with his hands on his hips while an officer patted the man down and took over the conversation.

It was only after a detective stepped away from the group that Finkelstein followed him to explain his presence and engage in about 30 seconds of small talk and awkward silence. He departed with a “you guys are all set.”

Finkelstein in the email to officials questioned the need for the police commission to hold an emergency meeting when members could have simply asked him what happened.

“Public humiliation”

The seven-year chief said he found the situation and subsequent public humiliation “to be egregious.”

“This demonstrates a continued atmosphere of harassment and purposeful behavior by the town, which has now demonstrated that the safety and well being of the community is of less importance than disparaging me, who now remains on leave for 80 days without any investigation taking place to return me to duty.”

He blamed the town for making no effort to work with him.

Finkelstein’s file included a copy of his request under the Freedom of Information Act asking the town for communications between members of the media and East Lyme officials in order to find out who was talking to whom about details of the case.

“I am hopeful that at some point the town, and its legal counsel, recognizes the extensive damage its actions are causing,” he said.

A Middletown Superior Court judge on July 29 granted Finkelstein’s application for a court diversionary program that opens a path for dismissal of the domestic violence charges against him after a year. State prosecutors that day indicated they will also consider dropping prosecution for the charges of making a false statement and violation of a protective order.

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