Aurora Police Association
February
9, 2007
TO:
APD COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
FROM:
APA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SUBJECT:
INVESTIGATION REQUEST
On
the evening of February 7, 2007, the membership of The Aurora Police
Association voted overwhelmingly to seek review by the Offices of the
District and United States Attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the Mayor and City Council of Aurora of the actions of City Manager Ron
Miller, Deputy City Manager Frank Ragan, Chief of Police Daniel Oates and
Assistant City Attorney Rob Werking. The
acts of misconduct which we are asking to be reviewed involve a letter that
was signed by Deputy City Manager Ragan and hand delivered to individual
Civil Service Commissioners during a hearing on a disciplinary appeal filed
by Sergeant Kevin Moriarty. This
letter was deemed by an independent investigator, the Civil Service
Commission and the City Attorney’s office to have been an improper ex
parte communication and a violation of Sergeant Moriarty’s Constitutional
right to due process of law.
The
independent investigator also found that the preparation of the letter was
directed by Chief Oates rather than Mr. Ragan, and that the letter was
actually “ghost-written” by Assistant City Attorney Rob Werking at Chief
Oates’s direction some time in December of 2006.
According to the investigative findings, Chief Oates, City Manager
Miller and Mr. Ragan reviewed the letter before it was delivered and jointly
decided that the letter should be delivered to the individual Civil Service
Commissioners while Sgt. Moriarty’s hearing was being conducted.
The letter itself is highly critical of an earlier ruling of the
Commission in the Moriarty case and argues that the Commission should not
consider Sgt. Moriarty’s arguments regarding comparative
discipline/disparate treatment. The
independent investigator found that the conduct uncovered by her
investigation “strongly suggested” that the “express intention” of
Chief Oates, Mr. Miller, Mr. Ragan and Mr. Werking was to “taint the Civil
Service Commission’s view of Officer M [Moriarty] and his position.”
Based
upon these findings and certain directly conflicting statements made to the
investigator by Chief Oates and Mr. Ragan, we have asked that this entire
series of events be reviewed in order to determine whether there may have
been criminal conduct involved or whether the actions of the involved
individuals violated Aurora City or Police Department policies.
1010 S. Joliet Street ∙ Suite #103
∙ Aurora, Colorado 80012 ∙ 303.363.0111
email: mtorres.apa@comcast.net
∙ www.auroraapa.org
