From [HERE] A federal criminal grand jury will begin hearing testimony Tuesday about longstanding allegations that some East Haven police officers have repeatedly harassed and assaulted Latinos in town.
At least 24 active town police officers have been subpoenaed to appear, according to a source familiar with the proceedings, which will take place in Bridgeport. It is unclear if those officers are targets of the investigation or witnesses who will be asked about the conduct of others. But in a court filing for a related matter, a lawyer for the town and police department said the apparent primary target of the investigation is East Haven Officer Dennis Spaulding.
Spaulding was one of two officers involved in the arrest last year of the Rev. James Manship, a Catholic priest who was videotaping what he said was harassment by officers. Spaulding also has been accused of beating and threatening suspects, taunting Latino residents and visitors, and trying to drive away Latino-owned businesses.
The criminal probe grew out of a civil complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice last March by Manship's church, St. Rose of Lima in New Haven, many of whose parishioners live or work in East Haven.
"Latinos are pulled over without reasonable suspicion while driving, arrested without probable cause and in some cases severely beaten by law enforcement officials," the complaint alleges. "As a consequence, Latinos in East Haven now live in the daily fear of harassment and retaliation by East Haven officers."
The complaint, prepared with the assistance of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale University, cites more than a dozen cases in which Latino motorists allege they were pulled over for no reason, often as they were leaving Latino-owned businesses. The complaint also contains accusations that officers, without justification, have punched, kicked, and used pepper sprays and Tasers against Latino suspects in police cars and at the police station.
The Department of Justice's civil-rights division opened an investigation and collected new information that prompted a referral to criminal investigators and the appointment of the grand jury.