[CT] REINSTATED OFFICER BEPKO'S ATTORNEY: "HOW SWEET IS THAT !"

(...Standing before the judge, the woman, identified only as "L.S.," trembled as she told of her fear of Bepko...)

...The 40-year-old [Bridgeport Police Officer Douglas] Bepko was fired by the Board of Police Commissioners on Aug. 7, 2007, at the recommendation of then-Police Chief Bryan Norwood. His dismissal took place after Bepko was charged with third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of a firearm, violation of a protective order and threatening...

BRIDGEPORT ORDERED TO REHIRE COP FIRED OVER GIRLFRIEND INCIDENT
Connecticut Post
By Daniel Tepfer
Updated: 10/29/2009 11:10:43 PM EDT
BRIDGEPORT -- A Superior Court judge has ordered the reinstatement of a city police officer fired two years ago after he was charged with choking a former girlfriend. In a 14-page decision, Judge Richard Gilardi on Thursday upheld a state arbitrator's decision ordering the city to rehire Douglas Bepko, a 13-year veteran of the police force. "How sweet is that!" exclaimed Bepko's lawyer, Michael Fitzpatrick, on hearing of the judge's decision. "It's well deserved and I'm sure officer Bepko is anxious to get back to work because he enjoys being a cop and serving the community." Fitzpatrick said because of the decision the city will be responsible for compensating Bepko for lost pay, although he was not immediately sure how much that will be. City Attorney Mark Anastasi said the city plans "to file an appeal... The 40-year-old Bepko was fired by the Board of Police Commissioners on Aug. 7, 2007, at the recommendation of then-Police Chief Bryan Norwood. His dismissal took place after Bepko was charged with third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of a firearm, violation of a protective order and threatening. He later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of violating a protective order and breach of peace. After completing a 26-week intensive domestic violence program, however, the charges were further reduced to the misdemeanor charge, violation as a condition of release. An independent arbitrator later ruled the city should not have fired Bepko because the charge he eventually pleaded guilty to did not constitute a fireable offense... Bepko was arrested Nov. 3, 2006, after being accused of choking and kicking his former girlfriend outside her city home... [FULL ARTICLE HERE

DUSTING OFF MY OLD BEPKO NOTES - EXCERPTS FROM PAST NEWS:

[CT] 2 OFFICERS - BEPKO & RODRIGUES - CLEARED IN EXCESSIVE FORCE CASE
05/26/2006 - Two city officers accused of using excessive force nearly two years ago have been cleared by the Board of Police Commissioners. Damien Sanchez claimed Officers Douglas Bepko and Bruno Rodrigues used excessive force while arresting him... The police board concluded that Sanchez's injuries were consistent with the officers' story... Meanwhile, the same two officers, along with Officer David Uliano, now face similar charges...

[CT] OFC. BEPKO ARRESTED FOR BEATING UP EX-GIRLFRIEND. HAS HISTORY.
11/11/06 - City police Officer Douglas Bepko has been suspended with pay following his arrest late last week on charges he choked and kicked his 37-year-old girlfriend... Police said the woman-- told them... Bepko told her, "You got two seconds to get out or I will hit you with this flashlight," then grabbed her by the hair and hit her head against the truck's window... When she demanded he release her, Bepko grabbed her by the throat and dared her to hit him, the report said. She asked why, and he allegedly replied, "So you can leave marks and I could get you arrested." He then kicked her out while grabbing her arm, causing bruises on her body, arm and shin....

[CT] CHIEF WANTS OFFICER BEPKO FIRED FOR "EXTENSIVE" DV HISTORY
11/17/06 - Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood recommends 12-year Officer Douglas Bepko be fired, following his recent arrest on an assault charge and the officer's "extensive" history of domestic violence and civilian complaints. Norwood also suspended Bepko without pay as of Tuesday after the department's Office of Internal Affairs charged him with departmental violations stemming from his Nov. 3 arrest... "As a result of the seriousness of [the charges] and Officer Bepko's extensive history of civilian complaints of domestic violence, I have determined that I will recommend Officer Bepko be terminated," Norwood said...

[CT] UNION SAYS OFFICER BEPKO'S SUSPENSION FOR DV IS ILLEGAL
11/23/06 - The unpaid suspension of city Police Officer Douglas Bepko... is illegal, a police union lawyer said Tuesday. The union will present its case to three members of the Board of Police Commissioners at a 10 a.m. Friday... [Police Chief Bryan] Norwood wants Bepko fired, but the termination must be approved by the police board. He said Bepko has a history of excessive force complaints from civilians, as well as domestic violence. The officer also cannot carry a firearm because of a court-imposed restraining order resulting from his arrest. A 15-day suspension was the most the chief could impose at the time he disciplined Bepko. But now he can suspend personnel for up to 30 days...

[CT] UPDATE ON OFFICER BEPKO (WHO THE CHIEF CAN'T FIRE) 3/19/07
City Police Officer Douglas Bepko, facing criminal and departmental charges from an alleged domestic assault, has been suspended for seven months without pay and will be fired if convicted in court... Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood wanted the panel to fire Bepko. The chief can at most suspend officers... "It's clear to me the Board of Police Commissioners is not prepared to make decisions which will positively affect the demeanor and discipline of the officers of the city of Bridgeport," said Norwood... the woman Bepko is accused of assaulting said she was "disgusted." After the hearing, the chief told her, "I'm sorry"... Bepko, 39, an officer for 13 years, is accused of pushing, choking and kicking his girlfriend... subsequently arrested for allegedly violating a protective order...

[CT] TOWARDS IACP ZERO TOLERANCE OF COP DV ON BRIDGEPORT PD
3/21/07 - People with a record of domestic violence should be barred from the city's police force, according to two City Council members. Robert S. Walsh and Elaine Pivirotto, both D-132, have renewed their call for the Board of Police Commissioners to adopt a "zero-tolerance" policy among the ranks of city law-enforcement personnel. They initially proposed the crackdown in December 2005 when it appeared Deputy Police Chief Anthony S. Armeno might have been a candidate for chief. Armeno had been disciplined, but not arrested, for several domestic violence incidents involving a female city officer 10 years earlier... The council members reiterated their request at Monday's council meeting in City Hall, after a police board committee last Friday suspended veteran Officer Douglas Bepko for seven months...

[CT] TO BRIDGEPORT COUNCILMEMBERS PIVIOTTO & WALSH
3/21/07 - Dear Councilmembers Piviotto & Walsh, Saw you both - AGAIN - taking on the task of raising the bar concerning eradicating domestic abusers from among the ranks of the Bridgeport Police Department... I wrote you in December 2005 also and that email is attached below... Here is my list of Connecticut officer-involved dv cases that I have gathered the informaion on in the past few years - any of which is available to you at your request...

[CT] BRIDGEPORT TAKES STAND AGAINST OFFICER-INVOLVED DV
4/4/07 - The commission voted unanimously to approve a zero tolerance measure after a 13-year veteran officer, Douglas Bepko, was arrested for beating his girlfriend. Instead of being fired, as recommended by the chief, Bepko was suspended 7-months. The Public Safety Commission says that is not enough... The IACP standards bar departments from hiring people with a domestic violence background, promoting officers involved in domestic violence and terminating those convicted of it... The police board, which sets department policy, is not obligated to abide by the resolution... "We will be sending a strong message to the Board of Police Commissioners to act and to act now," said City Council member Elaine Pivirotto, D-132, who co-sponsored the resolution with her colleague, Robert S. Walsh... The woman Bepko is accused of punching, choking and kicking attended the council committee meeting Monday, but did not speak...

[CT] CONTACTING THE TWO STANDING UP FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
4/5/07 - [132nd District] Robert S. Walsh (D) 56 Redding Place Bridgeport, CT 06604 (203) 368-0014 Res. EMAIL [HERE] -- Elaine Pivirotto (D) 2625 Park Avenue Unit 9E Bridgeport, CT 06604 (203) 336-2843 Res. EMAIL [HERE]

[CT] COUNCIL WANTS IACP STANDARD FOR COP DOMESTIC ABUSE
4/20/07 - Trying to spur the city's Board of Police Commissioners to crack down on officers committing domestic violence, the City Council has approved a resolution that calls for offending officers to be more sternly disciplined. The resolution, adopted unanimously - recommends the police board, which oversees discipline in the department, adopt stricter standards drawn up by the International Association of Chiefs of Police... Mayor John M. Fabrizi praised the resolution and said he would sign it as soon as it hit his desk... But Fabrizi wouldn't commit to a proposal from Robert S. Walsh, D-132, calling for him to veto any appointments to the police board who would not back IACP standards... An appeal by the most recently suspended officer, Douglas Bepko, is pending...

[CT] BRIDGEPORT [COP] "DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROPOSAL OPPOSED"
5/27/07 - The vice chairman of the city's Board of Police Commissioners says that he opposes enacting a stricter policy for police officers accused of domestic violence than for civilians. Two City Council members and the council's Women's Caucus urged the panel at its meeting this week to adopt stricter standards dealing with offending police officers that could require terminating officers convicted of the crime and block the hiring of domestic violence offenders... Board member Daniel Roach asked the council members to check if other Connecticut municipal police departments have adopted the IACP policy. The council members promised to review it...

[CT] PRESSURING BRIDGEPORT TO HANDLE COP DV AS A CRIME
6/10/07 - The president of the Greater Bridgeport chapter of the NAACP is circulating a petition demanding that the entire membership of the city's Board of Police Commissioners be removed or step down... the board's failure to fire police officers accused of crime, such as domestic violence and drug law violations, creates a chain reaction that leads to distrust of the police and poses a hurdle to officers doing their jobs effectively... Kelly did not mention specific officers in the petition, but the NAACP branch has opposed the board's punishment of Officer Douglas Bepko...

[CT] JUDGE DENIES SPECIAL PROBATION FOR OFFICER BEPKO
6/15/07 - ...A Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied special probation for Douglas Bepko... Judge Brian Fischer ruled the accusations against the 40-year-old Bepko are too serious to warrant granting him either accelerated rehabilitation or the family violence education program. Under either program, completion of a period of probation would have meant the charges against Bepko would have been dismissed. He is charged with third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of a firearm, violation of a protective order and threatening... Standing before the judge, the woman, identified only as "L.S.," trembled as she told of her fear of Bepko. "I feel very threatened by him"...

[CT] COULD IT BE TRUE? OFFICER BEPKO FINALLY FIRED FOR DV?
8/8/07 - ...Bepko, a 13-year-police veteran, faced charges of third-degree assault, second-degree threatening, second-degree unlawful restraint and violation of a protective order with regard to a Nov. 3 incident in which he reportedly choked and kicked his 37-year-old girlfriend outside her home. Bepko pleaded guilty to at least one of the charges in court Monday, Kanasky said. The chairman said the board's decision was in keeping with a policy set by the International Police Chief's Association, which states an officer should be terminated upon conviction of a domestic violation offense...

[CT] OFFICER BEPKO'S CHARGES COULD BE DROPPED ENTIRELY
8/11/07 - ...charged with third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of a firearm, violation of a protective order and threatening... He said if Bepko successfully completes the program and fully complies with the conditions, the charges against him will be reduced to misdemeanors and he will be put on probation... FITZPATRICK CONTENDS IT IS POSSIBLE THE CHARGES AGAINST BEPKO COULD BE DROPPED ENTIRELY once he complies with the court directives... The charges stem from an incident last Nov. 3 when Bepko, a 13-year veteran of Bridgeport's police force, was arrested for allegedly choking and kicking his 37-year-old girlfriend...
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